Schooling for the future

A study of how Otago primary school teachers were implementing environmental education investigated the strategies teachers use and the factors that assist them, especially in terms of implementing education “for” the environment. The findings indicate misconceptions among primary teachers regarding environmental education, and point to the need for education in environmental education for all primary teachers.

Recently we have been hearing a great deal about something called the “knowledge society”. What is all this about, and why hasn’t there been much discussion of the educational implications of participation in this “new” society? Jane Gilbert explores some of the issues.
 

Based on a recent evaluation of environmental education in New Zealand schools, this article explores possibilities and challenges for involving secondary school students.
 

Most of the ideas and concepts that underpin environmental education have developed outside the school education system. This article draws on a recent review of New Zealand and international literature to examine the origin and evolution of environmental education and points to opportunities for the provision of learning experiences that will benefit students far into the future. 

Road safety education for young children requires more than games, rhymes, and worksheets; it needs to be linked to everyday experiences of traffic and addressed "little and often". This article reports on the experiences of teachers and classes in the first years of school who participated in a national project to develop integrative cross-curricular, essential-skills-based road safety education.

The dynamic and integrated nature of environmental education and the broader concept of education for sustainability require not only the teaching and learning skills of the environmentally educated teacher but also the perspectives and skills of the reflective practitioner.