Abstract
Preservice teachers occasionally feel challenged when attempting to implement Environmental and Sustainability Education in their teaching during school placements. They can experience pressure to conform to the prevailing culture found in the schools and to meet the expectations of their associate teachers and other mentors. Here we explore an initiative that can support preservice teachers, and the schools they are teaching in, by broadening the base of responsibility for this aspect of education and drawing on the expertise and facilities of the wider community. The Pathway to Stewardship and Kinship is an environmental and sustainability project based in Peterborough, Ontario. Its aim is to devise and promote positive stewardship of the environment to children of all ages through a community-wide environmental education framework that ensures authentic learning in formal and non-formal education settings. The project is a collaborative effort involving a wide range of stakeholders from the local community and incorporates the First Nations’ concept of kinship. This chapter explains how the project framework was developed and outlines key stewardship principles and opportunities for children. By linking age-appropriate opportunities directly to principles in stewardship education and to the Ontario curriculum, the framework provides a community-wide road map for raising environmentally engaged citizens. The model can be easily adapted to other jurisdictions.
Résumé
Les candidats à l’enseignement se sentent parfois mis à l’épreuve lorsqu’ils tentent d’intégrer l’éducation écologique et l’éducation au développement durable dans leur enseignement pendant leurs stages de formation en milieu scolaire. Il arrive qu’ils se sentent obligés de se conformer à la culture dominante dans les écoles et de répondre aux attentes des leurs enseignants ou de leurs mentors. Nous explorons ici une initiative susceptible de soutenir les stagiaires, et les écoles où ils enseignent, d’une part en élargissant la base des responsabilités au regard de cet aspect de l’enseignement, et d’autre part en tirant parti de l’expérience et des ressources qu’offre la communauté au sens large. Le projet Pathway to Stewardship and Kinship (« Parcours vers la gérance et la parenté ») est un projet sur l’environnement et la durabilité basé à Peterborough, en Ontario. Son but est de mettre sur pied et de promouvoir la gestion positive de l’environnement auprès des enfants de tous âges grâce à un cadre d’éducation environnementale au sein de la communauté, qui assure un apprentissage authentique en milieu scolaire et en milieu non institutionnel. Le projet est une initiative conjointe d’un grand nombre de participants provenant de la communauté locale, et il incorpore le concept de parenté ou de lien familial tel qu’il est entendu par les communautés autochtones. Ce chapitre explique comment le cadre du projet a été développé, présente les principes clés de la gérance environnementale, et décrit certaines occasions d’expériences offertes aux enfants au fur et à mesure qu’ils grandissent. En associant directement les occasions d’expériences en fonction de l’âge, aux principes d’éducation à la gérance et au curriculum ontarien, ce cadre propose à toute la communauté une feuille de route visant à former des futurs citoyens engagés sur le plan de l’environnement. Ce modèle peut facilement être adapté à d’autres juridictions.
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Notes
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For a copy of the complete Pathway to Stewardship and Kinship document, please go to www.campkawartha.ca/pathway-to-stewardship
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Elliott, P., Rodenburg, J. (2019). Supporting New Teachers in Environmental and Sustainability Education: The Pathway to Stewardship and Kinship. In: Karrow, D., DiGiuseppe, M. (eds) Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education. International Explorations in Outdoor and Environmental Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25016-4_18
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