Growing Possibilities in a Secondary School Integrated Environmental Studies Program

• In Event: 29.090 - Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: 29.090-20 - Enacting Participatory Environmental Education

Abstract

Our proposal resonates with this year’s call for submissions for the “democratizing possibilities of education.” This paper focuses on changes in knowledge, attitudes and social and environmental behaviours documented at one case study site over a four year span, involving 77 student participants, one teacher and one school principal, a component of a larger research project on integrated Environmental Studies Programs in Ontario, Canada. Three primary themes emerged: a) evolving program vision; b) the teacher adapting and growing her pedagogical praxis; and c) an increase in activist leanings. These results offer insights into environmental education theory, practice, and research and emphasize the educative potential for teachers as research study participants to engage in deliberate reflection that informs and transforms practice.

Authors

• Mary Catherine Breunig, Brock University

• Constance L. Russell, Lakehead University