Teaching Students Ecological Literacy In the Secondary English Classroom

It is to do with making a link between the student’s everyday lives to their learning in school. A student will be more engaged with the learning content when they can understand the relevant connections between theoretical material and the present local and global issues surrounding them (Tilbury, 1995). The relevance component directly links to the NZC’s principle of community engagement as it incorporates the learners wider lives by bringing positive attitudes towards improving societies environmental issues which they can pass on to their family and community (Ministry of Education, 2007). There is an important place in the curriculum for EfS because many citizens such as students feel a concern about environmental issues and through community engagement they can be exposed to a variety of these issues in their local area (Tilbury, 1995). Including local and global contemporary issues in teaching can intrinsically motivate and develop student knowledge and custom towards sustainability (Nolet, 2009).

Teachers induce thinking and beliefs within their students, and elementary teachers within Ecotopia illustrate the importance of free agency in an ecological world. There are elementary teachers in Ecotopia who specialize in certain subjects in which they aspire their students to stimulate and indulge in their own goals and interests (Callenbach 128). Although Ecotopian teachers provide tutelage for instructing all subjects, they support the idea that their country has “crossed over into the age of biology” in which the majority of their focus is towards biology (Callenbach 126 - 129). Ec... ... middle of paper ... ...abling students to have core knowledge that is necessary to be a “greener” citizen in the future. An ideal green citizen lives a normal life while making sustainable choices.

Environmental literacy, in my mind, is closely related to being prepared for the world. These skills extend beyond understanding the basics of the life systems of our planet; environmental literacy prepares students to bridge the gap between understanding issues and taking actions to solve and improve problems. Middle schoolers have strong questioning skills--questioning me and my teaching initiatives, questioning their parents or guardians, questioning expectations and questioning their friends. I observe that these questioning skills dissipate when I ask students to question things about what they see outside or what they think about different scientific issues. Inquiry and questioning is a sign of environmental literacy (Kennedy and Stromme,

Also children’s interactions with parents, teachers and peers will affect how they are treated in return (Bronfenbrenner, 1994). Clearly this is why ecologising education is important and by doing so education creates critical thinkers. The potential benefits for young people that are eco-literate are that they can begin to negotiate and act on their own purposes, values and feelings, rather than those that they have uncritically acquired from others (Mezirow, 2000). Through learner driven participation children show that they should be treated as solutionaries, and vital stakeholders in the fight for their sustainable futures. Secondly, there are the exosystem which includes schools and the community, and the macrosystem which includes broader society, such as national customs and political philosophy.

It teaches empathy and an awareness of situations around the students, as well as within the community. It should be considered a priority, something essential to learn before finishing our school life and starting our own. Teaching ethics will bring forth valuable skills from which all children/students can benefit from once learning about them during their younger years. Touching on the concepts of rights, law, justice, religious based morality will achieve the goal of members of this society to consider personal and social issues and choices from within an ethical decision-making framework. By building an ethical decision-making frame in the students throughout their school life, they will then continue on to consider personal and social issues and cho... ... middle of paper ... ... in the time that they have in adolescent times, how will they deal with the situations that come when we do come to find the place of our work, social meetings or legal situations.

This outdoor classroom should parallel the topic as well as characterize environmental education, ecological literacy, and sustainability. Having the proper learning tools and being able to apply environmental education is imperative. There are different ways to inform students of ecological literacy. Being ecological literate is the capability of understanding what makes life possible by natural classifications. Age appropriate programs supporting the learning process can have a huge impact.

The experience of teaching ELL students was very enlightening to me. At the time I was expected to teach this lesson, students were in the middle of their social studies unit of responsibility. They learned about various types of responsibilities, and one of them was responsibility to the environment. The actual lesson I was supposed to teach focused on the importance of making choices that would have a positive impact on students’ close environment. I was also to talk about environmental problems in the students’ neighborhood, and encourage them to devise some solutions to those problems.

Description: Students will learn the importance to take care of the environment. They will gain knowledge on recycle, reuse, and reduce. They will also learn to be creative and to persuade other people around school and outside school for protecting the environment. Moreover, students will increase their vocabulary and critical thinking. Standards: Objectives: After explaining the importance to protect the environment, the student will create a presentation on how recycle influence the environment.

This lesson also covered the wider skills of Thinking, by the children having to create and understanding of the meaning of the story, and ESDGC through the children learning that we need to look after the planet. The ESDGC themes used in the lesson are identity and

Environment as a concept enables students to understand the important interrelationships between humans and the natural environment by focusing on two main progressions (ACARA, 2014). The first is the understanding of key elements of the environment, while the second focuses on people-environment interrelationships and human dependence to the environment (Catling et al., 2013). Through this concept, students can build on their curiosity of the world around them by exploring the benefits of vegetation. For example, in Year 4, students can investigate how plants protect land from water and wind erosion. Students may be able to observe how wind blows dust off a surface when it is bare but not when it is well covered in vegetation.