Skip to main content

An Ecology of Environmental Education

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
  • 120 Accesses

Part of the book series: Springer International Handbooks of Education ((SIHE))

Abstract

We tend not to question the implications of the terms we use in environmental education and its ever-changing names, purposes, and goals. Digging deeper into well-worn and accepted meanings from the early nineteenth-century movements integrating place-based nature study since John Dewey through conservation and outdoor education, the tensions in the historical realization of the field are traced. A critique of the social manifestations, political purposes, and philosophical grounding of environmental education is developed in relation to (1) shifts in the definition of its terms; (2) conceptual transformations of the discipline; (3) ecological issues; and (4) pedagogical imperatives. The resulting historicity takes into account initiatives from UNESCO to Agenda 21 and NAAEE to provide an ecology of environmental education.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Brennan, A. (1994). Environmental literacy and educational ideal. Environmental Values, 3(1), 3–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carson, R. (1956/1998). The sense of wonder. New York: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carson, R. (1962). Silent spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, J. (1902/1966). The child and the curriculum. University of Chicago Press: Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Disinger, J. (1983/2001). Environmental education’s definitional problem. In H. R. Hungerford, W. J. Bluhm, T. L. Volk, & J. M. Ramsey (Eds.), Essential readings in environmental education (2nd ed., pp. 17–31). Champaign: Stipes Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, W. (1995). Transpersonal ecology as a distinctive approach to ecophilosophy. In Toward a transpersonal ecology (pp. 197–247). Albany: SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ham, S., & Sewing, D. (1988). Barriers to environmental education. Journal of Environmental Education, 19(2), 17–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hungerford, H., & Volk, T. (1990). Changing learner behaviour through environmental education. Journal of Environmental Education, 21(3), 8–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jardine, D. (2008). On the while of things. In Back to basics of teaching and learning: Thinking the world together (pp. 223–242). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, C., & Fortner, R. (2006). Issue-specific barriers addressing environmental issues in the classroom: An exploratory study. Journal of Environmental Education, 37(3), 15–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ko, A., & Lee, J. (2003). Teachers’ perceptions of teaching environmental issues within the science curriculum: A Hong Kong perspective. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 12(3), 187–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leopold, A. (1966). The sand county almanac. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maturana, H., & Varela, F. (1987). Tree of knowledge. Boston: Shambala.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClaren, M. (1995). Environmental literacy from a global perspective. In G. Snively & A. MacKinnon (Eds.), Thinking globally about mathematics and science education (pp. 11–24). Vancouver: Research and Development in Global Studies Centre for the Study of Curriculum and Instruction, University of British Columbia.

    Google Scholar 

  • McInnis, N. (1972). When is education environmental? Journal of Environmental Education, 4(2), 51–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, M. (2002). Ecological consciousness and curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 34(5), 571–587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muir, J. (1901). Our national parks. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Muir, J. (1911). My first summer in the Sierra. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naess, A. (2008). Self-realization: An ecological approach to being in the world. In A. Naess (Ed.), Ecology of wisdom: Writings by Arne Naess (pp. 81–96). Berkeley: Counterpoint.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norris, S., & Phillips, L. (2003). How literacy in its fundamental sense is central to scientific literacy. Science Education, 87(2), 224–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • North American Association for Environmental Education. (2004). Excellence in environmental education – Guidelines for learning (pre K-12) (introduction). Retrieved February 5, 2009, from http://naaee.org.npeee/learnerguidelines/intro.pdf

  • Orr, D. (1992). Ecological literacy: Education and the transition to a postmodern world. Albany: SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orr, D. (2005). Foreword. In M. Stone & Z. Barlow (Eds.), Ecological literacy: Educating our children for a sustainable world (pp. ix–xi). San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, J. A. (1998). Environmental education in the 21st century: Theory, practice, progress, and promise. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roth, R. E. (1970). Fundamental concepts for environmental management education (K-16). Environmental Education, 1(3), 65–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stables, A., & Bishop, K. (2001). Weak and strong conceptions of environmental literacy: Implications for environmental education. Environmental Education Research, 7(1), 89–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stapp, W. B. (1969/2001). The concept of environmental education. In H. R. Hungerford, W. J. Bluhm, T. L. Volk, & J. M. Ramsey (Eds.), Essential readings in environmental education (2nd ed., pp. 33–36). Champaign: Stipes Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thoreau, H. D. (1854/1995). Walden; or, life in the woods. New York: Dover Publications.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO/UNEP. (1975). The Belgrade Charter: A framework for environmental education. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0001/000177/017772eb.pdf

  • UNESCO/UNEP. (1977). Intergenerational conference on environmental education – Final report. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0003/000327/032763eo.pdf

  • United Nations. (1972). Report of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. Retrieved from http://www.un-documents.net/aconf48-14r1.pdf

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susan Jagger .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Jagger, S. (2019). An Ecology of Environmental Education. In: Trifonas, P. (eds) Handbook of Theory and Research in Cultural Studies and Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01426-1_27-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01426-1_27-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-01426-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-01426-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education

Publish with us

Policies and ethics