Background Paper for International Research Conference in Environmental Education

at Christchurch, December 1997

by C.Grant (Teacher, Villanova College, Coorparoo, Qld)

 It may be argued that while there have been considerable advances in science, technology and understanding of environmental matters over recent decades, the ability of society to deal with these matters and to solve problems which arise has advanced to a lesser extent. For example, it has been announced recently that 1997 has been the warmest year globally since record taking began, and that almost certainly human influence is involved in the trend towards atmospheric warming. Yet individuals feel powerless, and view environmental problem solving as either too difficult 'so why bother?' (powerlessness and action paralysis) or that technically trained experts are the ones who are able to save us, with more knowledge, in particular, as the solution (dominant view of science and research).

Schools are not immune from these views and philosophies. Students attend many courses with environmental components - including recycling, natural ecology, sustainable fishing, Ozone depletion. Almost invariably, facts are gathered and perhaps activities related to the topics carried out. Yet valuable educational experiences are ignored, namely, ACTIONS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT. My research has looked at how educationally valid environmental actions may be incorporated into a part of the high school curriculum. Importantly, the key reasons for encouraging and developing competent actions by students are educational rather than environmental. It is not up to students to 'save' or 'fix up' the world's problems, but those students who have succeeded in competent actions will have had their lives enriched and empowered, even if only in a modest way. The promise of hope lies in the chance that they will take environmentally responsible actions on a continuing basis in their lives, based upon their school learning. In this, I view the course as post-modern - there is a clear need to move beyond the empirical, analytical, reductionist science of the modern era to a new approach, with its new set of skills and potential benefits.

My school, Villanova College, is a Catholic boys' college, in an inner south-eastern Brisbane suburb. It is run by the Augustinian Fathers and a culture exists that permits, in addition to the prescribed discipline-based subjects, a number of subjects with social justice, ethical and action flavours. The subject of my research is a course I have operated for eight years called 'Earth and Environmental Science', a junior (Yr 9-10) science elective of one semester duration. About 24 students take the course at any one time. It is popular with students and is known to operate with a practical, outdoor, activity focus in which students can expect to do 'real environmental things'. As always, there are still assessment and accountability demands - these create certain (unsolved) difficulties. There is no 'hard and fast' course 'content', with components constantly being adapted and replaced. Within the school campus and the local area are opportunities to study and actively engage issues of recycling, landscaping and tree planting, air and water quality, geology, organic farming, and more. Somewhat further afield, national parks offer us potential for natural ecology and wilderness experience.

Important to the origins of the subject are the following:

It is likely that these factors do not come together very often at schools, and in fact, I have not yet found another junior secondary subject based upon the 'action perspective'. Interestingly, the subject runs on a low budget and generally utilises a low level of technology; I view the skills and approaches developed as more important that the mastery of complex technology (within this subject). When asked by a teacher from another school for a copy of the course programme, I am unsure of its use to others, as the programme developed is context-specific, designed to meet the needs of the college, its site, its students, and its teacher. In developing an action approach, I believe that the school's context, therefore, must be carefully considered at the design stage.

My research has also examined the classroom factors enabling or constraining action competence. Below are some of my findings in point form. It is essential to stress that many things happening in a school are referred to by others as actions, but are in fact activities. To clarify the difference, it is necessary to refer to the definition of an action (see 'Definitional components' below). My research is case study in nature, designed to look closely at and describe parts of the course, and ways of improving aspects of the course and my own teaching practice. it can be seen as operating within the ethnographic research paradigm. I am both a teaching practitioner and a researcher: carrying out both functions creates certain tensions but delivers enormous benefits, including fresh, 'close-up' and relevant results.

ACTION COMPETENCE - Factors which enable

 Note:

Contextual factors - school, administrative, broader culture, and related factors

Important components - essentially student / teacher focused

 The highlight of the course is the Action Project carried out by students. In short, in the second half of the semester, I instruct my students this way, after having been through the key build up projects and tasks over the first half of the semester:

While data analysis is yet to be completed, the student Action Project for the previous semester could be regarded as successful (ie successful actions were carried out) by seven groups out of ten groups. I regard three groups as having achieved unsuccessfully. This I see as a very satisfactory result, keeping in mind that there is also a long list of factors constraining action competence. In comparison, when the subject was new, actions were very few and far between (I can recall only two true actions over the previous seven years!). Of the groups which did not succeed, these factors were identified by the students as being significant to them:

However, all is not lost, as members of these three unsuccessful groups, while not 'succeeding' in the terms of action competence, still enjoyed the course, expressed no hostility for their apparent failure (rather than blaming the course or the teacher they realistically saw that the objective was achievable, but that they just didn't get there), and that if they had the chance to do it again they believed that they would get it right! Importantly, students of lower ability in 'traditional science' are not at a disadvantage in this subject. Some of the more successful students in traditional science are actually at a disadvantage until they get their group dynamics working well.

Below I will highlight the four types of educational action projects, and locate the various student action projects for the previous semester within this model. 

I wish to point out that the development of action competence in education cannot be guaranteed - there is no simple (or complex) formula that will work with certainty. A teacher may do all possible without apparent success - and that is because it is up to the students 'to deliver the goods'. However, there are things that can and should be done by a teacher wishing to teach for competent action and which, I believe, increase the chance of its development.

Discussion on this topic is welcomed.