Natural England research update

This is part of a recent round up by Natural England of recent and relevant evidence and reports, policy agenda developments, large scale delivery sector initiatives, resources and news items from the UK and abroad, with a focus on education and learning. This supports the Strategic Research Network for People and Nature to develop better…

April 12th 2021

Good grief.  What a title! – The Duke of Edinburgh was not known as a champion of environmental education, mores the pity, but he was very interested in young people’s development, and in conservation (and the environment more generally). Examples were his presidency of WWF International, his support of the National Playing Fields Association (now…

Beasts at Bedtime

Beasts at Bedtime is a very interesting, imaginative and almost magical book, that illustrates the themed wealth of children’s stories. It recognises that many of the great stories for children feature animals and it is written for all those who imagine that children also see themselves as magnificent creatures. There is a great deal of…

Inspiring the Next Generation of Natural Historians

Stephanie West, Angela Marmont Centre, Natural History Museum Back in 2011 the House of Lords discussed the ‘Taxonomic Skills Shortage’. This followed years of discussion within natural history: our natural historians are ageing, where is the next generation, who will continue this work? Historically the UK has had a wealth of amateur and professional naturalists, able…

Waiting for Superman? Time to wake up

Today’s blog is the latest in a series from Richard Jurin who, before his retirement, ran the Environmental Studies programme at the University of Northern Colorado, launching a degree in Sustainability Studies.  His academic interests are environmental worldviews and understanding barriers to sustainability.  As ever, with our blogs, Richard’s views are not necessarily shared by…

April 5th 2021

Digital Storytelling – Students in the London Schools Eco Network [LSEN] have traveled to the year 2050 to report back on their hopes and fears for the future. You can see their multimedia letters from the future on YouTube. These were produced through a digital storytelling workshop organised by Bill Finnegan, a doctoral researcher at the University…

March 29th 2021

The Glorious Twelfth – The DfE has said that should the easing of lockdown continue to go to plan, schools can resume educational day visits from the 12th of April. DfE stresses that visits must be conducted in line with relevant coronavirus (COVID-19) secure guidelines and the regulations in place at that time. This includes…

The case for a natural history GCSE

Today’s blog is by Paul Steer, Head of Policy at OCR.  He writes in response to an earlier blog on these pages by Melissa Glackin.  As ever with our blogs, the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the thinking of the Association. Firstly, I’d like to thank Melissa Glackin for engaging with OCR’s proposals for a Natural History GCSE,…

March 22nd 2021

70% of teachers – A research report has been published detailing what UK teachers think about the current state and future of climate education. It was commissioned by Teach the Future. Its headline finding is that 70% of teachers feel they have not received adequate training to educate students on climate change, on its implications for the…