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Full-Text Articles in Education

Ecological Literacy: An Australian Perspective, Sandra Wooltorton Aug 2006

Ecological Literacy: An Australian Perspective, Sandra Wooltorton

Sandra Wooltorton

As I begin to write this paper it is a still, windless autumn day in the tuart woodland in the south-west of Western
Australia. Rain is falling gently and in the bushes and trees there is a musical ensemble of rufous whistlers,
pee-wits, wrens, robins and wagtails. Occasional old jarrah trees spread their grey pin-striped trunks and
branches to display their brown, well-worn possum tracks, revealing use by the brush-tails in the safety of
night. The comparatively youthful peppermint and huge old tuart trees host the endangered ringtail possums that
come out in the dark, when the quenda scurries about …


From "Sit And Listen" Of "Shake It Out Yourself" : Helping Urban Middle School Students To Bridge Personal Knowledge To Scientific Knowledge Through A Collaborative Environmental Justice Curriculum, Shamu Fenyvesi Sadeh May 2006

From "Sit And Listen" Of "Shake It Out Yourself" : Helping Urban Middle School Students To Bridge Personal Knowledge To Scientific Knowledge Through A Collaborative Environmental Justice Curriculum, Shamu Fenyvesi Sadeh

Dissertations and Theses

Science education and environmental education are not meeting the needs of marginalized communities such as urban, minority, and poor communities (Seller, 2001; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], 1996). There exists an equity gap characterized by the racial and socioeconomic disparities in: levels of participation in scientific and environmental careers and environmental organizations (Lewis & James, 1995; Sheppard, 1995), access to appropriate environmental education programs (U.S. EPA, 1996), exposure to environmental toxins (Bullard, 1993), access to environmental amenities and legal protections (Bullard, 1993), and in grades and standardized test scores in K-12 science (Jencks & Phillips, 1998; Johnston & Viadero, 2000). …


In Our Own Backyard: Critical Theory And The Development Of The San Jacinto Center For Environmental Education, Susanna Hamilton, Darleen Stoner, Randall Wright May 2006

In Our Own Backyard: Critical Theory And The Development Of The San Jacinto Center For Environmental Education, Susanna Hamilton, Darleen Stoner, Randall Wright

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

This research addresses the topic of nature centers from a critical theory perspective. This research assumed in part, the question: what are the characteristics of a functional and successful nature center that includes environmental education goals and programs? Nature center administrators from across the United States were surveyed and asked to share their opinions on this topic. Six overall characteristics pertaining to management and vision were identified through an exploratory mixed‑method design. Other components of these characteristics were discovered during the analysis of the data, and include factors such as approaches to education. Recommendations for improving nature centers and their …


A Participatory Approach To Learning Sustainability Feb 2006

A Participatory Approach To Learning Sustainability

Sandra Wooltorton

I contend that for progress towards a sustainable future, we need an understanding of sustainability as having a core of reconnective learning as an inbuilt ‘driver’. Many writers such as Sterling (2001: 19) call for the elaboration of a new, lived paradigm of sustainable education and learning sustainability. In this chapter, I use notions of primary and secondary meaning and Heron’s (1996) and Reason’s (2004) framework of experiential, presentational, propositional and practical knowledge to propose a transformative, reconnective process for learning sustainability. I articulate a holistic, relational ontology and a participatory epistemology as the basis of the participatory approach. The …


Health Curriculum And School Quality: Aku-Ied’S, Shabnam Ahmed Feb 2006

Health Curriculum And School Quality: Aku-Ied’S, Shabnam Ahmed

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

This paper is based on the experiences of the Health Action Schools project at AKU-IED and looks at issues surrounding the definition, choice and implementation of planned content of health education for primary schools in Pakistan. The paper argues that health education is a vital component to achieving quality because it links home with school; ‘needs now’ with ‘needs later’. Yet it proves exceptionally difficult to plan and deliver such content effectively because curriculum planning bodies are geared to work with separate subjects rather than across the curriculum, with classroom content rather than wider learning experiences in and from school, …


Teaching For Quality Education In Environmental Education: Challenges And Possibilities, Abid Shah, Sadaf Jehangir Feb 2006

Teaching For Quality Education In Environmental Education: Challenges And Possibilities, Abid Shah, Sadaf Jehangir

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

The paper is based on critical reflection about ‘innovative’ teaching strategies and learning experiences of a facilitator and learners about the environmental education course at Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development, Pakistan. This 16-week elective course on environment education was offered from October 2004 to February 2005. This paper examines “what teaching strategies and learning experiences are most effective in environmental education course for bringing about positive change in knowledge skills and attitude towards environment conservation?” Our findings indicate that the course has impacted learners in terms of knowledge and personal development, through the experiences of partnership, community interaction …


San Jacinto Center For Environmental Education, Susanna Catherine Hamilton Jan 2006

San Jacinto Center For Environmental Education, Susanna Catherine Hamilton

Theses Digitization Project

The author sets out to find what the characteristics of a functional and successful nature center includes. In doing so, she helps to create the San Jacinto Center for Environmental Education. The desire behind this is to bring more school-age children and university students to the site as well as to manage and expand the public walks on the San Jacinto Wildlife Area.


Development Of A Strategic Plan For The Highland Environmental Learning Center, Jessica Ann Sutorus Jan 2006

Development Of A Strategic Plan For The Highland Environmental Learning Center, Jessica Ann Sutorus

Theses Digitization Project

The project focuses on the development of a strategic plan for the Highland Environmental Learning Center (HELC), the completely integrated environmental learning center located in the Highland Branch Library of the San Bernardino County Library system. The plan was developed through the investigation of other nature centers, interpretive centers, and environmental learning centers to help define the purpose and mission for environmental education in a non-formal setting. It is also meant to serve as a guideline for future programming, budgeting, promotion, and staffing of HELC. The plan supports HELC's goal to foster environmental sensitivity and environmentally responsible citizenship.


Addressing Second And Third Grade California Science And Social Science Content Standards Through Environmental Literature, Denise Truex Hatfield Jan 2006

Addressing Second And Third Grade California Science And Social Science Content Standards Through Environmental Literature, Denise Truex Hatfield

Theses Digitization Project

In response to the federal legislation No Child Left Behind, schools across the country implemented required reading programs for classroom instruction. Open Court's Reading program meets this criterion for many schools. The text in Open Court Reading for grades two and three was evaluated for science and social science content standards that would be supportive of environmental education. Supplemental lessons from Project Learning Tree, Project WILD, and Project WET were identified.


Small Is Healthy: A Guide To Promoting Health In Small Schools, Pat Pridmore, Tashmin Kassam-Khamis Jan 2006

Small Is Healthy: A Guide To Promoting Health In Small Schools, Pat Pridmore, Tashmin Kassam-Khamis

Books

No abstract provided.


Affecting Schools Through A Health Education Initiative, Tashmin Kassam-Khamis, Sadia Muzzafar Bhutta Jan 2006

Affecting Schools Through A Health Education Initiative, Tashmin Kassam-Khamis, Sadia Muzzafar Bhutta

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

No abstract provided.


Portrait Of An Urban Elementary School: Place-Based Education, School Culture, And Leadership, Michael Thomas Duffin Jan 2006

Portrait Of An Urban Elementary School: Place-Based Education, School Culture, And Leadership, Michael Thomas Duffin

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This study explored the interaction between place-based education, school culture, and leadership at one elementary school in an inner city section of Boston, MA. The centerpiece is a stand alone research portrait that tells a story about how an external program, a willing and ready school community, and a skillful school leader reinforced each other to achieve a shared vision under challenging conditions. From an under-subscribed school in chaos and lacking focus, the subject school transformed into a vibrant, highly sought school with a pervasive, environmentally-oriented culture and curriculum. Portraiture methods were adapted to a utilization-focused evaluation purpose, drawing on …


On Wisdom For Our Future Dec 2005

On Wisdom For Our Future

Sandra Wooltorton

It is early summer in the south-west of Western Australia, one of the most biodiverse eco-regions on earth. It is quiet now, late in the evening, while outside the wind stirs a gentle rustle in the tops of the tuart, jarrah, peppermint and banksia trees. In the scrubby undergrowth, the shy quenda is scurrying about, busily conducting her affairs in such a way that most of the humans are unaware of her presence. In the peppermint trees, the western ringtail possum will be similarly busy, along with the brush tail possum, the tawny frogmouth bird, the boobook owl and the …


Environmental Education In Action For The Future, Sandra Wooltorton, Dora Marinova Dec 2005

Environmental Education In Action For The Future, Sandra Wooltorton, Dora Marinova

Sandra Wooltorton

We have known for quite a while that the planet we live on is under ecological stress. The beginning of this century however and 2006 in particular saw renewed concerns about humanity facing environmental challenges, threats and crises related to facts and perspectives on climate change. The economics of it as revealed in the Stern Review (2006) show that there is overwhelming scientific evidence that we must take action right now so that climate change will not increase its effect on the “the basic elements of life for people around the world – access to water, food production, health, and …