Course:EDCP333/environment

SUSTAINABILITY, ENVIRONMENT AND COMMUNITY

Introduction

Sustainability refers to a quality and system of life that allows people to meet their current needs without compromising the resources available for future generations to meet their future needs

Community has many meanings. Two definitions of community which fit best in our topic are: a group of people living together in one place, especially one practising common ownership; and a group of people having a religion, race, profession, or other characteristic in common: the scientific community.

Environment is the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates. It can also be defined as the natural world, especially as affected by human activity.

Sustainability in Curriculum

BC Ministry of Education

The BC Ministry of Education has created many frameworks for understanding sustainability and the environment. They helped to add in missing content from IRP’s; however, are they sufficient?

a) “Sustainability Course Content: A Curriculum Framework”
[BC Education]

This is a document created in 2010 which includes 7 modules for studying sustainability which can be adapted as a course or integrated into current courses. It is a starting point for teachers looking to include sustainability and includes possible PLO’s, definitions, and resources. The seven modules include: Introduction to Sustainability, Environmental Ethics and Social Development, Ecology and Nature, Environmental Challenges and Sustainable Solutions, Sustainable Design and transportation, Balancing Ecology and Economics, and Sustainable Action. While the site provides a good introduction to sustainability, it does not really address how teachers should tackle these issues.

b) Environmental Learning and Experience (ELE)
[ELE: Guide and Video clips for Teachers]
[ELE: Curriculum Maps]

The ELE was created in 2007 in by Environment Educators Provincial Specialist Association and BC Hydro in consultation with the BC Ministry of Education. The ELE is a provincial framework for introducing environmental education. It includes both an interdisciplinary guide for teaching as well as curriculum maps. The maps aid to connect the theory into practice. There are two aspects of the map: The Learning Cycle and the C.A.R.E. principles (insert images- also many videos we can embed in wiki). Could do a whole section on these concepts.

c) Sustainable Schools: The Best Practice
[Sustainability practices]

From the introduction, “has been developed to help schools implement actions that support reduction of greenhouse gases and encourage the wise use of resources. It is intended to promote behavioural change that results in a culture of environmental sustainability.”

Vancouver School District

The Vancouver School District has included sustainability in their policies. For example, they have adopted a “sustainability coordinator” who works with the schools to develop sustainability projects and environmental issues. This includes a mentoring project of secondary schools to elementary schools in things such as creating school community gardens. VSD has also adopted recycling, composting, and community garden initiatives.

Sustainability in the IRPs

Geography 12
In the Geography 12 IRPs the word sustainability is mentioned 26 times; however, it is only used as a title of definition. Within the IRP there is an organizer titled "Resources and Environmental Sustainability." Specifically the organizer asks to, "explore the considerations involved in making resource-managment decisions and to examine the environmental issues associated with various human activities" (page 12). There are not mentions of "community." Under specific PLOs for sustainability, there is a focus on sustainability in terms of resource management. The PLOs ask students to be able to define sustainability, understand the ethics of resource use, and the factors to proposed resource management (page 38). There are not very many specific activities or resources for teachers who want to focus on sustainability in the classroom.
Social Studies 11
In the Social Studies 11 curriculum there is no mention of sustainability within the PLOs. However, within the Social Studies 11's textbook, Counterpoints there are three pages in the text which cover sustainability. There are sections on building towards a more sustainable city and resource management. The definition given for sustainable cities is as follows, to ensure "resource decisions today do not compromise the quality of life for future generations" (392). It advocates for changes in the way we plan to accommodate "community, economy, and environment." The textbook was written in 2001 when the buzzword of sustainability was just starting to surface. Perhaps in future revisions there will be a greater focus on the topic.

Critique of Sustainability Education: Eco-pedagogy

Through looking at Sustainability Education there is a critique that the focus is on community gardens, outdoor education, and eco-consumerism. Learning about sustainability often involves learning how to buy "green." This type of sustainability education causes an allusion that we are 'being green' but by focusing solely on individual choice we are ignoring the bigger structural issues . Academics such as Kahn, Gaard, and Orlowski have questions how we can teach sustainability in an unsustainable system of consumerism and economic growth, , . Sustainability Education is not challenging the capitalist rather or structure that has led us to this ecological crisis. Kahn emphasizes that we are literally 'buying into' sustainability. The idea that we can solve the world's ecological problems by buying "green" goods is a strategy of big business and corporations. Capitalism and consumerism have become a hegemonic discourse and teaching sustainability under a passive system only perpetuates the problem.

The challenge with buying green and focusing on individual choice is that it allows companies to sell us sustainability. More and more we see people brings their own coffee mugs to Starbucks or re-usable grocery bags when shopping. While these strategies are not inherently troubling in themselves, eco-consumerism relies on the individual to put pressure on corporations to affect their social responsibility. The risk in this is that companies become concerned with selling sustainability to promote their image. This often results in "greenwashing," the idea that companies call their products "green approved" or "100% sustainable" without actually changing to more sustainable practices. Stephen Colbert demonstrates this point nicely.

The ideas of greenwashing or eco-consumerism has led to academics to create an critical eco-pedagogy. Critical eco-pedagogy was grown out of Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy. The moment advocates for the following characteristics, opposition to globalization and neoliberalism, focus on ecoliteracy, critique of the "hegemonic" forms of environmental education. The ideology encourages citizens to question how we teach and learn about sustainability. It asks educators to put a critical lens to sustainable education and to get students to ask questions and advocate change. Finally the pedagogy questions 'sustainable development' without challenging the unsustainabililty of an economy advocating endless growth.

Lesson Plans

Ideas for the Classroom

1. Commuter Debate:
Break students into four groups and randomly give them one of four topics: Bike, Bus, Walk, or Car. Give the students a scenario such as, they need to go to a job interview, and the students will have to argue for their form of transportation. Allow each group to have an opening statement and let the fun begin. Once the debate begins to die down, you can have the students vote on which form of transportation they would choose to take based on specific criteria. (Courtesy of Metro Vancouver Sustainability Workshop)
2. Environmental Issue Walk Around:
Give each student a sticky note and have them write one aspect they like about their city. On the back, have them answer one environmental concern they have for their city. After students have recorded their issues, ask them to walk around the classroom, silently, and look at their classmates answers. Once students have walked around ask them to begin to form groups based on the aspect that concerns them about their city. Ask them to group themselves and then create a team name that describes their issue.
3. Community Mapping Exercise

Incorporating Sustainability in Curriculum

- Fur Trade, Bison Hunt and Extinction, Impact of Westward Expansion (Social Studies 10)
- Impact of World War 2 on the environment (Social Studies 11)
- Resource Management (Geography 12)

Lesson Plan Examples

Sustainability can be included into many different topics within Social Studies as seen above. Another idea for including sustainability within curriculum is to create a unit placed on sustainability. There is a framework provided by the Ministry of Education (as seen above). The following are two lessons that can be included within this unit placed on sustainability.

1. Consumption Lesson Plan
I decided to create a lesson plan focusing on consumption patterns. My original plan was to show different video clips to get students to think about what they buy and why. I then wanted to focus on the video, The Story of Stuff, which I felt would be a great video to show in a classroom. I began looking for different lesson plan ideas and I landed on one provided by the New York Times website. The site had adapted a lesson plan from the Learning Network. The lesson plan fit into my goals so I decided to adapt and use the lesson. The lesson has students not only watching The Story of Stuff but consider the biases. This allows students to begin to engage in critical media literacy. After, the lesson has students read an article which views the usefulness of the video within the classroom. The article contains different viewpoints and would further promote students to engage in the topic. The article also points students to consider environmental education and how teachers need to supplement sustainability within the curriculum. I think the lesson plan is a great introductory lesson for consumption and media literacy. It would need to be followed up by a lesson on planned obsolescence and greenwashing. Orlowski's ideas would be great in the follow up lesson. I do have some reservations about the lesson based on the sophistication of the analysis. I think a teacher needs to be aware of the issues of sustainability education as well guide students through the questions of biases and perspective.
For my version of the lesson I only included some of the ideas from the original plan. Follow this link to see the originial lesson plan. Also I found the lesson plan through World Savvy Lesson Plans which would be a great resource for teachers.
[Consumption Lesson Plan]

2. Eco-Economics For my lesson plan, I thought it is necessary for students to learn how economy and ecology is interconnected with one another. I saw the term "eco-economics" in Grant and Littlejohn's Teaching green, the high school years : Hands-on learning in grades 9-12 (2009). This topic is great for senior students in both social studies and geography classes especially if they have not been taught of economics in ways that effect our ecology. I have focused on four ideas that must be addressed in this lesson so that students may become aware of what is going on outside classes. The four ideas are: (1) the economy exists within a larger ecosystem; (2) products have a “life cycle” that begins with materials extraction and ends with disposal, reuse or recycling; (3) price and cost are not the same; and (4) economic indicators (should) account for social and environmental costs. This lesson's effectiveness will depend on both teachers' preparation such as information on corporate companies or even governmental policies, and students' discussions. Engaging group work must be encouraged in this class to not only inform one another but to raise questions and realize how many issues are unanswered. This can help them to be motivated towards changing the future. On my lesson plan, I have included the geography 12 PLOs that are directly related to the lesson. This lesson can still be applied to other grade levels; it not limited only for geography classes.
[Eco-Economics Lesson Plan]

Readings from class

Orlowski, P. (2011). Separate oil & state: Using the media for a critical eco-pedagogy in the classroom. Our Schools Ourselves, 20(3), 91-120

Orlowski further questions sustainability education in B.C. He argues, “the focus of much of this [environmental] education has been to make a case for the individual to affect change through eco-consumerism: purchasing biodegradable products and creating recycling programs”. Orlowski offers strategies for teachers to include a critical eco-pedagogy within their classroom through a media project questioning corporate interests. Orlowski promotes the idea of creating “informed and vigilant citizenry.”

Hursh, D. (2010). The long emergency: Education for democracy and sustainability. In A. P. DeLeon & E. W. Ross (Eds.), Critical theories, radical pedagogies and social education (pp. 139-150). Rotterdam: Sense Publishing

In Hursh’s article he questions the assumption that we live in the best possible world. Like the above academics, he also calls for an critical pedagogy. He further notes the need to question the current economic system. He proposes the question to educators, “How are we to create world that is environmentally and economically sustainable” an answer that will not be found in a textbook. Hursh attributes the current education system for the loss of the common good as it promotes individualistic economic consumers instead of active, critical citizens.

Lewis, H. (2009). Stories about place: Community mapping is a powerful tool for environmental education. Our Schools Ourselves, 19(1), 59-66. Available at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7688/is_200910/ai_n42854661/

In Lewis' article, you can find how community mapping can be utilized in classrooms to expand students' knowledge about their communities. For instance, by mapping where origins of local produces are, students are able to learn different lessons such as connectivity between the world and local places - how transportation and importing/exporting make it possible for students to receive their good at public markets. Community mapping usage is unlimited in classrooms and even outside schools when raising awareness to issues together and dealing with them. For clearer ideas, refer to Lewis' article for more information on the community mapping exercise experiment.

Martusewicz, R., & Schnakenberg, G. (2010). Eco-justice, community-based learning and social studies education. In A. P. DeLeon & E. W. Ross (Eds.), Critical theories, radical pedagogies and social education (pp. 25-41). Rotterdam: Sense Publishing

This article focuses on various interdisciplinary issues such as goals of social studies and how to incorporate ecological and global citizenship education into our social studies curriculum. Particularly, Martusewicz and Schnakenberg emphasized the need to incorporate ecojustice -- reconnecting students and teachers to their own local communities -- in classrooms for students to acquire multiple-perspective learning. More students are increasingly becoming unaware of many parts of the world, having only limited knowledge of only populated areas. Public education must take responsibility, be purposeful and develop students who can identify, understand and make collective decisions to solve problems in their communities, whether local or global, to survive and achieve overall well-being. Both authors look towards radical approach to future of social studies curricula to accommodate students to flourish in this changing world.

Resources

Books

Grant, I., & Littlejohn, G. (2009). Teaching green, the high school years : Hands-on learning in grades 9-12. Gabriola Island, B.C.: New Society Pub.

More than 200 individuals have contributed into this book to provide various activities to approach different topics of "green" education. Some of these approaches are applicable in social studies and geography classes by helping students understand the existing systems that are increasingly becoming problematic in our society. This book contains many activities that require long periods of time to be most effective on students. There are five chapters that focus on: approaches to learning; learning about ecosystems; living sustainably; making interdisciplinary connections; and exemplary models and programs. The one that sounds exciting was the last chapter: exemplary models and programs. In this chapter, there are numerous real-school experiences of previous field trips and projects. For educators who wondered what would happen during overseas projects or other large youth groups in schools and communities, this chapter provides a great amount of information and references for assistance.

Gray-Donald, A., & Selby, D. (2008). Green frontiers, environmental educators dancing away from mechanism. Rotterdam: Sense Pub.

This is a compilation of journal articles aimed at environmental educators and future EEs so that they may understand challenges which exist in Canada better. The book is divided into five sections that examine from the basics of what is environmental education, to breaking down barriers that inhibit environmentalism in schools.

Huckle, J., & Sterling, S. R. (1996). Education for sustainability. London : Earthscan / James & James.

This book clarifies the theory and practice of sustainability education. Chapter one lays some foundations for other chapters by providing different political ideologies and contemporary environmental politics. Chapter two emphasizes that education must be transformed if it is to be transforming, and outlines primary requirements and qualities of education for sustainability. In chapter three, critical approach towards existing conservation and ecology-based environmental education is provided. Principles of curriculum that formed the basis of WWF's education work and strategy are focused in this chapter. Chapter four suggests methods for teachers who are challenged to incorporate sustainability into their teaching. There are more chapters that focus on other topics such as: corporate greening; local government's educational role in LA21; and a vision of a 21st-century community learning centre.

Wilke, R. J. (1997). Environmental education teacher resource handbook: a practical guide for k-12 environmental education. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin Press.

This resource book is great for any environment educators who are beginning to collect class materials. There are examples of curriculum designs and methods to incorporate environmental education into classrooms. This book is very useful if you are educators who are seeking ways to get funding for your schools' projects or even simply criteria of evaluating environmental education. There are other sources and ideas for special projects such as: hosting a parade that embodies environmental theme; developing and presenting an environmental slide show or video; and other construction projects that can benefit local communities or schools. Again, this book contains many more ideas and strategies that you can use in classrooms.

Scholarly Articles

Gaard, G. (2008). Toward an Ecopedagogy of Children’s Environmental Literature. Green Theory & Praxis. The Journal of Ecopedagogy, 4(2).

Greta Gaard is a disciple of Richard Kahn’s eco-pedagogy. She provides an overview of the need for eco-literacy and the questioning of sustainable development in an economy that promotes endless growth. Gaard gives many different ideas for using critical literacy through children literature. She cites the example of using and critiquing Dr. Seuss’ Lorax.

Kahn, R. (2008). From Education for Sustainable Development to Ecopedagogy: Sustaining Capitalism or Sustaining Life. Green Theory & Praxis. The Journal of Ecopedagogy, 4(2).

In Kahn’s article, he questions whose agenda we are promoting through sustainable education. He argues there are two streams of sustainable education: Antiglobalist (eco-pedagogy) or Neoliberal framework. He notes the neo-liberal framework perpetuates the structure and does not allow for participation or inquiry from citizens. He questions whether sustainability education is simply an “educational fad” created for big business. He concludes, there is a “hegemonic discourse that has been created by state agencies that seek to appear to be developing pedagogy relevant to alleviating our mounting global ecological crisis.” footnote Once again, Kahn calls for the need of eco-literacy.

Kahn, R. (2009). Producing Crisis: Green Consumerism as an Ecopedagogical Issue. In J. Sandlin & P. McLaren (Eds.), Critical Pedagogies of Consumption. Routledge.

Richard Kahn writes many interesting articles about sustainability under a capitalist system. He is a large advocate for eco-pedagogy. In Kahn’s article about green consumerism he discusses the problem of trying to be sustainable within a capitalist system. He argues that “going green” allows for corporations to sell us sustainability. For example, he notes it “allows corporations to turn the very crisis that they generate through accumulation of capital via exploitation of nature into profit.” footnote He points out the “take home message” of being eco-friendly emphasizes change through individual choice without questioning the larger problems. He recommends we re-evaluate our sustainability education under the neo-liberal system and began to de-humanize the capitalist system.

Rickinson, M., & Lundholm, C. (2010). Exploring student learning and challenges in formal environmental education. In R. Stevenson & J. Dillon (Eds.), Engaging environmental education: Learning, culture and agency (pp. 13-29). Rotterdam: Sense Pub.
(This article highlighted the challenges of teaching environmental issues to secondary school students)
This article focused on findings from two studies that examined learners’ experiences of and response to environmental curricula. The first study was done on three English secondary schools and their students’ learning within environmental geography lessons. The other study looked at Swedish university students’ learning about environmental issues within undergraduate engineering and biology. By focusing on these two studies, this article highlighted the complexity of the learning experience within existing environmental education and brought attention to the need for improved research-based understandings of environmental learning processes. For the sake of this class, the first study will only be mentioned.
The first study was a two-months long, qualitative investigation which involved three teachers and twelve of their students, aged 13-15 years, dealt with controversial environmental issues within the geography classroom. Findings relating to students’ environmental learning challenges were: first, students were interpreting the tasks differently; secondly, emotional responses to the content were varied; thirdly, teachers and students shared different opinions about the content; and lastly, students shared different views of what should be studied in the subject.
First challenge - different interpretations of the task - was clearly shown by the English secondary students. When the students were given assignments to show understanding of the environmental lessons, some students misinterpreted the assignments and the tasks became barriers rather than facilitators in classrooms. Second challenge - different emotional responses to the content - was where students had different feelings towards lessons in classes. Inevitably, some students felt more compelled than others towards environmental issues discussed in the classroom. Third challenge - different opinions from the teacher about the content - was seen amongst teachers since they held strong views on the issues that they were teaching. Often, this caused tension between students who had different perspectives and their teachers. Differences between attitudes caused problems in classrooms.
Last challenge - different views of what should be studied in a subject - came from few students who believed that learning about certain topics were not necessarily appropriate in the environmental curriculum. As rebellious they might seem, these students justified their beliefs and the teachers struggled to educate these topics.
These findings emphasized the need for more sophisticated understandings of several aspects of the learning situation. The following aspects were derived from the article:
*the role of values and emotions in the learning process and the relationship between the affective and the cognitive aspects of students’ experiences
* how the relationships between the beliefs and values of teachers and students can influence students’ learning
* the factors that can facilitate and hinder learners’ willingness to engage with and benefit from environmental learning opportunities
* the extent to which the kinds of learning challenges reported in this chapter may be relevant within different educational contexts.
Most importantly, the article emphasized that teachers need to recognize learners as active agents rather than passive recipients of environmental learning.

Thompson, S. (2008). Environmental justice in education: Drinking deeply from the well of sustainability In J. Gray-Donald & S. David (Eds.), Green frontiers: Environmental educators dancing away from mechanism (pp. 36-59). Rotterdam: Sense Pub.
This article looks at “environmental education as it is presently practiced and then describes the potential of taking an environmental justice framework that considers: 1) different ways of knowing; 2) resource distribution inequities, and 3) the disproportionate environmental health risks that further burden the disempowered.” (Thompson, 2008)

Wals, A., & Noorduyn, L. (2010). Social learning in action: A reconstruction of an urban community moving towards sustainability. In R. Stevenson & J. Dillon (Eds.),Engaging environmental education: Learning, culture and agency (pp. 59-77). Rotterdam: Sense Pub.
“We do not and cannot know what the most sustainable way of living is. What we do know is that current systems and lifestyles are fundamentally unsustainable and that we need to engage people, organizations and communities in a creative search for more sustainable ones. How do we engage people at the community level in such an existential quest? What kinds of learning processes seem promising in utilizing the diversity different members of society bring to this quest?” This article focuses on different aspects of a ‘sustainable’ neighbourhood to reconstruct and incorporate into modern day societies. It also brought attention to involving children in creating sustainable communities since continued involvement is essential in the future. The process of creating a sustainable community requires active civic engagement, interactivity between adults and children, and cooperation between people towards harmonious social learning. Since there will be diverging norms, values and constructions of reality, differences need to be put aside to improve the dialogue between agents which will help identify strategies to create sustainable communities.

Websites

[Metro Vancouver]
Metro Vancouver provides many resources for teachers looking to teach sustainability within the classroom. The Sustainability Framework, C.A.R.E. policies, and curriculum maps are located through this website. Also the site provides ideas for field trips and notices about upcoming teacher's workshops. The site has many resources available to teachers and is a great place to start. Finally the site has a link for the Metro Vancouver's Youth 4 Action which promotes creating youth leaders who promote sustainability throughout their schools.
[Center for Ecoliteracy]
The Center for Ecoliteracy's goal is to "support and advance sustainable education." The site has resources to learn, teach, or change sustainable education. It provides a rationale for teaching sustainability education as well as has many links to readings, blogs, publications and update news. The center has created a framework for schooling for sustainability, Smart by Nature. The center is a great one-stop shop for anyone who is interesting in schooling for sustainability.
[Sierra Club BC - Sustainable High Schools Project]
The Sierra Club has a Sustainable High Schools (SHS) Project which promotes youth leadership within schools. Teachers are able to sign their classrooms up for the project. As well, the website provides links for both educators and students. The site provides a wealth of resources and curriculum activities.
[BetheChangeEarthAlliance.org]
Be the Change Earth Alliance was one of the presenters at the BCSSTA 2011 conference. The non-profit organization based out of Vancouver which promotes creating a global community through creating a sustainable presence. The alliance has created a unit plan filled with resources that many Vancouver schools have begun to implement. In order to access the Earth Alliance's resources, schools or teachers need to register for their program. With that being said, there are some free resources, video clips, and articles posted on their website.
[Greening Schools]
Greening Schools has a link of resources created by Illinois EPA and WMRC. Their slogan is "Protecting our children, our environment, and our future. The site has different lesson plans and resources available to teachers from primary to post-secondary.
[Suzuki Foundation]
The foundation is a great place to get ideas surrounding environmental issues. It can also be a great resource to provide students.
[Ecomii]
Ecomii is an online community that is accessible for students, parents and teachers. There is a great online forum where members can share ideas and other updates to support other eco-friendly members. Both teachers and parents can read and use some of the healthy living tips that are readily available from this site.
[Earth Care]
There are numerous resources for teachers to incorporate environmental education in classes. It is a great start for any new EE teachers.
[Environmental Education and Communication]
The Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication (EECOM), is Canada’s only national, bilingual, charitable network for environmental learning. EECOM works strategically and collaboratively to advance environmental learning to ensure Canadians are environmentally literate, engaged in environmental stewardship and contributing to a healthy, sustainable future. For teachers, there is useful information on upcoming conferences and other workshops that focus on environmental education.
[Ecokids - Earth Day Canada]
This is a kid-friendly site where students can find fun games and helpful tips for homework on environmental education. There are other contests that students may tune in and apply themselves. The teachers section from this website also include resources and other lesson plans that educators may use. (Sign-up is required for teachers)

Videos

1. Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
Dr. Seuss' book, first written in 1971, provides insight into environmental sustainability, corporate control, and the idea of over-consumption. The video or book can be an nice "hook" or place to begin the dialogue about sustainability within the classroom.

2. The Story of Stuff
The Story of Stuff is an environmental online video created by Annie Leonard in 2007. The 20 minute video criticizes the consumerist American ideology in a cartoon narrated by Annie Leonard. The video is an informative and entertaining analysis and would be great to show in the classroom.

3. An Inconvenient Truth
The Inconvenient Truth is the 2006 documentary film about Al Gore's campaign to educate about climate change. The documentary was very successful and may provide a nice visual aid when teaching about climate change.

4. Home
Home is the 2009 film that shows an aerial footage of 54 countries, depicting how the world is interconnected. More importantly, this film carries the message that Earth problems, particularly the issue of climate change, are shared in all parts of world. This movie received great reviews for depicting the message effectively and of course, has great visuals.

5. 11th Hour
11th hour is a documentary narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio that shows state of humanity and the world. This movie can convince anyone to realize that humans have made irreversible impact on this planet. Not only does this documentary show terrifying truth of human's impact on Earth, but also has a motivating effect on any viewer to become more involved towards making a change in the world.

References

Group : Lindsay G and Cat C