Supporting New Teachers in Environmental and Sustainability Education: The Pathway to Stewardship and Kinship

Abstract

Preservice teachers occasionally feel challenged when attempting to implement Environmental and Sustainability Education in their teaching during school placements. They can experience pressure to conform to the prevailing culture found in the schools and to meet the expectations of their associate teachers and other mentors. Here we explore an initiative that can support preservice teachers, and the schools they are teaching in, by broadening the base of responsibility for this aspect of education and drawing on the expertise and facilities of the wider community. The Pathway to Stewardship and Kinship is an environmental and sustainability project based in Peterborough, Ontario. Its aim is to devise and promote positive stewardship of the environment to children of all ages through a community-wide environmental education framework that ensures authentic learning in formal and non-formal education settings. The project is a collaborative effort involving a wide range of stakeholders from the local community and incorporates the First Nations’ concept of kinship. This chapter explains how the project framework was developed and outlines key stewardship principles and opportunities for children. By linking age-appropriate opportunities directly to principles in stewardship education and to the Ontario curriculum, the framework provides a community-wide road map for raising environmentally engaged citizens. The model can be easily adapted to other jurisdictions.