Outdoor Environmental Education in Higher Education

by Glyn Thomas
Outdoor Environmental Education in Higher Education
Author: Glyn Thomas
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2021-11-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 3030759806
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This book brings together an international group of authors to discuss the outdoor environmental education (OEE) theory and practice that educators can use to support teaching and learning in higher education. The book contents are organised around a recently established list of threshold concepts that can be used to describe the knowledge and skills that university students would develop if they complete a major in outdoor education. There are six key sections: the theoretical foundations and philosophies of OEE; the pedagogical approaches and issues involved in teaching OEE; the ways in which OEE is a social, cultural and environmental endeavour; how outdoor educators can advocate for social justice; key approaches to safety management; and the need for on-going professional practice. The threshold concepts that form the premise of the book describe outdoor educators as creating opportunities for experiential learning using pedagogies that align their programme’s purpose and practice. Outdoor educators are place-responsive, and see their work as a social, cultural and environmental endeavour. They advocate for social and environmental justice, and they understand and apply safety principles and routinely engage in reflective practice. This book will provide clarity and direction for emerging and established outdoor educators around the world and will also be relevant to students and professionals working in related fields such as environmental education, adventure therapy, and outdoor recreation.

Experiencing the Outdoors

by Margaret Robertson
Experiencing the Outdoors
Author: Margaret Robertson
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2015-02-27
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9462099448
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The space is outdoors. The experience is personal and the journey can be solitary or take place in groups. Informal or formal the places visited are sites of learning. Locked in memory our experiences in the outdoors are a constant source of wonderment and food to replenish our sense of wellbeing. Our experiences in the outdoors can endure in the abstract as ideas for developing a sense of a well lived life. They can also draw us back to places and reenergise the body. Physical and emotional wellbeing collides in the unexpected events that flourish in the outdoors. Our readiness for enjoyment and personal development are subjective states which this book challenges. Traversing the landscape of the outdoors the collection of chapters contained range from the theoretical to the practical including strategies for teaching and learning that are transdisciplinary. With ideas for practitioners as well as thoughtful reading for readers of diverse ages and interests this book includes contributions from Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, United Kingdom and Canada.

Green Schools Globally

by Annette Gough
Green Schools Globally
Author: Annette Gough
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 453
Release: 2020-08-31
Genre: Education
ISBN: 3030468208
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This book brings together stories of the green schools movement ((Eco Schools, Enviroschools, Green Schools, Sustainable Schools, ResourceSmart Schools etc) in several countries around the world, with a focus on the impact of the movement on the development and implementation of education for sustainable development in each of the countries. In particular, each story will explain the history of the movement per country, its current status, achievements, obstacles and broader impact. There have been a number of evaluations of these school movements at a national or more local level, and numerous articles and chapters have been published on aspects of these schools’ activities, but to date these have not been brought together in a single volume that focuses attention on the impact of the movement on education for sustainable development in each country. This is the purpose of this volume. The green schools movement focuses on a whole school approach which aims to include everyone (students, teachers and the local community), to improve school environments, including resource usage and the environmental footprint of the school, to motivate students to take on environmental problems and seek resolutions particularly at a local level but also thinking globally, and to improve students' attitudes and behaviours as part of developing a sustainable mind set.

Outdoor Education

by Ken Gilbertson
Outdoor Education
Author: Ken Gilbertson
Publisher: Human Kinetics
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2022-04-13
Genre: Outdoor education
ISBN: 149259122X
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"This book helps educators who use the outdoors as a learning setting. It presents teaching methods for people who teach in schools, nature centers, adventure centers, camps, environmental learning centers, government agencies, and universities. These methods apply to many subject areas such as physical education, science education, environmental studies, and recreation"--

The Inclusion of Environmental Education in Science Teacher Education

by Alec Bodzin
The Inclusion of Environmental Education in Science Teacher Education
Author: Alec Bodzin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 379
Release: 2010-08-13
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9048192226
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In the coming decades, the general public will be required ever more often to understand complex environmental issues, evaluate proposed environmental plans, and understand how individual decisions affect the environment at local to global scales. Thus it is of fundamental importance to ensure that higher quality education about these ecological issues raises the environmental literacy of the general public. In order to achieve this, teachers need to be trained as well as classroom practice enhanced. This volume focuses on the integration of environmental education into science teacher education. The book begins by providing readers with foundational knowledge of environmental education as it applies to the discipline of science education. It relates the historical and philosophical underpinnings of EE, as well as current trends in the subject that relate to science teacher education. Later chapters examine the pedagogical practices of environmental education in the context of science teacher education. Case studies of environmental education teaching and learning strategies in science teacher education, and instructional practices in K-12 science classrooms, are included. This book shares knowledge and ideas about environmental education pedagogy and serves as a reliable guide for both science teacher educators and K-12 science educators who wish to insert environmental education into science teacher education. Coverage includes everything from the methods employed in summer camps to the use of podcasting as a pedagogical aid. Studies have shown that schools that do manage to incorporate EE into their teaching programs demonstrate significant growth in student achievement as well as improved student behavior. This text argues that the multidisciplinary nature of environmental education itself requires problem-solving, critical thinking and literacy skills that benefit students’ work right across the curriculum.

Wild Pedagogies

by Bob Jickling
Wild Pedagogies
Author: Bob Jickling
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2018-06-22
Genre: Education
ISBN: 3319901761
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This book explores why the concept of wild pedagogy is an essential aspect of education in these times; a re-negotiated education that acknowledges the necessity of listening to voices in a more than human world, and (re)learning how to dwell in a place. As the geological epoch inexorably shifts to the Anthropocene, the authors argue that learning to live in and engage with the world is increasingly crucial in such times of uncertainty. The editors and contributors examine what wild pedagogy can truly become, and how it can be relevant across disciplinary boundaries: offering six touchstones as working tools to help educators forge an onward path. This collaborative work will be of interest to students and scholars of wild pedagogies, alternative education and the Anthropocene, and for all those engaged in re-wilding education.

John Dewey and Education Outdoors

by John Quay
John Dewey and Education Outdoors
Author: John Quay
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 118
Release: 2013-04-19
Genre: Education
ISBN: 946209215X
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In this book we take the reader on a journey through the various curriculum reforms that have emerged in the USA around the idea of conducting education outdoors – through initiatives such as nature-study, camping education, adventure education, environmental education, experiential education and place based education. This is a historical journey with an underlying message for educators, one we are able to illuminate through the educational theories of John Dewey. Central to this message is a deeper understanding of human experience as both aesthetic and reflective, leading to a more coherent comprehension of not just outdoor education, but of education itself. Whether we knew it or not, all of us interested in the field of education have been waiting for this book. John Dewey and Education Outdoors is the tool we need to help understand and explain experiential education in general and outdoor education in particular. This is an expertly researched and written account of how and why outdoor education has developed, and been such a vital feature in exemplary educational practices. Because of this work I will no longer have to stumble through some inadequate explanation of the history and philosophy of outdoor education, I can now simply point to this book and suggest that everyone read it. —Dr. Dan Garvey, President Emeritus, Prescott College, Former President and Executive Director, Association for Experiential Education. John Dewey and Education Outdoors is a well-researched book that explores the tenets of Dewey within the contexts of progressive reforms in education. The authors provide detailed explanations of Dewey’s thoughts on education while exploring the historical intersections with outdoor education, camping, and environmental education. While situated within a historical perspective, this book provides insights relevant for today’s discussions on new educational reform possibilities, learning focused on the whole child that includes out-of-school time experiences such as camp, and the development of 21st century skills needed to navigate our global society. —Dr. Deb Bialeschki, Director of Research, American Camp Association.

Developing Place-responsive Pedagogy in Outdoor Environmental Education

by Alistair Stewart
Developing Place-responsive Pedagogy in Outdoor Environmental Education
Author: Alistair Stewart
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2020-02-25
Genre: Education
ISBN: 3030403203
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This book is a rhizomatic curriculum autobiography that charts the author’s efforts to develop and promote Australian outdoor environmental education practices that are inclusive of, and responsive to, the places in which they are performed. Joining philosophical concepts created by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari with William Pinar’s autobiographical method for curriculum inquiry, the author (re)considers the interrelated concepts, contexts and complex conversations with colleagues, students and others that have shaped his approach to curriculum, pedagogy and research for fifteen years or more. Emphasising the complexity of developing curricula and pedagogies that engage, in a respectful and generative way, with the natural and cultural history of the Australian continent, the author explicates and enacts his attempts to think differently about the cultural, curricular and pedagogical understandings that inform the practices of Australian outdoor environmental educators. Outdoor environmental education in Australia has historically been influenced by imported universalist ideas, particularly from the USA and the UK. However, during the last two decades a growing number of researchers in this field have challenged the applicability of such taken-for-granted approaches and advocated the development of curricula and pedagogies informed by the unique bio-geographical and cultural histories of the locations in which educational experiences take place. As this book demonstrates, Alistair Stewart is prominent among the vanguard of Australian outdoor environmental educators who have led such advocacy by combining practical experience with theoretical rigour.