Approaches to environmental education

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of various approaches that exist within the field of environmental education (EE). Like science education, environmental education is an interdisciplinary and complex field that offers a multitude of strategies for learning, dependent on the variables of resources, time, space, curriculum, student characteristics, plus a full range of factors that can affect any kind of educational implementation. Seven approaches are briefly described: EE and the schoolyard; place-based education; the Projects curricula (PLT, WILD, and WET) and Population Connection; science and EE in nature centers, zoos, and museums; investigating and evaluating environmental issues and actions; action research and EE; and the Science-Technology-Society approach to EE. Each of these approaches individually addresses several important goals of EE, but none of these is totally prescriptive or comprehensive. There are many different EE teaching and learning approaches one can select from. It is up to the individual educator to select and apply the approach that will be most effective in specific settings. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.