This study investigated the opportunities and impediments that were present in C2005 and which impacted on the implementation of environmental education in selected schools in the Lusikisiki District of the Eastern Cape Province. The sample consisted of 12 learners from grade 2 to grade 7, 26 educators and 2 parents from 2 GET band schools. Two Department of Education Officials also formed part of the sample. Interviews were conducted and observations were made within the two schools to get an insight on the position and status of environmental education in the two schools. The study's findings indicated that the position and status of environmental education in the two schools were low although all the stakeholders had a desire to see things improving. The study puts forward some recommendations and review of environmental education implementation strategies. It also makes suggestions for further related investigation in this area. / Educational Studies / M.Ed(Environmental Education))

The Revised National Curriculum Statement of 2002 does not emphasize the need for Education for Sustainable Living (EFSL) in the Arts and Culture (A & C) learning area. Although the RNCS envisages a learner who respects the environment, the curriculum does not cater for the needs of the educators who are relatively new to environmental education and especially EFSL. Educators are faced with a multitude of barriers and constraints. This research attempts to identify the barriers and provide strategies and recommendations to integrate EFSL in the Arts and Culture area. The barriers were identified through a questionnaire that was given to educators in the Port Shepstone region. To make the research more valid some questionnaires were given to schools in the urban areas, in the Durban South region, since most of the schools in the Port Shepstone region are in a rural setting. The strategies and recommendations are highlighted using the researcher's personal experience in the education setting, use of literature and the researcher's encounters at the International Children's Conference on the Environment in Connecticut, USA in 2004 and the World Environmental Conference in Japan in 2005. / Further Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Environmental Education)

South Africa is a water-scarce country and receives less rainfall than the average rainfall of the World. As population increases, and development calls for increased allocation of ground water and surface water for the domestic, agriculture and industrial sectors, the pressure on water resources intensifies. This is exacerbated by the wastages that occur in schools and homes. Conservation of water by all consumers is essential. The study attempts to identify practices that lead to wastage of water and indicate strategies for the reduction of water wastage and conservation strategy. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Environmental Education)

Environmental Education is a foundation in strengthening learners and community awareness in all environmental issues, including water pollution-related diseases. This study aimed at investigating the level of environmental education awareness on water pollution-related diseases by learners who live in the informal settlement. And lastly, if possible and feasible, to propose solutions to the perceived water pollution-related diseases found in this informal settlement adjacent to the Jukskei river in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg. The research focused on the introduction of the dissertation in Chapter 1 Theoretical foundations of the research in Chapter 2 Research methodology in Chapter 3 Data analysis, interpretation and discussion in Chapter 4 Conclusions and recommendations in Chapter 5 The study provided various definitions of environment, Environmental Education, The goal, Aims & Objective, Classification & Outcomes, Environmental literacy; water pollution-related diseases, the integration of Environmental education in the RNCS & water pollution-related diseases awareness; Education for Sustainable Development; and the relationship between the development of informal settlement and water pollution related diseases. The outcomes of the investigation indicated that the level of environmental education awareness on water pollution –related diseases by learners at the informal settlement is less at primary level and partially increases at the high schools. In order to increase learners’ awareness on water pollution-related diseases across the curricula there should be an adequate integration of Environmental Education in the RNCS. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Environmental Education)

This study focuses on the influence of particular teaching strategies that can be used in Environmental Education (EE) and examines how specific methods influence knowledge retention and attitude change. The aim of the study is to compare the 'traditional' lecture style method where learners are passive, with cooperative learning to determine their influence on learners’ knowledge retention and attitude towards marine conservation. Both methods can be considered effective teaching methods to increase knowledge retention and induce a positive change in environmental attitudes. However, this study suggests that the teaching method used in a particular school could influence the learning outcomes of the EE programme because of pre-existing abilities, skills the learners may have and context to which the learners are exposed. In conclusion, when offering an EE programme, for the programme to be successful one would need to determine which method of teaching is practised within schools and then ensure that the same method is used. / Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Environmental Education))

Preservationist conservation created a legacy of national parks and protected areas that were surrounded by local people dispossessed of their land and denied the rights to use the resources they had previously relied upon. Although conservation is now shifting towards a more participatory approach, research gaps still exist in determining the meaning of 'the environment' and the role of local means of conservation in rural communities in South Africa. This study focused on children's cultural environmental narratives from two rural villages in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Children from grades 4, 7 and 10 were involved in the study, and adult family members, local experts and village elders were included in the study to allow for comparison between children's and adult's narratives and to realise what Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) was being passed on. This thesis considers children's use of the environment for play and their sense of place as key methods in ascertaining children's environmental narratives and perceptions. At both field sites, local experts and community elders possessed a wealth of cultural environmental narratives, but these narratives were not necessarily being passed on. Changing household structures and other socio-economic factors influence cultural environmental practices, which in turn have an impact on the cultural environmental narratives being passed down. In many cases, parents' safety fears strongly impacted upon children's access to the environment, resulting in gendered environmental knowledge. The study compared differing vegetation types and degrees of environmental access. The differing environments produced similar cultural environmental narratives, leading to new understandings in community environment relationships. Children living near the state administered forest had significantly less environmental knowledge, bringing about questions of sustainable bio-cultural diversity in the future. The recognition of cultural environmental values is especially important in the rural areas of South Africa, where unemployment and increased poverty levels have led to greater dependence on natural resources for social, economic and cultural purposes. It is proposed that local cultural environmental narratives and landscape perceptions be included into community conservation and environmental education policies and programmes to provide local solutions to the problem of biodiversity conservation in local contexts.

Human activities that involve interactions amongst three players i.e. nature, humans and technology, continue to impact negatively on the Earth's biosphere. The impact is tremendous: consumption of resources at an unsustainable level leading to rapid loss of natural resources and biodiversity. The plea to reverse this negative trend is as valid now as it were many years ago. While some progress has been made to develop strategies to wisely manage and protect the Earth's resources, the state of the environment is still fragile. Strategies are far from satisfactory: hence the grounds for a new commitment in a manner best suited to a country's needs and resources. In recent years, research in indigenous knowledge systems has been pursued in an attempt to develop a deeper understanding of its complex linkages with the environment. Incorporating some of these linkages in the science curricula provides opportunities for learners to make informed choices to address individual and society's needs by extracting relevant elements from Western science and indigenous knowledge systems. This research focuses on the use of indigenous knowledge in science education offered to grade eight and nine learners in South African schools. As part of this education, science curricula, teaching methodologies and resources therefore should be developed in response to the changing needs of learners and their communities. A close look at the natural science learning area of Curriculum 2005 shows that the South African curriculum developers have under-used indigenous knowledge in the teaching and learning of science at school level. The conceptualization of an inclusive and just science education has been evaded. Perceptions elicited from a small group of academics, well versed in IK, indicate that the majority of South African science teachers will embrace the inclusion of indigenous knowledge in the natural science learning area but will require significant assistance from the Department of Education. The key to deal with this daunting task is for the relevant role players to establish partnerships with the knowers and holders of indigenous knowledge and to operate in a neutral, noble and altruistic manner and that in itself in the present context is highly problematic. / Educational Studies / Thesis (D. Ed.)

This study investigated the opportunities and impediments that were present in C2005 and which impacted on the implementation of environmental education in selected schools in the Lusikisiki District of the Eastern Cape Province. The sample consisted of 12 learners from grade 2 to grade 7, 26 educators and 2 parents from 2 GET band schools. Two Department of Education Officials also formed part of the sample. Interviews were conducted and observations were made within the two schools to get an insight on the position and status of environmental education in the two schools. The study's findings indicated that the position and status of environmental education in the two schools were low although all the stakeholders had a desire to see things improving. The study puts forward some recommendations and review of environmental education implementation strategies. It also makes suggestions for further related investigation in this area. / Educational Studies / M.Ed(Environmental Education))

Since the early 1990’s both South Africa and Namibia have been engaged in educational reform processes to address the discriminatory impacts and orientations of education under Bantu Education which were implemented in both countries prior to independence (Namibia in 1990, and South Africa in 1994). A feature of both educational reform processes is the underpinning theory of learning which draws on social constructivism, and which is articulated as learner centred education. This approach to teaching and learning infuses both policy frameworks. Another common feature is the introduction of environmental education into the formal education systems of both countries, a process which has been championed by development assistance, and which has been supported by programmes such as the Eco-Schools programme which is an international environmental education initiative started after the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, and implemented in a number of countries, including South Africa. The programme has also been piloted in some schools in Namibia. To date no research has been done on the way in which the Eco-Schools framework (its practices, organizing principles, evaluation processes etc.) enhance learner centred education. This study therefore aimed to investigate and understand how the Eco-Schools framework can enhance learner centred education. The study was conducted in 2007 in three Eco-Schools in Namibia and four Eco-Schools in South Africa in the context of the broader national programmes of implementing learner centred education policies, and environmental education histories. The study used a case study methodology, using observation, interviews, and document analysis as the main methods for data generation. The analytical process followed two stages: the first involved an inductive analysis using categories which were organized into a series of analytical memos. The second phase of data analysis involved recontextualising the data drawing on theory and contextual insights to provide insights that address the research question, using analytical statements. The main findings of the study are that the Eco-Schools framework provides numerous opportunities to enhance learner centred education, through contextualization of learning, through strengthening school-community interactions, and through enabling active involvement of learners in decision making and a range of contextually meaningful Eco-Schools practices. The study also showed that the Eco-Schools framework allows for empowerment of learners in relation to diverse needs, and also allows for learner initiated contributions, although this aspect was not well developed in the schools that were included in this study. The study also found that the benefits of Eco-Schools in terms of enhancing learner centred education were limited to only a few learners who were involved in club activities or who were being taught by enthusiastic teachers who were participating in the Eco-Schools programme. The study showed that these benefits can be more widely shared if more teachers were to get involved, and if the Eco-Schools programme were better understood in relation to the curriculum requirements of various subjects and learning areas, and if the Eco-Schools practices could be more successfully integrated across the curriculum. The study also showed that various forms of support were required for implementing the Eco-Schools programme, most notably the support of the Principal, and the Department of Education. The study also identified that parents and other stakeholders in the school were supportive of the Eco-Schools programme since it was perceived to have relevance to learning, as well as the community. The results broadly confirmed that the implementation of Eco-Schools using a whole school, values based and active learning approach promotes a school culture which enhances learner centred education more broadly across the school. The study also found that the Eco-Schools programme added a new dimension to existing discourses on learner centred education, which could be described as a community linked or situated approach to learner centred education.

This research looks at a global virtual web-based programme for environmental awareness and education for sustainable development (ENO-Environment Online). It is a case study of Treverton Preparatory school in South Africa, one of several schools where the programme is implemented. One of the themes within the programme (“This is our culture”) is highlighted. A mixed method, interpretive case study methodology is used. Research methods include two focus group interviews with a selected group of learners, observations of four computer-based lessons and one practical session, document analysis of the three forms of learners’ submissions (‘blog’ site submission, presentation of material and ‘chat’ session), and two interviews conducted with the Treverton form teacher and ENO programme co-ordinator. The research views the Treverton ENO activities in relation to: academic rigour in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use, the teacher’s role in ICT pedagogy, and active learning in ICT applications. As the theme is culturally based with a global perspective, the research also considers these activities from the perspectives of education for cultural knowledge (multicultural education) and in terms of mobilising indigenous knowledge and global education. These perspectives on the ENO activities are analysed in relation to dimensions of teaching and learning guidelines pertinent to Education for Sustainable Development in a southern African context. The research shows that the ENO theme supported a variety of learning contexts, a sense of community, modelling of behaviours and actions, debate, sharing of information and improved communication skills. Learners were exposed to cultural diversity, contradictory cultural values, cultural and global inclusivity. Knowledge of social cultural practices and indigenous knowledge was shared. Academic rigour in the ENO theme was noted with reflection being the predominant activity. Based on these key findings, recommendations to the ENO programme, schools and teachers have been made. These include: exploring possibilities for increasing focus on sustainable development actions, improving access to relevant information, encouraging critical debate and critical engagement with cultural diversity.