The Journal of Curriculum Studies has developed a Virtual Special Issue [VSI] on curriculum challenges related to environmental education. The VSI draws on the work of the Journal on curriculum and environmental education since the early 1970s, and offers a ‘long view’ on key issues and challenges. Alan Reid’s Introduction, says that editors delved into the Journal’s back…
In June 2015, York Consulting published its evaluation of the Learning Away residentials project, identifying the impacts of overnight stays on young people. Learning Away set out to support schools enhancement of young people’s learning, achievement and wellbeing by using innovative residential experiences as an integral part of the curriculum. The initiative was funded by the Paul Hamlyn…
Volume 109 (Summer 2015) of NAEE’s journal, Environmental Education, has been mailed to members this week, and will be available as a pdf on the member pages of this website from Monday. Volume 109 contains case studies and feature articles about how EE and ESD can be used to make learning and the curriculum come alive.…
The Countryside Classroom is a new initiative from FACE: Farming and Countryside Education. This is their website – although it is still being developed. You can become a Partner, a Contributor, or a Sponsor: details are here. Why get involved? FACE says: Countryside Classroom is the largest ever partnership of organisations committed to helping children learn about food,…
Last May, the Countryside Jobs Service magazine had a special focus on environmental and outdoor education which included a lead article by NAEE. This included extracts from teachers’ reports of pupil visits to two outdoor learning centres that were made possible by NAEE’s Kenrick bursaries. One teacher reported: It’s been a delight to see pupils who struggle with academic…
What do they talk about? Well, climate change, conservation, wildlife on TV, … Did you miss it? For many it was the TV event of June; others we know were disappointed. The Guardian has a short clip here, and the full 30 minute programme is available on BBC iPlayer. See what you think. NB, Barack…
If you haven’t heard Ellen MacArthur speak about her sailing in the southern ocean, or what this inspired her to do, or you don’t know the key ideas driving the circular economy, or what her Foundation is doing about this, and how it might just change all our lives for the better, then her recent TED talk…
The Executive Director of NAAEE, the North American Association for Environmental Education, Judy Braus, was in the UK briefly at the end of last week, en route to the 8th WEEC in Göteborg. While here, she met NAEE President, Bill Scott, and discussed a range of issues that are common to both organisations. They also explored some of…
New NAEE guide highlights ‘environment’ in the school curriculum How can teachers respond to the challenge of teaching about pollution, endangered species, deforestation, climate change, and other environmental issues? The National Association for Environmental Education (NAEE UK) has looked carefully at the numerous opportunities that the new early years and primary curriculums provide, for teachers and children in early years settings and primary schools, to…
UNESCO’s report on delivering global citizenship education, Global Citizenship Education: Topics and Learning Objectives, is aimed at anyone who wants to promote the idea of global learning. The report sets out a series of nine topics to explore GCE in the classroom. It identifies learning objectives and themes for teachers to explore with students, and for policy makers to incorporate into the curriculum…
The Vatican has published the Pope’s long-awaited encyclical on climate change: On Care for Our Common Home. It runs to 246 paragraphs and ends with a prayer for our earth. Pope Francis argues for a new partnership between science and religion to address human-driven climate change, and chides those who remain sceptics on the issue. The encyclical is necessarily spiritual,…
Research in Barcelona, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and reported in the Guardian, explores the relationship between children’s exposure to green spaces at school, and their learning. The Guardian report says: “The researchers carried out mental performance tests on 2,593 children aged seven to 10 attending 36 primary schools in Barcelona every three months…