From ecological science to environmental education : a professional turning point?

This article explores the significance of a shift in young people&rsquo;s professional career from ecological science to environmental education. The article reflects on the role of higher education in addressing social and political issues in environment and sustainability, and then provides an account of a course on environmental education research methodology at the Universidad Nacional Autfinoma de M&eacute;xico. The course included participants with an academic and professional background in ecological science who were seeking a change in profession to that of environmental education. It became clear that a shift in profession entails the exploration of an alternative professional philosophy. We draw on some of the participants&rsquo; written biographical testimonies to identify some themes around &lsquo;professional turning points&rsquo; and conclude that at least for some participants, there is a tension between science education that encourages &lsquo;an aspiration to be objective&rsquo; and environmental education that encourages an &lsquo;aspiration to respect the subjective&rsquo;.<br /

Gaining representations of children\u27s and adults\u27 constructions of sustainability issues

In this decade of Education for Sustainable Development, it is timely to consider the methodological issues associated with researching this topic not only with adults but also with the young children who, as members of the next generation, will experience the success or otherwise of current environmental sustainability efforts. We argue that it is important when making methodological choices to recognize that both the sustainability issues themselves and the way individuals learn about these issues, are socially and culturally constructed. In this article we are interested in ways of gaining representations of individuals\u27 mental constructions of environmental sustainability issues. We recount experiences from two projects, one which used the approach of analyzing children\u27s drawings to gain representations of how children in Mexico understand environmental issues and the other which employed adult participant-directed photography as the principal data collection method conducted mainly in the north of South Africa.<br /

El futur dels boscos mexicans depèn dels joves

La gestió forestal comunitària a Mèxic és reconeguda arreu del món, ja no només perquè la gran majoria del boscos del país està en mans de la població indígena, sinó perquè també fomenta un ús sostenible dels recursos, i enforteix l'organització social de la comunitat. San Juan Nuevo Parangaricutiro n'és un exemple, i una darrera investigació ha volgut comprovar si les futures generacions estan preparades per continuar amb la gestió de les empreses forestals comunitàries. L'educació dels joves i la promoció d'una consciència ambiental i cultural local semblen ser dues condicions sine qua non

Children\u27s knowledge and attitudes towards sea turtles in Colola, Michoacan, Mexico

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Values in science, environmental education and teacher education

The aim of this chapter is to establish values as a key component of science and environmental education, consistent with the troika framework, and to explore the implications of this for teacher education. In the chapter, we review research that has increasingly placed values at the centre of the process of learning science, and central also in framing students\u27 responses to school science. We then present findings from three projects that explore the relationship of values to teaching and learning science: first, an exploration of the pedagogies of effective teachers of science; second,an environmental education project in which students explore science and sustainability ideas in the context of a community exchange program in Mexico and Alaska; and, third, a teachcr education initiative focused on place-based education. In the chapter, we argue that learning science and engaging with the environment entails pedagogies that link conceptual learning, values and community.<br /

Environmental education : from policy to practice

The field of environmental education faces a process of continuous conceptual reconstruction that is underpinned by the complexity of the social and political changes occurring throughout the world as consequences of environmental crises and the different perspectives through which they are understood in different contexts. Thus there is a need to review and reflect on the meanings of environmental education, its theory and its practice. To address such issues the seminar, \u27Environmental Education: from policy to practice\u27, was held at King\u27s College London in March 2001, under the sponsorship of the British Council and directed by Justin Dillon. The seminar brought together environmental educators from a broad spectrum--policy developers, researchers and practitioners--from Belize, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, India, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Swaziland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. During a thought-provoking six days the seminar discussed a diverse range of ideas about the current trends and future practices in environmental education. In this report we present our \u27reading\u27 and reflection on two major aspects of the discussion: the meanings of environmental education and education for sustainable development in different cultures and contexts. This we do from our own positions as academics working on environmental education in Latin American contexts. <br /

Can science education help to build a sustainable society?

En este articulo presentamos una descripción critica sobre algunos de los lineamientos que consideramos necesarios desde el contexto de la educación a nivel universitario para dirigir y transformar el sistema educativo hacia una educación sostenible. Hablar de sostenibilidad hoy en día requiere de una reestructura en los programas de enseñanza en todos los niveles educativos. Señalaremos la relevancia de adecuar los contenidos del conocimiento hacia el tema de la sostenibilidad incorporando sus seis dimensiones. Así como las implicaciones que el concepto de sostenibilidad tiene en nuestra forma de pensar y de actuar. Discutiremos el aprendizaje transformador (TL) y algunas estrategias pedagógicas en la enseñanza de temas sobre la sostenibilidad que ayuden a generar cambios en las actitudes de quienes serán futuros maestros. Revisaremos enfoques pedagógicos para la enseñanza de la ciencia que nos pueden ofrecer una aproximación hacia cómo educar docentes para la educación sostenible, como el modelo educativo de las 5 “E”o los cinco dominios que favorece a la construcción de un pensamiento crítico, reflexivo y participativo. Finalmente proponemos un modelo de educación sostenible que incorpora cuatro ejes epistemológicos: una educación multi e intercultural, una educación para el futuro, una educación integradora y holística, y, una educación participativa.In this article we present a critical description regarding some of the guidelines that we consider are needed within education at university level to guide and transform the educative system towards an education for sustainability. To speak about sustainability we need to consider restructuring the teaching programs at all educative levels. For this, we discuss the relevance in adapting the six dimensions of the content-based knowledge towards sustainability issues, as well as the implications that the concept of sustainability has for our views, attitudes and actions. Transformative learning theories and pedagogical strategies for teaching science which could be useful for educating for sustainability and which could encourage changes in the attitudes of those who will become future teachers, such as the 5 “E” model which promotes critical and reflexive thinking are also discussed. We propose an educative model for teaching about sustainability with four basic epistemological elements: a multicultural education, an education for the future, a holistic education, and, a participatory education.Grupo FORCE (HUM-386). Departamento de Didáctica y Organización Escolar de la Universidad de Granada

¿Puede la enseñanza de la ciencia ayudar a construir una sociedad sostenible?

En este articulo presentamos una descripción critica sobre algunos de los lineamientos que consideramos necesarios desde el contexto de la educación a nivel universitario para dirigir y transformar el sistema educativo hacia una educación sostenible. Hablar de sostenibilidad hoy en día requiere de una reestructura en los programas de enseñanza en todos los niveles educativos. Señalaremos la relevancia de adecuar los contenidos del conocimiento hacia el tema de la sostenibilidad incorporando sus seis dimensiones. Así como las implicaciones que el concepto de sostenibilidad tiene en nuestra forma de pensar y de actuar. Discutiremos el aprendizaje transformador (TL) y algunas estrategias pedagógicas en la enseñanza de temas sobre la sostenibilidad que ayuden a generar cambios en las actitudes de quienes serán futuros maestros. Revisaremos enfoques pedagógicos para la enseñanza de la ciencia que nos pueden ofrecer una aproximación hacia cómo educar docentes para la educación sostenible, como el modelo educativo de las 5 “E”o los cinco dominios que favorece a la construcción de un pensamiento crítico, reflexivo y participativo. Finalmente proponemos un modelo de educación sostenible que incorpora cuatro ejes epistemológicos: una educación multi e intercultural, una educación para el futuro, una educación integradora y holística, y, una educación participativa