Development of Staff Cultural Capacity in an Intensive Environmental Stewardship Program for Urban Youth

Abstract

Cultural competence training for environmental educators has typically focused on formal professional development activities. The current research examined how educators can develop cultural competence through interaction with youth in environmental stewardship programs. An online survey was conducted with staff working closely with youth in The Nature Conservancy"s Leaders in Environmental Action for the Future program, to study their learning experiences. Responses were available from 34 staff (completion rate = 51%). Open-ended responses revealed they had learned about cultural differences in urban and youth ISSN 2164-7682 2014 www.macrothink.org/emsd 183 groups" engagement with the environment compared to that of adults in rural areas. In contrast, their understanding of different racial and ethnic groups was already high, and had not been impacted meaningfully. Quantitative items indicated that cultural competence about multiple conservation viewpoints (M = 4.30, SD = .33) was higher than that about racial and ethnic groups (M = 4.07, SD = .37), t(33) = 4.30, p < .001. Across questions staff reiterated that contact with interns had helped them develop greater appreciation for conservation work than before for its relevance to a wider segment of society. Rethinking conservation priorities was emotionally taxing for some staff and suggested that structured strategies for reflections on their cultural understandings are imperative for a diverse environmental workforce for the present and future. Environmental Management and Sustainable Development

The Intergroup Context of Environmental Education and Approaches to Facilitate Collaboration

“…The results additionally suggest that opportunities for critical thinking about one’s perspective on EE in relation to others’ views can foster appreciation of the range of approaches that guide EE work. In fact, cultural competence around the diversity of views guiding environmental work has been recognized as building professional capacity among environmental educators, especially around working with a range of audience groups (Gupta, Fraser, & Rank, 2014). In our study, EE and community development professionals recognized the diversity of views in the field and their significance to the field and their professional work, and appeared to be more mindful of the shared goals of the environmental workforce.…”