Using Environment-Based Education to Transform the School Campus

Abstract

A focus on building environmentally sustainable schools emerged in the 1990s; however, building green schools is cost prohibitive due to limited education construction budgets. One solution is to engage children in transforming existing schools while incorporating environment-based education. Environment-based education is a form of project-based learning that employs a student-centered approach to teaching integrated curriculum. Project-based learning has been shown to be beneficial in supporting the social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development of students. Benefits of project-based learning include building a sense of community within the classroom, encouraging parent involvement, increased motivation and engagement, and increased academic achievement. This chapter explores possibilities for transforming existing schools to be more environmentally friendly, considering the benefits of engaging students in authentic projects and providing examples of ways to get students of all ages involved in projects that can extend environmental awareness from the school to home and into the community.

Teachers’ Perception on the Inclusion of Environmental Education in Primary School Curricula. Case-Study: Dâmbovița County, Romania

“…Therefore, there is a need for the teachers to receive the most appropriate resources and tools, in order to understand the complex issues regarding global environmental change, so that they may transfer to children the appropriate knowledge, and form the competences to tackle complex issues (UNECE, 2011). Teachers need to have access to good quality information, to be motivated and empowered to make a real transformation of the school environment and a real change in children's minds (Greer and Wetherington, 2015).…”