Emily Vera and Kate Dawson write about sowing the seeds of mindfulness. It was a warm, spring day with a glimpse of sunshine streaming through the trees when we stopped along the pathway to look at the dandelions. Ludwig, one of our preschoolers, says “ I want to pick one. They are beautiful.” Brianna, turns to…
This article by Iván Asin is another free download from the Summer 2018 Green Teacher magazine. It begins: WE WERE WARNED over a decade ago that about two thirds of the systems that sustain our basic needs are either collapsing, on the verge of collapsing or beyond the point of retrieval.1 Yet, this information has not had any significant effect…
This article by Joy A. Bell is a free download from the Summer 2018 Green Teacher magazine. It begins: ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY is a cumulative process of learning a variety of concepts, skills, and knowledge of the natural world. It can be especially impactful to introduce children to this process.1 The challenge is finding a hook or entry point. An…
Louise Matschke, Education & Training Manager at the Cape Town Environmental Education Trust (CTEET) writes about environmental education in Cape Town. The metropolitan city of Cape Town, in South Africa, is known for its two UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Table Mountain and Robben Island; the only two sites in the world that are in view…
David Whitley argues that environmental education needs imaginative literature. Ecoliteracy was a term that gained currency in environmental education from the late 1990s. During the period leading up to this, the concept of ‘literacy’ had been extended to encompass a whole range of new areas – even including ‘emotional literacy’ – where existing cultural norms seemed inadequate.…
Mervat Batarseh Head of Environmental Education Section at Jordan’s Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature writes about their interactive community and school-based programme on the locally threatened Dead Sea Sparrow. Talking about birds is always an interesting issue for both students and elders. As a professional in the field of environmental education. I have been monitoring…
Mary Sellers FarmBuddies writes about improving the wellbeing of young people and adults. Social Farming, also known as Care Farming, is the practice of offering Family Farms and other similar farming holdings as a form of social service. Some farms can be a specialized treatment farm but more often they remain a typical working farm where…
Rebecca Kitchen Secondary Curriculum Leader, Geographical Association, writes about the Geography Quality Mark: making an impact on teaching and learning. As Head of Geography at Aylesbury High School, I found this incredibly powerful: my geography department improvement plan was informed by the Quality Mark, and vice versa. It also enabled the whole department to be involved…
Kashmir Flint, Environmental Education Officer at the Monkton Nature Reserve (and until recently, NAEE’s Facebook editor), writes about the reserve and about her work there. Monkton Nature Reserve is a 16-acre former chalk quarry based in Thanet, Kent, run by a small independent charity. Thanet is one of the most deprived areas in Kent with tree coverage…
Tim Baker Headteacher, Charlton Manor School, Greenwich, and an NAEE Fellow, writes about a recent school trip to Cornwall. On the farm Recently I organised a trip for 6 pupils to stay on a farm in Cornwall for 4 days. During this time, they practised and learned skills such as fire lighting, shelter building and raft…