environmental education from 5 to 16: curriculum matters 13: an hmi series

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  • 8/9/2019 Environmental Education from 5 to 16: Curriculum Matters 13: An HMI Series

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    Deparmnt of ducaion an cc

    I-MAJSY' T IONRY OFCE

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    Crown copyrigt 1989ist publised 1989

    ISN 0 11 270664 9

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    Contents

    Page

    Preface

    Environmental education: Its scope and purpose 1

    The objectives of environmental education 3

    Criteria for the selection of content 7

    The planning of environmental education 8

    Teaching and learning approaches 11

    Assessment 14

    Appendix 1 Some links beween environmentaleducation and other areas of he curriculum 16

    iii

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    PRC

    Pf

    Since 1984 HM Inspectoate as publised a nube ofCuiculu Mattes papes designed to stiulate discussion about

    te cuiculu as a wole and its coponent pats. In soe caseseades' esponses to tese papes ave also been publised. Tedetails of te seies ae sown at te end of tis publication.

    Environmental education from to is te titeent in te seies.It sets out a faewok fo scools in foulating tei policiesand pactices in envionental education. Te pape is addessedto eads and teaces scool govenos local education autoity(LEA) ebes and oces paents eployes and te widecounity outside te scool. It discusses ways of fosteing

    envionental education it establises objectives it identiesciteia fo te selection of content and it consides planningstyles of teacing and leaning and te assessent of pupils.

    Mattes to do wit ou envionent ae vey uc in te aiat pesent. In paticula in May 1988 te Council of EducationMinistes of te Euopean Counity ageed on te need totake concete steps fo te pootion of envionental education. . . tougout te Counity' and adopted a Resolution onEnvionental Education to tat end. Consequently tis

    publication sees paticulaly apposite intended as it is to elpLEAs and scools conside ow best to oganise and cay outenvionental education.

    Like te ealie publications in te Cuiculu Mattes seiestis pape is intended to stiulate pofessional discussion andto contibute to te debate about national ageeent on teobectives and content of te scool cuiculu tat is takingplace as a consequence of te ipleentation of te NationalCuiculu set out in te Education Refo Act 1988.

    Te National Cuiculu Council as te task of taking fowadte wok of individual subject woking goups toug consultationwit te education sevice and otes. It as also been asked byte Secetay of State to conside and advise i by 31 Mac1989 on tose cosscuicula issues wic sould be includedin te cuiculu of aintained scools . . . and te extent towic tose issues can be included in attainent tagets andpogaes of study fo te coe and ote foundation subjects'.

    Envionental education is one suc cosscuicula issue.v

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    PRFC

    vi

    b w .

    If you have any comments on this paper please send themto HM Inspector (Environmental Education), Department ofEdcation and Science, York Road, London SE1 7PH by31 May1989.

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    ENVRONMENTL EDUCTON: TS SCOPE ND PURPOSE

    Evo do op d ppo

    1 Fom an ealy age chlen ae cos abot the people

    places anmals plants an mateals aon them. They leanabot the envonment thogh the own st-han expeencefo tir paents thog mea an fom a vaety of othesoces. Schools have a ole n helpng the ppls make senseof these expeences an n evelopng the knowlege annestanng of the physcal an hman pocesses whch nteactto shape the envonment. Schools can also help to foste aeasone an senstve concen fo the qalty of the envonmentan fo the management of the eath's esoces These ae ofcose mattes of nceasng socal concen

    2 The Curriculum from 5 to : Curriculum Matters sggestethat envonmental ecaton foms one of the essental ssesto be aesse n the cclm of schools. It aely appeasas a sbject on the school tmetable; no oes ths pape aget necessaly shol. Bt the nestanng of pocesses ansses whch t seeks to pomote oght not to be le to chanceo to nval ntatve. Ths pape tes to entfy tsstnctve contbton to ppls' leanng to set ot objectvesan to otlne plannng an teachng appoaches

    3. In explong an explanng nte-elatonshps n the envonment envonmental ecaton aws on an contbtes to theconcepts sklls an knowlege nepnnng a ange of sbectso aeas ofleanng an expeence Patclaly thogh elwokt enches chlen's nestanng by povng contexts nwhch t can be evelope o apple at st han.

    4 nvonmental ecaton has fo ovelappng components:

    (a) costy an awaeness abot the envonment;

    (b) knowlege an nestanng;

    (c) sklls;

    () nfome concen

    Curiosity and awareness5 Developng awaeness of the envonment means blng on

    an enfocng ppls' costy abot the natal an manmae

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    THE OBJECTVES O ENVRONMENTL EDUCTON

    actiities of community rous Enironmental education seresas one of seeral means of roidin a focus for the alicationof knowlede, skills and understandin drawn from other subjectareas

    8 Fieldwork in country and city is an essential art of enironmental education. Often, this is enhanced by an element ofadenture and may inole some hysical challene in which rsthand knowlede of the enironment is essential: for examle thestability and fraility of rocks, the behaiour of the sea, or suddenchanes in weather

    Infrmed concern9. Enironmental issues are of enuine ersonal concern to manyuils and can act as a usel means of exlorin moral, social

    and olitical alues Puils should be equied to brin to thestudy of controersial ssues enironmental and others a resectfor eidence, an understandin of others' concerns, and a rowinrealisation that choices are rarely clear-cut The sitin of roads,railways or ower stations, the closin down of old industry andthe oenin of new, the suly and treatment of water, all mayraise intense debate; issues such as these which may not alwaysbe controersialrequire the alication of understandin. Puilsmay be encouraed to enae in actiities in which the ideas forchane and imroement can be tested This may take the form

    of ractical work in the school rounds; conseration work outsideschool; writin to the local council about a local issue; raisinmoney to alleiate the eects of natural disasters in other artsof the world Puils may come to form denite iws about suchmatters as the use of esticides and fertilisers or nuclear eneryand may wish to make these known in some way If they are ledto consider dierent oints of iew they are, in the context ofthe school community, bein introduced to the olitical rocessand are showin social resonsibility To aoid bias andindoctrination it is necessary for youn eole to acquire an

    informed and critical understandin of all the iews held aboutsuch issues and an areciation ofhow actions and decisions nowand later aect the enironment.

    Th objv of vodo10. The extent to which early exeriences lay a foundation forthe deeloment of awareness, skills and understandin deends

    3

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    ENVRONMENTL EDUCTON ROM 5 TO

    o how teacher pla experiece to eable pupil to expoit theirperceptio ad idea. A childre progre through chool, theireviromeal experiece hould wde ad their iterpretatioof evidece become mor coheret a they are helped to makeue of kowledge ad kill exemplied acro the curriculum.

    Activitie uch a urba ad rural tudie related to localad more ditat eviromet, cietic ad techologicalivetigatio ad cotac with a icreaig umber o lay adprofeioal people will all add to their experiece.

    11. hey hould alo come to realie tha people are o implyat the mercy of imperoal force ad that, throughout hitory, heyhave ofte bee ad are till drive ad ethued by eceity,belief or the viio of a better life have croed ea, draiedwamp ad cleared wilderee, built citie ad developed the

    rule of law, irrigated deer ad put ma o the moo Whilethey hould be aware of the le deirable coequece of theeactio they hould be excited by huma edeavour ad kill awell a have repect for the force ad coditio of the aturalword. hey hould begi to grap the complexity of the iterrelatiohip bewee makid ad the eviromet.

    Objectives at age 12. However the curriculum i orgaied the programme oftudy i the primary chool hould eable pupil to

    gai, at rt had, kowledge of their loca eviromet, forexample, it weather, urface feature ad the humauece upo it i the form of buidig, road, etc;

    kow of the ue of material ad eergy i the eviromet

    compare the mai feature of their local eviromet withother they have viited, ad, a far a poible, with moreditat place;

    relate the preet to the pat eviromet

    gai ome udertadig of the lifecycle of aima ad platad the way thee iteract with oe aother ad iuecethe eviromet

    begito udertad how deciio are made about evirometal iue, icludig the mea through which peopleexpre their view ad the power they have to iuece ad

    make deciio.

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    .

    THE OECTIVES OF ENVIRONMENTL EDUCTION

    aly enrnmenal maers her deelng skls as n

    (a) makng carel bserans lkng r relanshsdeelng and esg hyheses akng nerences andredcng cnseqences;

    (b) rasng qesns d desgnng nesgans and enqres;/

    (c) sng a arey srces nrman and nerreng henrman ganed;

    (d) cmmncang her ndngs n a arey ways;

    becme aware hw hey and her ele case changesn he enrnmen and herere hae sme resnsblyr ;

    deel clear ews ab wha hey ale n he lcal enrnmen and hers he hae sed and hw where necessarychanges mgh be brgh a;

    begn arecae ha whn any area arclarly helcaly he schl here are ele wh deren belesales and ades whch nence he way hey nerac

    wh hers and wh he enrnmen; deel an ndersandng he nerdeendence ele

    and her enrnmen;

    begn deel a cmmmen he nrmed care andmremen her enrnmen and ha hers.

    Obectives at age 13 Beween he ages 1 and 16 ls' enrnmenal

    exerence shld wden and lead an ncrease n ndersandnghrgh he sdy a range cre and ndan sbjecssred by crss-crrclar acy sch as eldwrk lsshld als becme mre able salse as and resenenrnmens and arecae he ways n whch ele derenclres nerac wh her srrndngs

    4 By he age 16 ls shl be able

    arecae he nare he wrd's resrce base and s lms;

    5

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    ENVRONMENTL EDUCTON FROM 5 TO 1

    6

    be abe to justify teir views, attitudes and decisions on tebasis of informed, reasoned argument

    gain a basic knowedge of ecoogica reationsips andprincips and of te eects of pysica processes on te

    environment ave some understanding of te economic, tecnoogica and

    socia factors and of te poitica processes aecting tepanning and use of te environment

    gain some insigt into oter peopes environments, fe-styes,predicaments, vaues and attitudes

    appreciate te reationsip between economic factors suc ascosts and prices and environmenta decisions

    rene and appy teir genera skis in

    a) making and ordering accurate observations

    b) deveoping and testing ypoteses, incuding te properconsideration of variabes

    c) dening questions for investigation and carrying out sucenquiries carefuy and sef-criticay

    d) obtaining information from a variety of sources and interpreting suc data to arrive at suitaby warranted generaisationsor concusions

    e) communicating teir ndings, ideas and feeings aboutenvironmena topics in a variety of ways

    deveop a critica appreciation of teir surroundings

    deveop a commitment to te care and improvemen of teirown environment and tat of oters

    be aware of te interdependence of communities and nationsand some of te environmenta consequences of tat interdependence

    be aware tat te current state of te environment dependson past decisions and actions and tat its future dependssignicanty on contemporary actions and decisions incuding,in some measure, teir own.

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    CRTER OR THE SELECTON O CONTENT

    fo h o of o

    15. Th wid rang of knowldg which forms th basis ofnironmntal ducation and th fact that uch of it rsids inothr aras of th curriculum mans that th body of contnt

    nds carful slction and planning if pupils ar to achi abalancd undrstanding of th nironmnt Th followingcritria ar suggstd for th choic of contnt across thcurriculum

    (a) By th tim thy la school all pupils should ha studid,in dirnt ways, nironmnts on local, national and worldscals

    (b) Contnt should b chosn to allow balancd dlopmnt ofundrstanding about:

    popl and thir actiitis;

    placs and conditions;

    plants and animals;

    matrials and rsourcs, including nrgy

    (c) Th matrial chosn should illustrat nironmntal principlsand idas, to b undrstood at lls appropriat to th agof th pupils It should includ

    similaritis and dirncs and th rasons for thm;

    chang and dlopmnt;

    th human and non-human factors inuncing chang suchas nd, community considrations and cost;

    th intrrlationship of th arious factors such as cology,climat, population, blifs and idas.

    (d) Th contxts and idas chosn for study should nabl a rangof skills to b dlopd, particularly thos of instigation,application and synthsis.

    7

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    NVRONMNTL DUCTON ROM 5 TO

    8

    Th pg of vodo

    16 If edcaton for and abot the enronment s to make a

    dstncte contrbton to the tota crrcm that pps recee,care pannng s essenta As sch edcaton s sa medatedthrogh aros ndda sbjects or topcs, t s mportant thatteachers reew perodca the acttes ndertaken n derentear grops across the prmar and secondar crrcm and,where necessar, ndertake frther constaton and pannngto ensre coherent crosscrrcar deeopment. Those wthresponsbt for sbjects or areas of the crrcm mght beasked to state how far the objectes and content of ther schemesof work contrbte, or mght contrbte, to deeopng pps'

    enronmenta nderstandng Ths cod be done, for exampe,b sng a grd whch sts enronmenta sses or topcsaongsde the contrbton of ndda sbjects Sch reewsma reea oeraps, gaps or nconsstences whch can beremeded A range ofnks between enronmenta edcaton andother areas of the crrcm s sggested n Appendx

    17 Both sbjectbased and topcbased approaches can contrbteto acheng the ams and objectes of enronmenta edcatonAt the prmar stage chdren shod engage n thematc work

    so that the come to apprecate nter-reatonshps wthn theenronment; eqa the need to earn some of the specc sks,concepts and sbject matter assocated wth areas of std schas hstor, geograph and scence These mght sometmes betaght n the context of separate sbjects, and apped to broadbased enronmenta topcs In the rst hree ears of secondaredcaton enronmenta work ma be prsed thogh the stdof separate sbjects proded that adeqate nks are made betweenthese and enronmenta sses and that the pps hae the chanceto sd the enronmen at rst hand Aternate, sbjects

    ma be drawn together n composte or ntegrated corses whchfocs on the enronment as one of a nmber of mportant areasor themes for std In the foth and fth ears of secondaedcaton pps oen hae er derent programmes of stdas a rest of opton schemes Sch araton makes t dctto ensre that a pps hae adeqate experence of enonmetaedcaton

    18 In the prmar schoo one teacher shod take a ead nworkng wth coeages to arre at an agreed ew of ams ad

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    TH PLANNNG OF NRONNTAL DUCATON

    objectie ad at a cheme of work which gie guidace oattaimet target to be purued ad the topic to be tudied adeiromet to be explored through the dieret tage of thechool. Scheme of work hould help to eure that obectieare achieed whateer the form of curriculum orgaiatio ued.

    Coordiatio hould iclude the orgaiig of reource drawigo people outide chool with particular experiece or expertieto cotribute; ad decidig o the rage of local ad ditateiromet to be icluded i tudie. Coordiator hould gieadice o teachig appoache ad o aemet preferably byworkig alogide other cla teacher from time to time. Adiceo detailed plaig deped o the particlar focu of each tudyad the pecic expertie of the cla teacher or the ta grouprepoible who work with the childre away from the chool.The plaig eed to be modied a work proceed ad a ue

    i made o opportuitie a they arie for example the uddepollutio of a tream ear a chool may quite properly becomethe focu of the childre equirie for a time

    19 I plaig ad orgaiig eirometa work all teacherhelped by the coordiator eed to coider:

    whether the topic or iue ha bee tackled before i omeform or other by their pupil ad how the work build owhat ha goe before;

    whether it i releat of iteret ad of alue to childre;

    the mai objectie i tudyig the topic or iue;

    how it tudy further deelop pupil udertadig killad ability to coduct a equiry ad to draw warratablecocluio from it;

    the balace of direct ad idirect experiece ad ofidea killad area of kowledge;

    the dieretiatio of actiitie ad experiece for particularchildre;

    the poit at which ad the degree to which childre houldbe deelopig their ow lie of equiry or area of iteret;

    at what tage the childre hould work idiidually i groupor a a cla;

    9

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    NVRONMNTL DUCTON ROM TO 1

    10

    the resources needed

    how he work each chid underakes is o be recorded andwhat use should be made of these records

    how the learning undertaken by the children is to be ealuaed.These considerations are as important in project work insecondary schools as they are in primary schools.

    0. In secondary schools teachers co-ordinating the work needto encourage inolement in enironmental education on the partof separate subject departmens and indiidual teachers Coordinators should relae objecties outlined in subject schemesof work based on attainment targets and programmes of study

    to enironmental issues and suggest how hese might becomplemented by objecies more specically relaed to enironmental education. They should be responsible for seeing that theschool has the necessary resources, including ouside eperise,to tackle enironmental issues They should also play a majorpar in helping formulae policies about the ways in which workouside he school, including residenial eperience, can beplanned and implemented progressiely through the secondaryyears.

    1 In a secondary schoo imetabling arrangements should beeible enough o allow pupils, on occasion, o work with anumber of teachers on an enironmental heme and to enablesome of these actiities to take place oer an etended periodof ime. Schools might arrange for such themes as energy, resourceuse or famine to feaure in eery class in a ariety of subjectsoer a period of time or, ery occasionally, they might suspenda year groups normal timetabe for up o a week and deoe thetime to enironmenal educaion, perhaps through eldwork.Whateer imetable arrangements are employed, it is important

    hat, oer a period of terms or years raher than weeks, a balancedprogramme of aciities in enironmenta educaion is proidedfor secondary pupils. It may be ta a specic time can be setaside for enironmental educaion in order o co-ordinae hecontributions of dieren subjects this could occur weekly orless frequently. A its simplest this could take the form oftimeabling in such a way hat dierent speciaist eachers could,if they felt it necessary, work together with pupils in the sameyear group r there may be oher times when a greater rangeof epertise is required and specia arrangements can be made.

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    TECHNG ND ERNNG PPROCHES

    Thg d g ppoh

    22 If hr awarnss, undrsandng and sklls ar o bdvlopd, pupls wll n from rs-hand xprn of arang of nvronmns, bgnnng wh h shool sl s

    grounds and s mmda loaly and progrssng o work nmor dsan sngs, hrough, for xampl, h us of ld sudynrs, xhangs wh ohr shools and vss abroad. Suhxprn nds o b omplmnd nrasngly by nformaongand aross h urrulum hrough sours suh as lms,phoographs, audo-aps, orrspondn, books and maps.

    23 Tahrs should ak no aoun, and sk o buld on,hldrn's prpons and qusons. Bfor sarng parularnqurs pupls should b gvn opporuns o xplor aspsof h nronmn wh a vw o framng qusons whh wllfous hr work Thy should b nouragd o mak hr ownobsrvaons and o ommn on hos of ohrs bu hy wllalso nd hr anon drawn o mporan faurs whh hymgh ohrws gnor Thr may b oasons whn ndvdualpupls ar abl o ak a ladng rol for par of h work bausof hr parular knowldg or xprn Through dsussonpupls should b nouragd no only o dvlop hr nllualurosy and h yps of work whh hy mgh undrak bu

    also o xprss hr flngs as a rsul of hr prsonalxprns, for xampl followng hr rs ngh walk or waha a ld sudy nr.

    4. bov all, ahrs should hlp pupls plan and arry ounvsgaons by provdng a sruur whh avods ovrprsrpon or nsun gudan. s par of h sruurpupls should

    (a) dn larly hr ara of sudy, h rlaonshps o b

    xplord and, whr nssary, h hypohss o b sd;(b) drmn h hnqus and rsours rqurd for hr

    nvsgaon

    () ls h sours of daa o b drawn upon, .g. doumns,popl wh parular xprn or xprs;

    (d) draw up a provsonal mabl;

    () onsdr h ways n whh hr ndngs mgh b prsnd.

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    NVRONMNT DUCTON ROM 5 TO 16

    1

    Teachers can help direct childrens learning in varios ways byacting as discssion leaders, evalators and, particlarly, as moreknowledgeable and experinced learners who do not have all theanswers bt know how best to proceed

    5 Stdy of the environment shold give children oppotnitiesto collect and analyse dierent kinds of data biological, historical,geographical, economic, demographic and other For example,a grop of older primary children or yong secondary ppilsmight ndertake a village stdy where they analyse the types ofhosing, the agestrctre of the poplation, the occpation ofnhabitants and other data, inclding the range of impressionsthey have formed themselves as visitors. Ppils shold also havethe chance to synthesise their ndings by bringing together the

    work of dierent grops within the class, seeking interrelationships within the isses raised in their stdy. This mayinvolve presenting the reslts of their investigations to fellowppils or to those living in the areas being stdied

    In the light of their knowledge of childrens previosexperience and abilities teachers have to make jdgements abotthe scope of the work, the objectives to be prsed and the timescale involved It may be necessary to limit the complexity ofthe environment to be stdied a single tree, hose or eld maybe scient for some yong children, while with more experiencethey cold stdy a street, a farm or a whole village. The timescale can also be varied from enqiries lasting a few hors tolongerterm ones to which a seies o miniinvestigations and datagathering activities can contribte ith yonger children it maybe appropriate to limit objectives at dierent times, emphasisingfor example exploration and commnication on one occasion andplanning and the condct of investigations in small grops onanother For example, primary children might be asked to explore

    the locality and to commnicate their ideas of what they like anddislike throgh making posters, displaying them pblicly anddiscssing them with fellowpps and passersby; here, objectiveswod be limited to observation, commnication and personalevalation of aspects of the environment

    27 hatever the age grop, tasks and teaching approaches haveto be dierentiated to meet the learning needs of dierent ppils.At primary level, for exampe, able children may qickly earnto extract information from books, archives and other sorces,

    whle others may need mch more help as well as partlyprocessed

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    TCHNG ND RNNG PPROCHS

    data whch they can handle. At the secondary stage, ale pplsmay e motvated y complex sses sch as the economcs offarmng or the ecoogy of ran and rral stes, whle othersmay respond etter to work nvolvng practcal tasks sch asconservaton projects. In oth prmay and secondary schools low

    achevng ppls can prodce work of qalty when helped tofollow p ther own qestons related to a local or more dstantenvronment.

    8 In addton to gvng chldren plentl rst-hand experencefrom whch they can acqre knowledge, schools need tocommncate envronmental deas and sklls n a varety of waysThere are occasons when nformaton s est provded ydemonstraton Well-prepared expostory teachng on sjects

    sch as world energy spples for secondary ppls or thelocal mnng ndstry for prmary chldren can e approprateas a stmls to ftre work Sch teachng can help prepareppls for exploratory work or help them n followng t pTeachers may need to teach well-tred technqes sch as thosesed for measrng waterow, analysng slopes or dentfyngplants Usng photographs, docments and other resorces tomprove nderstandng of dstant envronments s valale,as are smlated plannng meetngs, plc enqres andnteractons etween pressre grops Informaton technology

    can e an mportant ad to teachng aot the envronmentMcrocompters can montor the weather or other natralphenomena sch as the ow of streams and present thenformaton graphcally on a screen They can e connected todata ases va the telephone network and hence make avalaleto chldren centrally stored nformaton In these cases, pplscan manplate the data on the screen, oten comparngnformaton from derent sorces. Ths cannot replacepractcal experence, t t can stmlate ppls ecaset calls for ther actve partcpaton and provdes themwth opportntes to explore statons and the data descrngthem.

    9 People from otsde the school, some of whom may eparents of the ppls, shold e encoraged to provde opnonsand specalsed nformaton eachers and chldren need accessto experts sch as planners, archtects, ndstralsts or wardensand to laypeople who lve n the places they vst, snce t s notpossle for a teacher or grop of teachers to know evey poant

    featre n the area nder stdy

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    ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION FROM 5 TO 16

    -

    30 Whn takling ontroversial issues in environmental eduationteahers should not preah or ondemn their task is to exploreideas with pupils ad help them beome better inormed. Thepurpose o disussing ontroversial issues annot be to give youngpeople a omplete understanding or knowledge o them no onehas this. But misunderstanding and distortion an be lessenedthrough the provision o wellounded inormation, and illinormed value judgements an be avoided by giving pupilspratie in onsidering the messages bombarding them rom thevarious groups intrested in the matters onerned n general, iteahers are asked or their own opinions, it seems sensible thatthey should give them, while at the same time making it learthat other reasonable and serious people, inluding the pupilsparents and other pupils, may legitimately hold dierent views.

    A

    31 Assessment is an integral part o the teahing required toahieve te objetives o environmental eduation. t involvesar more than the grading o pupils written work. Monitoringhildrens perormane as work proeeds an provide the pupilswith valuable omments on their progress and an help teahers

    appraise the eetiveness o their teahing For example, thelearning approahes desribed earlier require the assessment othe quality o pupils questions, o the design and ondut otheir investigations and o the onlusions they reah Suhassessment an help te teaher plan more eetively the nextstages o the teahing o that partiular group and an help himor her reappraise the value o the approah with subsequentgroups o pupils

    3 Primary teahers need to identiy the ideas and skills hildren

    are developing and to reappraise rom time to time how theyare responding to experiene This an be ahieved throughonversation with pupils as they work, through observation othem in lassroom and eld and through evaluation o the endproduts o their ativities Assessing hildrens perormanewhile work is in progress is important as groups an happily workin a way whih does not publily reveal the lak o progress opartiular individuals

    33 Seondary teahers need to know what pupils experiene

    oenvironmental eduation has been and to assess what awareness,

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    ASSESSMENT

    skills, understanding and values have been developed. If gridshave been used in considering what is being achieved in subjectsand in cross-curricular studies, these can also form a basis ofrecordkeeping which can be helpful in recording pupils'

    attainment and in reappraising the curriculum. Methods ofassessment should be closely matched to objectives. This meansusing more unusual methods of assessment in addition to wellestablished ones. Environmental work is particularly suited toprocess' assessment because it is essentially concerned withawareness skills and the formation of attitudes and values.Progress and understanding can be ascertained, at least in part,by dialogue between teachers and pupils in eld and classroom.This form of assessment needs to be complemented by carellydesigned recordkeeping which is neither too detailed nor

    perfunctory. Many of the skills and much of the understandingachieved are likey to be assessed n subject terms and may includesome selassessment, which can be a usel par of a pupil's recordof achevement.

    34 External examinations are available in both environmentalscience and environmental studies. Schools use them to assesseither specialised courses taken by a minority of pupils or, lesscommonly, core courses which are taken by all and in which thethreads of environmental education are brought together. Thepace of external examinations in environmental education is amatter of dispute: some teachers welcome them, whilst othersbelieve that the results of environmental education are bestconsidered in terms of the general development of citizenshipand that specic skils, knowledge and understanding are betterexamined within the framework of separate subjects. Theassessment arrangements for the national curriculum oer theopporunity to deveop attainment targets having an environmentalframe of reference.

    15

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    NIRONMNTA DCATION ROM 5 TO 16

    6

    Appdx

    Some inks between environmenta ecation an other areas of the crricmEnglish

    1 Skill o communicaion, eg te ability o dicu Reeac kill te ability o nd and elect inomation3 Repone o liteatue in paticula an appeciation o mateial

    abou e enionmen

    Geography

    1 Mapping kill

    Field tudy kill3 Ue o aeial and gound potogap and o atellie imaging Ineigation o pyical and uman condition5 A gap o local, national and global cale o actiity

    History

    1 A ene o time and conology. A ene o continuity and cange3 Ue and epect o eidence

    Undetanding e itoical deelopment o e enionment

    Religious education

    1 Te attitude o dieent eligion to enionmental iue Moal conideaion eg on e ue and aing o eouce

    Art and craft, design and technology

    1 Awaene and appaial o e enionment, eg i aeeticualitie

    2. Te concept o deign a it aect te enionmen3 Identication o te need o indiidual and goup Te coice and ue o eouce5 Tecnological concept, eg. eciency6 Te coneuence o tecnology o te enionment

    Mathematics

    1 Statiical tecniue ecoding, diplaying and inepetingdata

    2. Undetanding paten and ape

    3 Opeational eeac

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    rAPPENDIX

    Science

    1 Slls of scentc nvestgaton An understandng o aterals, energy, ecology, lvng thngs,

    scentc laws

    Scentc aspects of the provson and use of energy, the watersupply, waste dsposal, botechnology n food producton andother ndustres

    4. Conservaton and polluton

    Music and dama

    1 The expresson of deas and responses to the envronment

    Foeign anguages

    1 The exploraton of other cultures and envronments

    Physica education

    1. Frst-hand experence of the envronment through outdooractvtes n varous settngs

    In addton to the lns wth the subects outlned above, theres also much overlap wth other crosscurrcular themes such aspoltcal educaton, health educaton, educaton for economcundestandng, consumer educaton and personal and socal

    educaton

    Pined in the Uied Kgom fr Her Majesy' Sinery Oce

    D 001418 C650 894073

    17

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    Curriculum Matters:an HMI series

    Tites aready published are

    1 Englis from 5 to secod editio icorporatgresposes. HMSO, 196 250 ISBN 0 11 270595 2

    2. Te urriulum from 5 to HMSO, 195 2.00ISBN 0 11 27056 5

    3 Mtemtis from 5 to secod edito icorporatigresposes. HMSO, 197 295 ISBN 0 11 270616 9

    Musi from 5 to HMSO, 195. 150ISBN 0 11 270579 0

    5 Home eonomis from 5 to HMSO, 195 2.00.ISBN 0 11 27050

    6 Hel edution from 5 to HMSO, 196. 200ISBN 0 11 270592

    7. Geogrpy from 5 to HMSO, 196 2.50ISBN 0 11 270606 1

    Modern foreign lnguges to HMSO, 197 200ISBN 0 11 270612 6

    9 Crft, design nd tenology from 5 to HMSO, 197200 ISBN 0 11 27062

    10 Creers edution nd guidne from 5 to HMSO,19 200. ISBN 0 11 2706 7

    11. istory from 5 to HMSO, 19 200ISBN 0 11 270660 6

    12 Clssis from 5 to HMSO, 19 250ISBN 0 11 270663 0

    Englis from 5 to : Te responses to CurriulumMtters HMSO, 196 free. ISBN 0 5522 195 X

    Te urriulum from 5 to Te responses toCurriulum Mtters HMSO, 19 free.ISBN 0 5522 12

    Mtemtis from 5 to Te responses to CurriulumMtters 3 HMSO, 197 free. ISBN 0 5522 199 2

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    Currclum ate : n HMI sris

    Th ees of M disu ion dmes s tdd a aobuto o te prc vl gee ee u u m d bjce.

    omm rom ed o r he Cr Mte eswod b wkm d ud :M IoDe o d nceEl h HouYo Rd Ld SEI 7PH