Main Menu | Table Of Contents
Volume 1 / 1996:
Environmental Education In Schools: An Alternative Framework

Chris Gayford, The University of Reading, UK

Abstract
A piece of action research is described which involved an alternative approach to environmental education with students of 11 to 18 years. The focus of the work was outside the timetabled curriculum using the school buildings and grounds as a model for environmentally responsible management and behaviour. Emphasis was on adopting criteria which were thought to lead to long-term attitudinal and behavioural change and also those which cast the researcher in a different role and gave a greater sense of "ownership" and control to the participants. The findings suggest that this approach has a good deal to offer in a context where it is becoming increasingly difficult to influence the timetabled curriculum yet where teachers and students feel that the environment is of great importance.


Résumé
Cette recherche-action témoigne d'une approche alternative en éducation relative àl'environnement, impliquant des élèves de 11 à 18 ans. Les activités se sont déroulées en dehors de la grille horaire du curriculum et le milieu même de l'école - bâtiments et terrains adjacents - est devenu le contexte du développement d'un modèle de gestion et de comportement responsables à l'égard de l'environnement. L'accent a été mis sur l'adoption de critères jugés aptes à induire un changement durable d'attitudes et de comportements, à donner au chercheur un rôle différent et à permettre l'émergence d'un sentiment d'appartenance et de contrôle chez les participants. Les résultats laissent croire qu'une telle approche peut être féconde dans un contexte où il devient de plus en plus difficile de modifier la grille horaire du curriculum et où toutefois les enseignants et les élèves croient que l'environnement est de grande importance.

Environmental Education in Schools: An

Alternative Framework

Chris Gayford, The University of Reading, UK

Abstract
A piece of action research is described which involved an alternative approach to environmental education with students of 11 to 18 years. The focus of the work was outside the timetabled curriculum using the school buildings and grounds as a model for environmentally responsible management and behaviour. Emphasis was on adopting criteria which were thought to lead to long-term attitudinal and behavioural change and also those which cast the researcher in a different role and gave a greater sense of "ownership" and control to the participants. The findings suggest that this approach has a good deal to offer in a context where it is becoming increasingly difficult to influence the timetabled curriculum yet where teachers and students feel that the environment is of great importance.


Main Menu | Table Of Contents