Environmental Learning and Experience
An Interdisciplinary Guide For Teachers (2007)

Integrating Environmental Learning Principles

Principles for Conceptualizing 'Environment'

While direct experience, critical reflection and negotiation provide unique opportunities for learning, engaging with multiple perspectives on the environment can help to expand and inform students’ understanding of the environmental issues.

As a way of focusing discussions about the environment, key principles are presented here (see Figure 1 for a representation of how this connects to experiential learning). Through a consideration of these principles for environmental education, you, as teachers, will come to understand that experiential programs can examine the complexity of natural systems. Human interaction with these systems and the effect on these systems is also examined. You will also learn that holistic forms of environmental education can help your students to develop a sense of respect and appreciation for the natural world. An aesthetic appreciation, along with a scientific understanding of nature, encourages students to learn and act to protect and sustain the environment. This, in turn, can contribute to self-awareness and personal fulfilment.

As educators, we need to facilitate students’ understandings of what constitutes responsible action toward the environment and help students to act responsibly it in their personal lives.

These actions are influenced by belief systems and personal limitations (both physical and cultural) so student actions can take many forms.

You should encourage your students to make decisions based on an understanding of the issues, as well as their personal values, and the sometimes conflicting values of other community members.

The principles for organizing and conceptualizing environmental education then include:

a consideration of complexity (complex systems);

aesthetics (or aesthetic appreciation);

responsibility (responsible action and consequences of action); and

the practice of an environmental ethic.

The mnemonic and metaphor of C.A.R.E. (Complexity, Aesthetics, Responsibility and Ethics) can be used to describe the various forms environmental knowledge can take.

C.A.R.E. demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature of environmental concepts, while showing a progression of the development of ideas that can lead towards deeper engagement with environmental learning in all of its forms ( see Figure 2). This guide continues with a consideration of each of these types of environmental learning.

figure 2: use ‘care’ to deepen environmental learning

Complexity

Life on Earth depends on, and is part of, complex systems.

Environmental education addresses the study of complex systems in two ways. First, it examines the complexity and interrelatedness of natural systems, and how humans interact with and affect those systems. It also looks at human-created systems, both those that are built and those that are part of our social fabric.

For example, when students investigate the water cycle, a food web, or photosynthesis, they are studying a natural system.

When they investigate government and politics, economics and the evolution of societies, or highway and sewage systems, they are studying human-created systems. These investigations help students understand the complexity of systems and the links between them. Knowledge from a broad range of scientific disciplines contributes to a well-rounded understanding of environmental issues. However, there must be an awareness that knowledge is not static and that theories can change. Knowledge from the sciences, economics, politics, law, and sociology are vital to the study of complex systems and human interactions.

Through studying cultural systems and global issues, students may begin to see the relationships between the environment and human rights, justice, race and gender equity. Other cultures in the world present diverse perspectives on ways of valuing and relating to natural and human-created environments.

In developing a thorough understanding of systems, students can examine the origins and impact of their present worldview and analyse the implications of new information and changing societal values. Concepts for student consideration and discussion include:

an ecosystem, or a social system, is caused by the collective interactions of individual parts that require holistic investigation; |

individual components serve unique functions in all complex systems. The loss or degradation of any single component may cause a decline in the viability of the system;
the planet’s resources are finite. Humans are dependent on materials and energy supplied by the global ecosystem;

different cultures observe natural systems through various philosophical, technological, and social points of view. Throughout time, cultures have interacted with the environment in different ways;

the pace of technological change and the distribution of scarce resources can have a profound impact on society and the environment; and

the organization of societies in the past and present, and the laws that govern them, have implications for environmentally and socially sustainable development.

Aesthetics

Environmental awareness enables students to develop an aesthetic appreciation.

Aesthetics deals with beauty, artistic expression, and our physiological responses to these. Environmental education helps students to develop an aesthetic sense of respect and appreciation for the natural world through study, physical challenges, and other experiences in nature.

An aesthetic appreciation, along with other understandings of nature, encourage students to learn and act to protect and sustain the environment, and can also contribute to self-awareness and personal fulfilment. Further, outdoor studies and activities in physical or outdoor education can help develop students aesthetic appreciation. Aesthetics also has an internalized component strongly related to what we personally value in nature.

Aesthetic values may explore explicit value shifts, such as those found when examining a natural setting for the development of a park or a residential development. The idea that nature has fundamental worth from an aesthetic point of view is one example of a value shift. Different types of value shifts are also possible in environmental aesthetics and environmental criticism in the arts; however, these often concentrate on cultural expressions of our interaction with nature.

Finally, aesthetic experiences provide insight and enrich human interactions with the environment by allowing students to:

develop an understanding of the aesthetic qualities that exist in the environment;

develop skills and sensitivity to the application of aesthetic criteria when considering environmental matters; and

develop the ability to formulate, apply, and communicate personal aesthetic criteria for assessing environmental issues.

Concepts for student consideration and discussion include:

direct experiences in natural surroundings provide opportunities to develop respect and appreciation for living and non-living things;

aesthetic appreciation encourages a sense of the uniqueness and beauty of the planet;

appreciation of nature is an impetus for many forms of creative expression;

individuals and cultures vary in the degree to which they value nature for its own sake and for its ability to serve human needs;

lifestyles, arts, and religions can be indicators of their perception of, and relationship with, their environment; and

respect for the land and all living things can encourage the maintenance of a healthy environment, providing benefits for everyone.

Responsibility

Human decisions and actions have environmental consequences.

Studies about the environment provide opportunities for students to explore the environmental impact of decisions and actions made at personal, community, societal, and global levels. Studies in geography, history, technology, and other arts and sciences can help students develop awareness of diverse cultural perceptions and interpretations of the environment.

Through the study of human impact on the environment, students can explore and develop positive approaches to long-range environmental concerns. Exploring and addressing global issues, such as militarism and war, the inequitable distribution of wealth and resources, food production, and transportation are essential to establishing a sustainable society. A focus on decisions and actions in other cultures and locations contributes to questions about how to live more sustainably here in British Columbia.

Concepts for student consideration and discussion include:

the preservation of viable ecosystems is a basic value for every society;

First Nations practise of Traditional Ecological Knowledge can illustrate alternative views on how humans have interacted with their environments;

consideration of all species for future generations is essential to preserve the integrity of the ecosphere;

the language used by a culture unconsiously reproduces its moral values;

some human actions have significant and cumulative impacts on the environment; and

growth in population and resource consumption is exponential. Most contemporary societies produce wastes, consume resources, and/or add to their population at rates that cannot be sustained.

Responsible action is integral to, and a consequence of, environmental education.

In light of what we know about past decisions around environmental issues, it is vital for students to decide what currently constitutes responsible action towards the environment and then begin to practice it. Concepts for student consideration and discussion include:

there are consequences and responsibilities for any action or inaction;

actions are influenced by belief systems and personal limitations, both physical and cultural; and

responsible action requires an understanding of factors that influence the environment and those that regulate, influence, or govern human interaction with the environment. These include the law, government and politics, civic responsibility, the decision makers, and those who influence them.

Ethics

The study of the environment enables students to develop an environmental ethic.

Supporting students to take responsible action requires an examination of values. Environmental education provides an opportunity for students to question cultural assumptions that lead to social conflict and environmental crises. The questioning process can create new visions and possibilities, but it is also important for students to realize that issues and crises are often the result of our value systems.

Students should be encouraged to make decisions based on an understanding of the issues, as well as their own values and the values of community members. Knowledge of philosophical and critical thinking tools, such as perspective analysis, argument analysis, and message deconstruction, provides a means to assist with the decision-making process and other disciplines. Some issues for an analysis of values could include:

economic growth and sustainable development;

pollution;

land ownership;

violence in society;

business ethics;

the role of the media; and

consumption patterns and lifestyles;

population control.

technological change;

 

Concepts for student consideration and discussion include:

actions are generated by belief systems or sets of values;

value systems can change over time;

the formation of values occurs in stages;

how the environment is affected by specific actions is a scientific question, but the choice of what action to take is a question of ethics and of cultural, religious, and/or personal values;

human quality of life is influenced by environmental quality;

humans must recognize their responsibility to future generations;

societal attitudes toward the environment are influenced by mass media coverageand perspectives; and

print and electronic media have commercial implications and contain ideological and value messages that have social and political implications.

The development of an environmental ethic in students is perhaps a culminating goal for environmental learning in that it requires an understanding of all of the previous forms of environmental concepts described. Understanding the complexity of their daily interactions, while also recognizing the aesthetics of their environment, will help students take active responsibility in moving toward change. When this happens, an environmental ethic can become part of the moral fibre of their identities.