Back

Environmental Education Teaching Philosophy 

I rely on the natural world to provide me with the sets, lighting, sound effects, and supporting characters for the production that is outdoor education. Without contributions from nature, my educational show becomes a one-man act, and a much poorer one at that. It is my job as a member of mother natures acting troop to look out for my fellow cast-members by stressing knowledge about and protection of the environment. The important role natural environments play for me professionally manifests itself in my global philosophy towards environmental education. My meta-philosophy can be broken-down into three subcategories; defining teaching about the environment, defining the goals and methods for bringing environmental education to participants, and my plan to continue increasing my own knowledge and growth with regards to environmental education.

Teaching about the environment is best approached as a philosophy rather than an action. When teaching about the environment is a philosophy teaching can take place at any time in both structured and unstructured situations. Teaching in the moment helps to increase interest as it shows the immediate applicability of the corresponding knowledge. Of course, there is also an appropriate time and place for more structured environmental education, but to rely only on structured opportunities is to deny participants a multitude of learning opportunities. Environmental education taught as a philosophy is more holistic, and has the potential to spark curiosity and encourage life-long learning outside of traditional environments. This teaching is ideally approached experientially and should take into account different learning styles.

The goal of teaching participants about the environment is to engage them at a level that will lead them to desire to seek out more information about natural environment on their own. There is no program long enough to be able to teach a participant the entirety of knowledge concerning the natural world during the program. So instead, the focus of the environmental education component of a program should be to present knowledge in a way that accentuates key points and encourages interest while making it clear how additional information can be obtained. Participants are encouraged to think critically about natural issues in order to understand their importance to our continued societal existence.

My plan to continue increasing my own knowledge and growth with regards to environmental education sounds like a lot of fun to me! I love to learn about environmental and natural topics, so I regularly seek out scientific news articles and magazines on these topics. I will additionally continue to seek out additional professional development trainings like Project Wet and Wild and Leave No Trace that increase my capacity to teach about environmental issues. If my situation allows, I would enjoy continuing my formal education on these topics in a college or university setting.

When the curtains close on the interactive natural drama that is an outdoor education experience, I will have tried my best to impart upon participant-audience members some additional knowledge of specific elements of the environment and hopefully an increased appreciation for the complexity and importance of the natural world. This change in knowledge, attitudes and behaviors will develop out of planned and spontaneously integrated educational opportunities drawn from my continuously developing understanding of environmental education.

Back

 

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws