The purpose of environmental education is to change individual behaviour towards the environment' Kn

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• The purpose of environmental education is to
  change individual behaviour towards the
  environment. Knapp (2000)

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• Education is critical for promoting sustainable
  development and improving the capacity of the
  people to address environment and development
  issues. (United Nations)

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(No Transcript)
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Creating Environmentally Responsible Citizens

• Are Schools in British Columbia Doing Enough?
• By Darryl De Boer
• Michael Iachetta
• John Pavao
• Chris van der Veer

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Our World . . .
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Its where we live . . .
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Its where we work . . .
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Its where we play . . .
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So why is it starting to look like this?
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And this . . .
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• Do we care?

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• Do our students care?

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• To find out, we created a survey. We gave
  students an opportunity to express their
  thoughts.
• Here are some of their ideas

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• Save our environment. Its our future.
• Lets keep our earth clean.
• We need to do more for our environment.

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• Theres a lot of talk about the environment but
  I dont see a lot of action.
• My school thinks recycling bins are enough.
• Only the environmental club talks about these
  issues.

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• I just dont really care about the environment.
  Its not important to me.
• It really doesnt matter what the school does.
  Its not their responsibility to get us to take
  care of the environment.
• Global warming is a myth.

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• I dont care, frankly. Im tired of all this
  talk of cleaning up the environment. If you want
  to clean it up, keep it to yourself, and stop
  talking to me about it because Im too busy and
  important to care about such a trivial matter.

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With these thoughts in mind, we began our
research journey. . .
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We knew. . .

• our planet was experiencing pressures.
• peoples actions were affecting these pressures.
• Canadians were starting to learn more about the
  environment.
• our students will play a critical role in
  resolving environmental issues.

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We wondered. . .

• if an increase in knowledge would result in an
  increase in caring behaviour.
• if schools were preparing students to become
  environmentally responsible citizens.
• what role, if any, schools played in instilling a
  change of consciousness.

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We wondered some more

• Was there a difference in attitudes and
  behaviours between
• male and female students?
• schools and school districts?
• elementary and secondary school students?

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• Then we wondered

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Is Al Gore enough?
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Or,

• are students more in need of effective,
• caring schools to become
• environmentally responsible citizens?

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What we did . . .

• We designed a survey based on Nel Noddings
  concept of care, which states
• the capacity to care, itself, is based on a
  persons knowledge of what it means to be cared
  for. (Smith, 2004, pg 75)

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Our framework

• Our survey was structured around four domains of
  care in schools
• Modeling environmental care.
• Dialogue about environmental issues.
• Practice and environmental experiences.
• Confirmation of positive environmental choices.

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Our survey asked students to respond to
statements like . . .
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My school makes environmental issues a priority.
48 of students disagree.
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I learn more about environmental issues from tv
than I do from my school.
31 of students disagree. Ouch.
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My teachers talk to me about making good
environmental decisions.
52 of students disagree.
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My school listens when students have concerns
about the environment.
44 of students disagree.
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My school offers a variety of field trips related
to environmental issues.
62 of students disagree.
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School activities help me to make good decisions
about the environment.
71 of students disagree.
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My school celebrates those who make wise
environmental choices.
61 of students disagree.
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• In addition to evaluating their schools, students
  were asked to assess their own environmental
  attitudes and behaviours.

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I would speak out against my friends poor
environmental choices.
44 of students disagree.
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I participate in a group that promotes
environmental awareness.
71 of students disagree.
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• One thousand three hundred five surveys later

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District and school details

• Riverside School District

• Suburban/Rural District
• 5 secondary schools surveyed
• 4 elementary schools surveyed
• 702 students surveyed

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District and school details

• Mountain View School District

• Urban District
• 5 secondary schools surveyed
• 4 elementary schools surveyed
• 603 students surveyed

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Regarding care in schools, we learned
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Grade 7s rank higher than grade 10s in all four
domains of care when reporting on their schools.
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All students ranked modeling as the domain of
care in which their schools do the best.
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Dialogue was the lowest ranked domain of care by
all students.
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And we learned. . .
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At the grade 7 level, Riverside School District
ranked higher than Mountain View School District.
Mean score
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But . . .
Mean score
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Mountain View grade 10 students scored their
schools higher than Riverside grade 10 students
on the four domains of care.
Mean score
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And we learned . . .
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Elementary schools that scored well scored well
in all four domains.
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Schools that scored poorly did so in all four
domains.
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And when it came to secondary schools . . .
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Secondary school rankings were polarized.
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• So far we have learned from our data . . .

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that schools still have a long way to go in
cultivating care.
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Regarding the behaviours and attitudes of
students, we learned
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Girls claim to be more environmentally
responsible than boys.
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And . . .
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Grade 10 students claim to be more
environmentally responsible than grade 7
students.
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Interestingly . . .
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• Even though 78 of students stated that they were
  concerned about the environment and 74 of
  students consider themselves environmentally
  responsible citizens, their scores show that
  their attitudes and their behaviours do not match.

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Students environmental behaviours.
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• After all of this,
• we learned

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• that students talk the talk
• but dont yet
• walk the walk.

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• So, is there a correlation between what schools
  are doing and what students are doing?

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Yes, sadly.
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Correlations

• At the grade 7 level
• All four domains of care positively correlate
  with students attitudes and behaviours.
• For males, environmental behaviours correlate
  strongest with dialogue and practice.
• For females, environmental behaviours correlate
  strongest with modeling and dialogue.
• correlation is significant at the 0.01 level.

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Correlations

• At the grade 10 level
• All four domains of care positively correlate
  with students attitudes and behaviours.
• For males, environmental behaviours correlate
  strongest with dialogue and practice.
• For females, environmental behaviours correlate
  strongest with dialogue and confirmation.
• correlation is significant at the 0.01 level.

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It becomes quite apparent . . .
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• that the care provided by teachers and schools
  is integral in helping to shape environmentally
  responsible behaviours.

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• Our research confirmed that we need to do the
  following if we are to help our students become
  environmentally responsible citizens

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• continue to care for students and instill a
  sense of care in them.

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• provide opportunities, at the school level,
  for students to experience their environment and
  interact with it.

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• affirm the actions of students and continue
  to discuss thoughts, feelings and values.

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• continue to share our experiences as
  teachers.

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• And, ultimately, we learned. . .

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• Schools that cared produced students who cared.

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Sorry, Al. On your own, youre not enough.
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Thanks for the help, Al.(nice tan)
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For listening to our story.
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Future Research

• Longitudinal study.
• Exploring successful schools.
• Identify external influences.
• Explore gender gap.
• Talk with teachers.
• Talk with students.
• Explore link between school and community.

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School initiatives

• Encourage teachers to incorporate themes of care
  into what they teach.
• Provide environmental opportunities for students.
• Collaborate with colleagues and share successes.
• Empower students.

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District initiatives

• Prioritize environmental sustainability at school
  and district levels.
• Support teachers efforts to incorporate
  environmental themes, in and out of the
  classroom.
• Support environmental pro-d.
• Provide opportunities for teachers to collaborate
  with local experts.

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• Look at the world around you. It may seem like
  an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With
  the slightest pushin just the right placeit can
  be tipped. Malcolm Gladwell (2002)

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Acknowledgements

• Our group would like to thank the following
• Riverside and Mountain View School Districts
• administrators, teachers and students
• UBC Faculty of Education Professors
• BBE2 Cohort Colleagues
• Distinguished guests and visitors
• Lastly. . .
• Our families for their patience, understanding
  and unconditional support.