M.Ed. / This thesis follows the Grade 7-9 teachers at the three Middle schools at the Temba District of Bojanala East Region in the North West Province about their lesson planning to include an Environmental Education focus. Environmental learning principle of the NCS (R-9) has been used to trace teachers’ understanding, knowledge and skills about the “environment”, as well as to check their level of compliance with the NCS as a prescribed policy for their teaching practices. The use of the NCS as an Outcomes- Based Education and Training approach in teaching assisted me to get a clear indication of the situation that prevailed at the schools that were sampled with regard to the recontextualisation of environmental learning. The study acknowledged that the situation at schools was found to have been entrenched and influenced by the past socio-historical, socio-political, the cultural and traditional realities that have infiltrated into the curriculum approaches and hindered the existence of opportunities for best Environmental Education practices. Teachers on the ground level were found to not have sufficient knowledge of what Environmental Education is all about. It was found that they lacked the basic background information about the environment itself. They are faced with situations where classes are overcrowded, with no community involvement in school activities. Added to these challenges is the reluctance on the part of the national and local education bodies to provide teachers with the necessary support. Teachers are as a result, not coping with these appalling circumstances surrounding them and proper Environmental learning thus becomes a thing they are unable to deal with. This study recommended that teachers’ skills be harnessed for effective and progressive teaching. The Department of Education was urged to take a step to initiate a collaborative change in attitude of both the school communities and the government by providing the necessary support to teachers, as well as to allocate to schools budgets and resources to assist them to cope with the demands brought about by the new policies they are supposed to implement. The implementation of the recommendations of this thesis will bring about systematic change in attitude and behaviour, with simultaneous social change in values, as well as direct management from national and local bodies.

With an intention of opening a vantage point on the story of how curriculum is actually created, this study follows the recontextualising of the environmental discourse of the National Curriculum Statement (R-9) in three case sites. These are: Grade seven Department of Education training material developed to introduce educators to the NCS (R-9), Delta Environmental Centre an environmental education non-governmental organisation, a rural primary school situated south of Durban. Using elements of the Bernstein’s (1990) framework of pedagogic discourse, the study traces how the environmental discourse was de-located from the field of production and relocated into the pedagogic practice of each case. In trying to follow the continuity, changes and discontinuities in the official [environmental] discourse as it is recontextualised, the study utilises Bernstein’s conceptual constructs of selective appropriation and ideological transformation. These constructs of selective appropriation and ideological transformation enabled me to ‘look into’ each case and get a perspective of how to explain the recontextualising processes. The study acknowledged that discourses are shaped and steered by historical, political and economic realities and begins by tracing the genesis of the environmental discourse within formal curriculum policy in South Africa. This socio-historical review highlights the main factors and happenings that shaped the present curriculum discourse and its production as official policy discourse. The study highlighted that within each case the recontextualising story is unique but some clear patterns emerged as factors that impacted on recontextualising processes. These were the role of history and context, knowledge and experience of the discourse, ideology and emphasis, and the depth with which the discourse was engaged. The discussion of these factors gave valuable insights into the recontextualising of curriculum discourses. The study comments on the need to clarify the environmental focus in the Learning Areas and to actualise this into practice so that the discourse becomes an integral part of teaching, learning and assessment. The study also highlights the need for professional development opportunities that will enable educators to clarify the nature and focus of the environmental discourse in the NCS (R-9), and its articulation in Learning Area in context. In particular, the environment and social justice relationships appear to require greater clarity of focus and interpretation in recontextualising processes. There also appears to be a need to develop educators’ foundational knowledge of environmental issues to strengthen the recontextualising of this discourse.

by Chi-kin John Lee. / Publication date from spine. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 484-512). / Questionnaires in Chineses. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgement --- p.iii / Table of Contents --- p.iv / List of Tables --- p.x / List of Figures --- p.xv / List of Appendices --- p.xv / Chapter Chapter One： --- INTRODUCTION / Chapter 1.1 --- Background of the Study --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Emergence of environmental consciousness and environmental protection in Hong Kong / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Environmental education in the context of school curricula in Hong Kong / Chapter 1.1.3 --- The context of curriculum change -- primary education in Hong Kong / Chapter 1.2 --- Statement of the Problem --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3 --- Purpose of the Study --- p.11 / Chapter 1.4 --- Research Questions --- p.12 / Chapter 1.5 --- Significance of the Study --- p.13 / Chapter 1.6 --- Delimitations --- p.19 / Chapter 1.7 --- Definitions of Terms --- p.19 / Chapter Chapter Two： --- REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE -- ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION / Chapter 2.1 --- The Nature of Curriculum Change -- Environmental Education --- p.32 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Nature of environmental education / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Curriculum theorising and environmental education / Chapter 2.2 --- The Scale of Curriculum Change --- p.41 / Chapter 2.3 --- Change and Curriculum Development Strategies --- p.43 / Chapter 2.4 --- Status and Perceived Needs of Environmental Education --- p.44 / Chapter 2.5 --- Analysis of Curriculum Materials with reference to Environmental Education --- p.49 / Chapter Chapter Three: --- REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE -- CURRICULUM CHANGE / Chapter 3.1 --- Theories of Curriculum Change： The introduction of an innovation --- p.55 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- General models of change / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Approaches to analysing educational change / Chapter 3.2 --- Teacher Change and Receptivity as an Area of Study --- p.64 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Technical perspective： Variables affecting teachers' receptivity to change / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Studies related to teachers' receptivity to and adoption of an innovation / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Receptivity and status risk theory / Chapter 3.2.4 --- An interpretive perspective： Teachers' voice in curriculum change / Chapter 3.3 --- Teachers' Stages of Concern as Perceptions of Curriculum Change --- p.91 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Concerns-based Adoption Model (CBAM) / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Studies related to Stages of Concern / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Stages of Concern and receptivity / Chapter 3.4 --- Research related to Adoption and Implementation of Environmental Education --- p.105 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Teachers' perceptions of environmental education / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Curriculum implementation of environmental education programmes / Chapter 3.5 --- Research related to Curriculum Change and Implementation in Hong Kong --- p.112 / Chapter 3.6 --- Review of the Literature on Environmental Education and Curriculum Change -- An overview --- p.116 / Chapter Chapter Four： --- RESEARCH DESIGN / Chapter 4.1 --- The Research Questions and Associated Research Methods --- p.121 / Chapter 4.2 --- Methodological Issues --- p.125 / Chapter 4.3 --- Questionnaire Surveys --- p.130 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Questionnaire design -- Instruments / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Pre-test phase for the second questionnaire survey / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Samples for the questionnaire surveys / Chapter 4.4 --- Case Studies and Case Study Approach --- p.148 / Chapter 4.5 --- Methods of Data Analysis --- p.158 / Chapter 4.6 --- Limitations --- p.170 / Chapter Chapter Five: --- CURRICULUM DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS / Chapter 5.1 --- "The Nature of Environmental Education as Stated in the ""Guidelines""" --- p.174 / Chapter 5.2 --- Nature of Curriculum Development for Promoting Environmental Education in Primary Schools --- p.200 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Responsibilities of curriculum development agencies at the central level / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Effort of the Education Department / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Effort of government departments and non-government environmental organisations in promoting environmental education in schools / Chapter 5.2.4 --- Other support provided to the primary teachers for implementing the curriculum change / Chapter 5.3 --- Conclusion --- p.218 / Chapter Chapter Six： --- THE STATUS OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN HONG KONG / Chapter 6.1 --- Official Information about the Status of Environmental Education in Schools in Hong Kong --- p.223 / Chapter 6.2 --- The Status of Environmental Education in Primary Schools --- p.224 / Chapter 6.3 --- Some Practices of Environmental Education in Primary Schools --- p.233 / Chapter Chapter Seven： --- TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION / Chapter 7.1 --- "Concepts of the Term ""Environment' and Environmental Education Objectives and Content Perceived by Primary School Teachers" --- p.264 / Chapter 7.2 --- Environmental Education Needs Perceived by Primary School Teachers --- p.277 / Chapter 7.3 --- Degree of Teachers' Environmental Concern --- p.280 / Chapter Chapter Eight: --- TEACHERS' RECEPTIVITY TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION / Chapter 8.1 --- Teachers' Stages of Concern towards Environmental Education --- p.288 / Chapter Chapter Nine: --- CASE STUDIES OF SCHOOLS ADOPTING ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS WITH TEACHERS OF HIGH AND LOW RECEPTIVITY TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION / Chapter 9.1 --- Characteristics of the Case Study Schools and the Environmental Education Curriculum and Activities Adopted --- p.321 / Chapter 9.2 --- The Adoption Process in the Case Study Schools Adopting Environmental Education --- p.344 / Chapter 9.2.1 --- Reasons for initiation and adoption / Chapter 9.2.2 --- The importance of principal support and die-hard supporters in the adoption of environmental education / Chapter 9.2.3 --- Responses of teachers towards the adoption of environmental education / Chapter 9.3 --- Examples of Infusing Environmental Education in Teaching by Individual Teachers --- p.367 / Chapter 9.4 --- Factors Influencing Teachers' and Principals' Receptivity to the Adoption of Environmental Education in Primary Schools --- p.369 / Chapter 9.5 --- Perceptions of Approaches to Environmental Education --- p.397 / Chapter 9.6 --- "Principals' and Teachers' Perceptions of Good ""Guidelines""" --- p.400 / Chapter Chapter Ten： --- DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS FROM SURVEYS AND CASE STUDIES / Chapter 10.1 --- Comparison of Survey and Interview Findings --- p.411 / Chapter 10.2 --- The Relation of the Present Findings with the Literature of Curriculum Change and Environmental Education --- p.422 / Chapter 10.2.1 --- The importance of perceived 'practicality' of the innovation to teachers / Chapter 10.2.2 --- Elements for effective planning of the innovation / Chapter 10.2.3 --- Need for improvement in curriculum development in environmental education / Chapter 10.2.4 --- The linkage between teachers' receptivity and school adoption of environmental education / Chapter 10.2.5 --- The role of the principal and of 'critical mass' in the adoption of environmental education / Chapter 10.2.6 --- "A principal's leadership, contextual characteristics and teachers' receptivity" / Chapter 10.2.7 --- Teachers' perceptions of environmental education / Chapter 10.3 --- Towards a Framework for Studying Teachers' Receptivity to Environmental Education --- p.442 / Chapter Chapter Eleven： --- CONCLUSION / Chapter 11.1 --- Summary of Findings and Implications --- p.459 / Chapter 11.2 --- Relation of the Present Study to Existing Theories --- p.476 / Chapter 11.3 --- Suggestions for Future Research --- p.479 / Chapter 11.4 --- Concluding Remarks --- p.481 / References --- p.484 / Appendices --- p.513

Curriculum 2005 is an attempt by the South African government to create and implement a strategic plan to change the formal school curriculum. The new curriculum has 'integration' as one of its focal features. This study is an investigation of the use of' environment' as an integrating' organiser' in the senior phase of Curriculum 2005 in a selection of schools in the Mpumalanga province. While the Curriculum 2005 framework encourages curriculum integration, this is an area which might be neglected during implementation, because there is so little experience among teachers of working in an 'integrated' way. Environmental education is an approach to education which requires and facilitates curriculum integration. This study has the potential to contribute to our understanding of the integration of environmental learning across the new curriculum. Questionnaires and vignettes based on document analysis, follow-up interviews and classroom observations, involving a small group of teachers, were used in conducting the study. The investigation has revealed that participating teachers show a limited understanding of the constructs 'environment' and 'phase organiser'. Teachers do not take or introduce a critical perspective on the nature and causes of environmental issues. They treat the construct 'environment' and associated issues quite superficially when working with learners. Participating teachers generally misunderstood the concept 'phase organisers' and tended to interpret it in concepts associated with the curriculum framework they were used to. Curriculum 2005 also requires teachers to take on a more active curriculum development role. This study looked at four teachers' attempts to develop learning programme units, and at the way in which two teachers implement their curriculum plans focussing on 'environment', in the classroom. It was found that participating teachers do not always follow the same sequence or steps when developing a learning programme. Learning programme units were not considered in developmental sequence, they lacked some form of continuity and links between intended learning outcomes and teaching activities were also lacking. There was inadequate integration between learning areas. Furthermore, integration between knowledge, skills, values and attitudes was also not quite clear among the teachers, and they tended to deal with environmental knowledge in a rather limited way, focussing instead on the awareness and attitudes. These findings are of concern, and they are in keeping with the Curriculum 2005 Review Report, which highlighted the danger of inadequate focus on curriculum content. On overall teachers seem to be struggling with the whole notion of 'integration', even though environment as a phase organiser is meant to assist with curriculum integration. The thesis ends with recommendations on how teachers might be assisted to achieve meaningful curriculum integration, through using learning outcomes as well as content knowledge relevant to environmental learning.

The Environmental Education programme offered at the Gold Fields Environmental Education Centre (GFEE Centre) in the Pilanesberg National Park, Bophuthatswana, was initiated in response to requests from schools in Bophuthatswana to visit game reserves as 'syllabus related school activities'. Evaluative research into the GFEE Centre programme by an external researcher indicated that the learning experiences largely concentrated on cognitive development, and neglected to influence affective and psychomotor development. After a number of adaptations to the programme, which emphasised a more child-centred approach it was realised that little was known about the background and learning needs of the predominantly BaTswana school children. It was felt by the researcher that the learning activities provided at the GFEE Centre could also possibly be biased by a Western, scientific orientation which possibly lacked relevance to the cultural backgrounds of the pupils. The researcher used an action research approach in a number of workshops with a purposive sample of BaTswana primary school teachers, to gather data. The teachers were encouraged to critically reflect on the background and learning-needs of BaTswana children, with specific regard to environmental issues and worldviews. The information provided by the teachers' reflective deliberations and a seperate research project with school children, indicated that primary school children in Bophuthatswana tend to follow accepted human development patterns in their perceptions of the environment. The influence of either a predominantly rural or urban upbringing during a child's early formative years was considered by the teachers to be significant in determining worldviews, and culture was considered to have an influence on children's learning processes. Their beliefs and experiences were used by them in generating suggestions to correct the GFEE Centre programme. The teachers' also highlighted the fact that there were a number of socio-cultural and institutional issues which influenced the effectiveness of the GFEE Centre programme.

This project was developed to provide curriculum for young adults in the California Conservation Corps to help them connect to their employment with attitude and knowledge acquisition related to the outdoors.

This study uses a systems thinking perspective to explore the role and meaning of participation, capacity development and project sustainability in the Zimbabwe Secondary Teacher Training Environmental Education Project (St²eep). Since there was no consistent critical reflection upon the different assumptions that underpin these important aspects of St²eep in the original project design, this study aims to articulate a theoretical framework for guiding the project. St2eep is a donorfunded project, located in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education in Zimbabwe that seeks to integrate environmental education across the curriculum of secondary teacher education. The study first develops a theoretical framework drawing on systems thinking. In particular it uses the holistic and constructivist perspectives embedded in systems thinking to describe a number of analytic frameworks that are used as a guide to investigate participation, capacity development and project sustainability in the St²eep case study. The research methodology comprises a qualitative case study approach, which contains elements of an instrumental, evaluative and critical case study. Data-collection methods include document analysis, focus group discussions, focus group interviews, semi-structured face-to-face interviews and participant observation. Data analysis follows the constant comparative method of coding and categorising data as outlined by Strauss and Corbin (1998). The outcomes of this research show that participation processes in St²eep evolve around the interactions between a political dimension and a learning dimension. The political dimension relates to giving the project stakeholders a critical voice, allowing them to shape the project and involving them in the decision-making process. This approach has fostered an ongoing learning process in a small team of committed stakeholders based on the principles of collaborative learning, team learning and action research. Participation was shown to enhance capacity-development processes at individual and institutional level by the provision of support through learning teams, and by the renegotiation of responsibilities and power relations between lecturers involved in St²eep, donor representatives and college administrations. The strong operational role of the donor organisation was seen as a serious threat towards individual and institutional capacity development since it creates a functional but artificial and independent project system within the college system and takes over any local institutional support structure that it might seek to develop. Fostering continuous learning and capacity development, St²eep’s participatory approach was shown to contribute to a better understanding of the interconnectedness of factors that influence future sustainability of the project and the implementation of environmental education. This has assisted in the development of different scenarios on the sustainability of the project. The research shows that the project-ustainability planning process draws directly from St²eep’s ongoing learning process, with individual and institutional capacity development featuring strongly in the different scenarios, and with the external context such as the economic situation and the low priority of environmental education being recognised as important factors that need to be considered. Drawing on the findings from the case study, this study makes a tentative recommendation that donor organisations should focus more on capacity-development initiatives and avoid taking on a strong operational role in project activities. The research also recommends that there is need for a deliberate focus on both the political and learning dimensions of the participation process in order to foster local ownership. Making the learning aspect much more central in St²eep is presented as a possible strategy for motivating a larger number of college lecturers to become involved in the project and the implementation of environmental education. The study also urges St²eep to combine the different scenarios that have emerged during the project sustainability planning process and to focus on the benefits that stakeholders want to see sustained.

Science student teachers' participation with practising teachers in developing curriculum in environmental education for implementation in schools has been a neglected field. This study focuses on the collaboration of science student teachers with practising teachers in developing an alternative curriculum for environmental education compared to existing traditional practices in most schools in South Africa. The science teacher educator, as the researcher, used action research or elements of it to facilitate the process. The action research component served as an inquiry into, and improvement of, the PRESET/INSET curriculum development model for teacher development. This dissertation reports on four case studies of curriculum development and environmental education in science teacher education practised at the University of Durban-Westville from 1991 to 1996. Innovative strategies serve as the basis of interventions in four primary school contexts, each representing a case study on its own, yet sequentially linked as action research cycles. The case study approach served the purpose of illuminating the curriculum development process with the intention of generating grounded theory through action research or elements of it. The outcomes of a survey of the status of curriculum development in institutions offering science teacher education in KwaZulu-Natal are also presented to support the need for an innovative approach to the PRESET/INSET curriculum development model. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1998.

This case study describes the development and trial use of the Hadeda Island Big Book. Developed within a transforming South African curriculum framework, the study recognises that current educational practices are shaped and steered by historical, cultural, political and economic realities. This perspective guides the research design, which considers each of the three participating schools as contextually unique. The Hadeda Island Big Book was developed in response to the 1st Principle of the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS). This calls for all curriculum activities to develop learners' understandings of the relationship between social justice, a healthy environment, human rights and inclusivity. The study probes ways in which learning support materials might respond in line with the vision of the RNCS 1st Principle. Associated challenges, tensions and opportunities are discussed in relation to schools' interactions with the Hadeda Island Big Book. The diverse and creative responses to the book lead this study to foreground generative approaches to curriculum work. Emphasis is thus redirected from hierarchical, stipulative views of curriculum to more dynamic, responsive views of curriculum as a guiding framework. This is regarded as a valuable orientation to the development of future learning support materials. The study comments on the challenge of supporting teachers to develop curriculum activities that reflect a view of 'environment' as socially shaped and multi-dimensional. Tendencies to focus on either the 'ecological' or the 'social' dimensions of environmental issues rather than on the interacting socio-ecological dimensions are recognised as limiting the material's potential to strengthen environmental learning in schools. The study recommends that greater attention be paid to the environmentally-oriented Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards of all Learning Areas in the RNCS. In so doing, socio-ecological learning processes may be strengthened through curriculum work.

This study explores the extent to which the ethos and the basic approach to education taken by three Eastern Cape private schools influences the practice of environmental education within these schools. Their environmental education programmes are evaluated in terms of the guiding principles adopted by the international community in the 'Tbilisi Principles of Environmental Education'. An ethnographic approach was adopted for this research and findings are essentially descriptive and qualitative, with special regard to social structures and the attitudes of individuals within these structures.