This research addresses conceptual and practical issues in the field of environmental education. Environmental education is a compound and contested field in terms of both environmental and educafional ideologies. Its practice is also influenced by perspectives of context and change. Hence, the operationalisation of environmental education might be expected to vary across different ideologies and contexts. Thus, this research attempts to ore the operationalisation from theory into practice in environmental education. 'he approach of this research derives from those issues in the research context of education lental education that are currently of most concern. That is, policy-makers and I practitioners expect researchers to answer question such as "what works?" because they face the pressure of making decisions, in response, this research attempts to shed light on the nature of environmental education by using an evidence-based approach. However, most lence-based work in education is grounded in a post-positivistic perspective. This research, by contrast, employs evidence drawn from qualitative inquiry that recognises the significance depth contextual understanding. Thus the research sits within the qualitative paradigm and employs case study methodology.

Botanic gardens, as outdoor education settings, combine educating about the interdependence of people and plants, and the importance of protecting their habitats so that people’s willingness to protect the environment is enhanced. This research has been conducted within a renewed interest in the educational significance of learning beyond the classroom in the UK, and considers that botanic gardens – school collaborations have the potential to overcome barriers to the provision of outdoor education. Additionally, such collaborations offer appropriate grounds to investigate the relationship of school-based and outdoor learning. This research looks for the factors that militate in favour of successful collaborations between botanic gardens and schools, and explores how such collaborations shape pupils’ environmental learning experiences in the school and in the gardens. My research entails an ethnographic multi case study of collaborations between Wakehurst Place and three local primary schools. I conducted my fieldwork during the school year 2006-2007, and my research techniques included participant observation, semi-structured interviews, informal talks, keeping fieldnotes, and collecting documents and artifacts. Data were analysed using thematic analysis techniques. My research shows that the history of collaboration between the gardens and local schools, the organisations’ interdependency, and the development of professional relationships between the individuals involved, are the overarching factors that contribute to the success of collaborations. In addition, acknowledging that experience can be conceptualised in different ways, this research has shown that successful botanic gardens – school collaborations can result in pupils’ linking their environmental learning experiences across settings. Arguing that pupils merge the learning they acquire from different sources into a whole unit, and taking into account that individual behaviours are influenced by a variety of factors, it is suggested teachers and educators need to focus on encouraging pupils’ critical thinking on environmental issues through environmental learning experiences in the gardens and at school.

Objective: Previous studies have explored impacts of school gardening on students and detailed broad components needed for successful gardens, but little is known about how gardens are maintained, connected academically, valued, and sustained over time. The purpose of this observational study is to explore how school gardens become institutionalized and create an implementation framework that can be used to establish gardens that are well integrated into curriculum and culture. Study Design, Setting, Participants, Intervention: A stratified, purposeful sample of school gardeners at 21 Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Bronx schools completed a survey, semi-structured interviews, and concept mapping exercises during the 2013-2014 school year. Additional data collected were student observations, garden images, and related documents. Outcome Measures and Analysis: The survey was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Interviews, photos, observations and documents were qualitatively analyzed through thematic coding, pattern matching, explanation building, and cross-case synthesis. Concept mapping exercises was analyzed quantitatively by entering participants’ sorted statements into a similarity matrix to conduct multi-dimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis and qualitatively by thematic coding. Results: Survey, interview and observation data explicated how school gardeners used implementation strategies to overcome barriers, create new learning opportunities for students, and facilitate permeation of gardening into the school culture. The quantitative concept mapping analysis resulted in four school garden domains (resources and support, physical garden, student experience, and school community) and 19 domain components. Qualitative analysis of sorted statements and interviews elucidated relationships between each domain’s components and also the domains to each other. An integration of all data produced a rich description, supplemented with images, of each school garden’s unique and varied characteristics, activities and operation. A synthesis of these analyses produced the School Garden Integration Framework (SGIF), which visually depicts how and when to implement each domain and all components to maximize garden integration. Additionally, a scaled tool (Scale) was created to capture and rate varying degrees of domain and component integration. Conclusion and Implications: The SGIF, Scale, and implementation strategies that emerged from this study can be used by schools or policymakers to strengthen existing or establish new well-integrated school gardening programs.

This dissertation investigates, through weather metaphors in nature writing, how outdoor learning can be transformative. Although we have a robust history of books, essays, and poetry about experiences in weather-rich environments, education as a theoretical and applied field still lacks a philosophical foundation upon which to improve and expand outdoor pedagogy. Rather than proposing that the hermeneutical study of weather metaphors will lead to prescriptive lessons outdoors, this research aims to reveal the philosophy of transformative learning immanent in our experiences. With an increased philosophical understanding of the aesthetically transformative dimensions of outdoor experience, when our senses are most exposed, educators may take the next step of exploring what these experiences might do for the holistic education of students. This dissertation’s recognition of the aesthetic experiences students have in weather-saturated spaces promises to generate a richer definition of an effective learning environment.

Children today are disconnected from the natural environment around them, sometimes finding it annoying, lacking in excitement, and little use to them. Their attention and focus are spent inside watching TV, playing games on computers or a variety of other electronic devices. The purpose of this project was to see if after-school exposure to an Enirovnmental Science Club on the school grounds can impact student attitudes toward our local environment and to increase these third and fourth grade students' knowledge and awareness of their environment.

Thesis (M.Phil. (Environmental law and Management)) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / Environmental Education in schools is one of the vital means through which learners can acquire environmental literacy, which is vital for the protection of the environment. The purpose of this study is to determine the level of environmental literacy among Grade 12 learners based on selected issues namely: Acid rain, soil erosion and global warming. There is a need to encourage active participation in resolving environmental issues. This will in turn ensure compliance with laws of the country. Environmental Education is the process of recognizing values and clarifying concepts in order to develop skills and attitude necessary to understand and appreciate the interrelatedness or interrelationships among people, their culture and their biophysical surroundings. Environmental education also entails practice in decision-making and self-formulation of a code of behaviour about issues concerning environmental quality (IUCN World Conservation Union 1971). This research was conducted in five schools located in Ga-Molepo area. The Grade 12 geography learners were tested to determine their level on environmental literacy. This knowledge was tested by means of a questionnaire, which contained questions that tested the learners’ environmental literacy level. The level of literacy was compared between males and females. Their understandings of legal implications were also tested. Anderson & Arsenault (1990:170-179) states that questionnaires need no introduction. The advantage of questionnaire is that if properly designed, it provides a collection of reliable and reasonably valid data in a simple manner. Yet constracting a good questionnaire is a challenge and requires thorough thought, piloting, revision and reformatting. 85% of learners from all the schools indicated that they are aware of the causes and effects of soil erosion. 42% of learners understand what acid rain is and only 20% of them understand what global warming is. Learners must be educated on environmental issues in relation to environmental protection and improvement. Legal obligations and accountability under laws as well as the need to comply with law must be part of all environmental education. Hammond et al (1999:42) explains Coefficient of Variation (CV) as a normalized measure of dispersion of a probability distribution. The Coefficient of Variation was used where Tshebela high school got 33%, which indicated that the learners level of understanding did not indicate variability. In the other 3 schools (Mamokgari, Mamodikeleng and Mmapadi) their level of understanding did not indicate a high level of variation. The last school, Mokwatedi indicated that the learner’s level of understanding indicated a high level of variation which shows that their level of understanding is not good. When coming to what the law requires of them it is clear that only 40% of them understand the legal implications but the rest may harm the environment as they use natural resources for their own benefit such as chopping trees while not considering environmental sustainability and the people around them. It is, therefore, concluded at the end of the research that environmental laws need to be integrated into the learner’s knowledge as their opinions on environmental laws shows clearly that they do not have knowledge and understanding of the environmental legal implications.

Título original: Educação ambiental nas nas teses e dissertações de programas de pós-graduação vinculados à sociologia, na CAPES / Orientador: Luiz Carlos Santana / Banca: Luiz Marcelo de Carvalho / Banca: Philippe Pomier Layrargues / Resumo: O presente trabalho se insere no âmbito do Projeto Educação Ambiental no Brasil: análise da produção acadêmica - teses e dissertações (Projeto EArte). Esta dissertação buscou explorar o que vem sendo produzido nas pesquisas sobre Educação Ambiental na área da Sociologia. Para isto, analisamos teses e dissertações desenvolvidas em Programas de Pós-graduação vinculados à área da Sociologia, na CAPES. Nosso objetivo foi realizar um mapeamento das investigações produzidas, com intuito de identificar e analisar os diversos temas, referenciais teórico-conceituais sociológicos que conduziram tais trabalhos, bem como identificar e analisar possíveis especificidades dos pressupostos sociológicos que contribuem com o campo de pesquisa da EA. Trata-se de uma pesquisa documental, do tipo "estado da arte", que apresenta caráter qualitativo. Para análise do corpus documental, que foi constituído por 11 teses de doutorado e 17 dissertações de mestrado, foi utilizada a técnica da "análise de conteúdo. No mapeamento, os principais resultados indicam um crescimento expressivo a partir dos anos 2000 na produção de pesquisas sobre EA na área da Sociologia, a predominância das IES públicas como lócus de produção destas pesquisas em relação às IES privadas e um desequilíbrio regional relativo à produção das pesquisas analisadas. Foi observada ainda, uma diversidade de temas de pesquisas, o que sugere um processo de aproximação da temática ambiental na área da Sociologia com a EA, além dos variados... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This research is part of the Environmental Education Project in Brazil: analysis of academic production - theses and dissertations (EArte Project). This dissertation aims to explore what has been produced, in researchs, about Environmental Education in the area of Sociology. For this, we analyze theses and dissertations developed in Postgraduate Programs linked to the area of Sociology, at CAPES. Our objective was to map the researches produced in order to identify and analyze the various themes, theoretical and conceptual sociological references that led to such works, as well as to identify and analyze possible specificities of the sociological assumptions that contribute to the field of research of the EE. It is a documentary research, of the "state of the art" type, which has a qualitative character. For the analysis of the documentary corpus, which consisted of 11 doctoral theses and 17 master's dissertations, the technique "content analysis. In the mapping, the main results indicate an expressive growth from the 2000s in the production of research on EE in the area of Sociology, the predominance of public universities as a locus of production of this research in relation to private universities and a regional imbalance related to the production of analyzed. A diversity of research themes was also observed, suggesting a process of approaching the environmental theme in the area of Sociology with EE, in addition to the various theoretical-conceptual references of Sociolog... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Public awareness of environmental problems and the need to work towards their solution have been heightened at international conferences for over two decades.Knowledge of the range of environmental perspectives and attitudes, and understanding the reasons for them, are important requirements for decision-making when dealing with global environmental issues. It is argued that culture may impact on environmental views and attitudes may shape worldwide views that give rise to them.In this study, Australian, Maldivian and Indonesian trainee teacher communities served as sources of data to examine the influence of culture on environmental attitudes. The three communities examined viewed the term 'environment' differently, and that was one reason for different environmental attitudes being exhibited.It was also found that knowledge about environments was obtained from different sources, and some individuals and communities exhibited both pro-New Environmental Paradigm and pro-Human Exemptionalist Paradigm views simultaneously. This is inconsistent with a western view of environmentalism. The findings have implications for environmental education curricula and the negotiation of global environmental issues. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This interpretive study focused on the way in which children make sense of the notion of environment. This study attempted a comprehensive examination of children's perceptions of the notion of environment in an Australian context. There is a concerted effort to create environmental education programs targeted for children yet we have little understanding of how children make sense of the concept of environment. The study examined perspectives from children aged 11 to 13 living in close proximity in New South Wales, Australia. Children's perspectives were gathered through a drawing activity as well as small group interviews. In order to provide a larger conceptual picture of children's perceptions data was also gathered from the surrounding community. Parents, teachers, principals and local media's perspectives on the notion of environment were investigated. The study showed that children perceive the environment as nearly synonymous with nature. They also perceive the environment and nature to be a place without people. Children were very concerned about environmental issues, especially issues in their local areas. Children generally did not attribute individuals with responsibility for the environment. Children's ideas were examined alongside those from the broader community revealing relationships and links between community practices and children's perceptions of the environment. This study addresses a gap in the literature by providing a comprehensive exploration of children's perceptions of the notion of the environment and examining links to the portrayal of environment in the context of the surrounding community. Findings provided a solid basis upon which to augment the design of programs in environmental education.

This study is concerned with the design, justification and evaluation of a curriculum in the field of Environmental Education which attempts to emphasise certain aspects of Environmental Education which are neglected in schools at present. It is argued that the majority of Environmental Education programmes are based on the rational/logical mode of thinking, are expert dominated and concentrate heavily on environmental dysfunction. In an attempt to redress this imbalance a curriculum design is presented which emphasises the sensory/expressive mode of thought, group co-operation and centres on positive features of the environment. A rationale in support of such a curriculum is developed and the conditions necessary for its success are described. An evaluation of the implementation of the curriculum in four diverse educational settings is described. Finally the implications of this study for further developments in the fields of education in general and Environmental Education in particular are discussed.