Critical Issues in Environmental Education: K-12
The National Forum on Critical Issues in Environmental Education: Kindergarten Through Grade 12, sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency, was held in September 1997 in Washington, D.C. Participants examined issues and made recommendations for consideration by school administrators and faculty:
Critical Issues Menu
Introduction
The Advanced Technology Environmental Education Center (ATEEC) was initially funded by the National Science Foundation in 1994. The mission of the Center is to advance environmental technology education through curriculum development, professional development, and program improvement in the nation's community colleges and secondary schools. To assist in accomplishing this mission, ATEEC has provided numerous faculty development opportunities. The ATEEC Summer Fellows Institute for community college and secondary school faculty is an example of one such opportunity. This is a two-week annual event held at the University of Northern Iowa.
ATEEC has also hosted national forums which have focused on issues relating to environmental technology education. One such forum resulted in the document, "Partnering to Build a Quality Workforce: Critical Issues in Environmental Technology Education at Two-Year Colleges."
Since 1993, Morgan State University (MSU), located in Baltimore, Maryland has offered a summer institute for kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) educators. The Teacher Institute is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response through a cooperative agreement between MSU and EPA. The Institute provides a forum for teachers located in National Priority List (NPL) communities, and communities having sites associated with CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act) and RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act). The Institute's goal has been to design new educational tools that adequately and accurately present issues of concern related to environmental restoration and protection of our communities.
In 1996, ATEEC staff gave presentations at the MSU/EPA Teacher Institute on issues of environmental technology resources and school-to-work initiatives. In 1997, ATEEC again visited the Institute, this time to build on the knowledge gathered in the initial document on two-year college environmental education critical issues by conducting a mini-workshop which focused on the critical issues in K-12 environmental education.
K-12 Critical Issues
The EPA/MSU Teachers Institute's mini-workshop on critical issues in K-12 environmental education was facilitated on July 11, 1997, as a small groups activity by representatives from ATEEC, HMTRI, and Scott Community College. The workshop was modeled on the ATEEC Fellows workshop and resulting report (sponsored by the National Science Foundation) dealing with environmental education critical issues in two-year colleges.
Prior to the K-12 workshop, the ATEEC Fellows were surveyed as to their views on critical issues in K-12 environmental education. The categories selected for the K-12 mini-workshop – transferability, environmental equity, curriculum, career awareness, and professional development – were then adapted from the ATEEC report, "Partnering to Build a Quality Workforce: Critical Issues in Environmental Technology Education at Two-Year Colleges." ATEEC's goal is to ascertain the similarities and differences in critical issues between K-12 and post-secondary levels of environmental education, and to potentially cross-validate the results.
Participants in the Institute (page 27) were assigned to small workgroups of six to eight teachers with one group facilitator, and each concentrated on a different overall category as mentioned above. (Note: Particular attention was given to ensuring that each workgroup contained a diverse representation of teachersgory, using geographical area, grade level of teaching, gender, etc.) The methods used included brainstorming and affinity diagramming to develop critical issues for each category. The resulting information was refined and finalized by participants. The workgroups then gave brief presentations of their topics to all participants. The data collected from the workgroups was organized by facilitators in a draft document and sent to all Institute participants for review. Comments were incorporated and the final version of the document is presented on the following pages.
An interesting similarity of critical issues between K-12 and two-year college educators emerged from these reports, including:
- Unclear definition and lack of standardization of environmental terms and curricula. (Note: The MSU Institute participants were excited to learn that the ATEEC Fellows Institute has begun to address this issue with the development of the recent "Defining Environmental Technology" report.
- The need for a more widespread environmental literacy in the country.
- Interdisciplinary and multi-grade coordination of environmental curriculum.
- Lack of information about real world environmental careers in environmental curriculum. (Note: Institute participants were referred to ATEEC's "Defining Environmental Technology" report for a chart on environmental technology occupational categories and titles.)
- Integration of environmental equity issues within environmental curriculum.
- Sharing of environmental education resources and support between educational institutions, business/industry, and community.
- Insufficient communication and sharing of knowledge between instructors at the same school and at different schools.
- Resistance to ensuring that competency-based environmental curriculum is established at each grade level.
The most striking critical issues for K-12 educators (which were not as strongly emphasized at the post-secondary level) were the lack of:
- Funding for environmental programs and activities,
- Funding for teachers' professional development, and
- Administrative commitment and support for environmental education.
Following is the full text of the critical issues and recommendations that address the concerns of teachers in K-12 environmental education. The information is not presented in any particular order of priority.
Workshop Participants
Alleyne, Erika,
Elementary school
Baltimore, Maryland
Anderson, Roberta
Middle school
Miami, Arizona
Bagley, Larissa
Baltimore, Maryland
Biggar, Matt
High school
San Mateo, California
Booker, Catherine
Middle school
Houston, Texas
Bordeaux, Chris
Pine Ridge, South Dakota
Burdette, Cynthia
Elementary school
Globe, Arizona
Bush, Jane
Elementary school
Talihina, Oklahoma
Calvin, Annalita Nova
Elementary school
San Carlos, Arizona
Christensen, James
Middle school
Grants Pass, Oregon
Cox, Lockwood
High school
Buna, Texas
Dearing, Cheryl
Elementary school
Tooele, Utah
Dixon, Aline
Middle school
Chicago, Illinois
Edmonds-Lloyd, Marjorie
High school
Brookville, Maryland
Fleiss, Elissa
Middle school
Los Angeles, California
Howard, Rhonda
Middle school
Memphis, Tennessee
John, Erma
Elementary
Shiprock, New Mexico
Kauers, Diana
Elementary school
Globe, Arizona
Klindt, Kathy
Middle school
Globe, Arizona
Kobashigawa, Clyde
High school
Kailua, Hawaii
Lax, Miriam
Middle school
Los Angeles, California
Marcus, Alwanda
Middle school
Buffalo, New York
McCraw, Shatika
Middle school
Houston, Texas
McKinney, Cleve
Haywood, California
Nagamine, Lisa
High school
Honolulu, Hawaii
Nelson, Shirley
Middle school
Talihina, Oklahoma
Olagunju, Lawrence
Oakland, California
Palko, Andrew
High school
Mechanicsville, Maryland
Pearson, Debbie
Elementary school
Thatcher, Arizona
Pickel, Mark
Kennewick, Washington
Pokrzyk, Vivian
Middle school
Lewiston, New York
Selib, Marsha
Williamsville, New York
Simmons, Rita
High school
Newark, New Jersey
Spencer, Esther
Middle school
Grantsville, Utah
Thompson, Durena
Elementary school
San Carlos, Arizona
Thompson, Priscilla
High school
Cincinnati, Ohio
Wade, Douglas
Elementary
Milwaukee, Oregon
Waterhouse, Corinne
Middle school
Kailua, Hawaii
Zachariah, Mary
High school
Baltimore, Maryland
Acknowledgments
For all of the details and arrangements which ensured the success of the Critical Issues Workshop, Teacher's Institute, and this resulting report, those involved with the workshop wish to express acknowledgment and thanks to:
Workshop Coordination and Report Production
Melonee K. Docherty
Workshop Report Editor
Instructional Designer, ATEEC/HMTRI
500 Belmont Rd
Bettendorf, IA 52722
Steven D. Fenton
Workshop Coordinator
Associate Director, HMTRI
500 Belmont Rd
Bettendorf, IA 52722
Ellen J. Kabat, Ph.D.
Workshop Coordinator
Director, ATEEC
500 Belmont Rd
Bettendorf, IA 52722
MSU Institute Coordination
Judith E. Greenberg
Institute Coordinator
Morgan State University
Cold Spring Lane & Hileen Rd
Baltimore, Maryland 21239