Environmental Education in the Era of a Changing Climate

• In Event: Roundtable Session 54
  In Roundtable Session: Disrupting the Dominant Paradigm: Science Learning as Identity Formation, Community Action, and Transformation Toward a More Socially and Environmentally Just World

Abstract

Objectives
With the advent of globalization, communities worldwide are experiencing rapid cultural shifts (Agrawal, 2005). Also as local communities have changed lifestyles, global environmental problems have arisen that transcend the scale of the nation-state (Banks, 2004). An example of such an environmental problem is climate change.
The research design was set up to understand:
1. Student perceptions about the science of climate change?
2. Student perceptions of how climate change affects their everyday life (local)?
3. Student perceptions of how climate change affects other communities in the world (global)?

Theoretical Framing
Climate change is a not only a complex and challenging environmental issue, but also a socio-economic and political issue. In their paper “Environmental education: from policy to practice,” Barraza et al. (2003) emphasize that in order to rethink environmental education strategies, “ the complexity of social, political, and economic aspects of different countries require the formulation of environmental education initiatives grounded on analyses of particular contexts” (pp, 347). There is also a necessity to understand each other’s cultural contexts and to move away from western models of development (Huckle, 1995).

Methods
Keeping the above theoretical framework in mind we designed a cross-cultural collaborative learning course between 11th grade girls in the US and India that focused on bridging the gap between community and formal learning. The two groups were in communication with each other via a series of blog posts. We also used participatory video techniques. The students in both locations collectively designed a documentary that focused on local community understandings and convictions about the issues surrounding climate change. The students then shared these documentaries with their respective communities and exchanged the documentaries with each other.

Data sources: a) Student Blogs
b) Student videos
c) Pre post tests

Findings
We saw significant change in the students views at three levels
1. We saw a shift in the students’ views about the science of climate change as result of the intervention.
2. We also report a shift in student perception of how climate change affects their everyday life.
3. Finally we were able to see a change in student views about how climate change is understood in another part of the world.

Scholarly Significance
The collaborative learning approach put the local knowledge that the students build during the course of the project into a global context. Since all learning processes are influenced by culture and are rooted in social interactions (Scribner and Cole, 1973), the project took into consideration the cultural influences on science of climate change, keeping in mind that for individuals on a day to day basis, these social interactions are laden with beliefs, values, attitudes and all of the other elements that form ‘the culture’ (Camilleri, 1986). The study contributed to our understanding of education, cognition, and communication.

Author

• Sameer Honwad, University of Pennsylvania