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Environmental events in schools and the media coverage these receive conveys the impression that eco-education is an earnest affair; a vibrant programme of studies, projects, fieldwork and other activities aimed, in the ultimate, at achieving a greener society. And that environment is afforded as serious a status as, say, Math or any other mainstream subject. Reality is, however, very different: far from being mainstream, environment is external, optional, and not given the emphasis it should.
It was to discuss what ails environment education in schools that a consultation took between teachers of Abu Dhabi and a senior representative of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) International, Switzerland, who was on a visit to the WWF UAE office in May. Luc P. Deslarzes, senior policy advisor, environmental education, WWF, met TADPOLE(s) – Teachers of Abu Dhabi for the Protection of the Living Environment – and heard about the problems they faced as environment educators. Present at the meeting were over 30 teachers (mostly from private English-medium and a few from government schools), who were instructors of the Sciences, Geography, Language and Art, with additional responsibility for developing an environmental programme.
The first point to be raised was that there aren’t enough opportunities for children to acquire a “feel for the earth.” Formal education may be important, but it isn’t enough. It is vital to learn earth wisdom by experiencing nature and establishing an emotional bond with its life-forms and processes. It is a one on one interaction with the wilderness that helps kindle such a feeling. This, however, is something that the young don’t get much of here. “Children have no direct experience of the natural environment. There isn’t space enough in our school even to start a small garden, and most of our students don’t get opportunities to undertake trips outside of cities,” complains Molly McQuarrie, environmental link teacher, Abu Dhabi International School. A wild lizard - the yellow-spotted agama – which sits on Molly’s head (literally!) blinks in agreement with what she has to say while another, a baby dhub – the spiny-tailed lizard -- fidgets about in her jacket pocket. “I keep collecting creatures from the wild to show to children. The rest of the staff think that I am weird!”
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Field trips are a most effective educational tool, Deslarzes thinks. “We can keep bombarding children with information about saving the earth, but they are not going to learn anything unless their feelings are touched.” But nature camps for kids in the UAE are a rare occurrence. The country being new to expatriate teachers (most of them are), they face a “fear of the unknown,” as far as taking students for outdoor activities is concerned. Another teacher supplements Molly’s concern: “We have little idea where to go and what to do. Scientific data, background literature and training materials are not readily available; and transportation for excursions is a problem too.” However, one positive element is the regular ecology field trips organised by the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency. These are immensely popular with students and teachers alike. Another is the enormous support and encouragement provided by the Private Department of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan for school groups to visit Sir Bani Yas Island, off the coast of Abu Dhabi, developed by His Highness Sheikh Zayed as an abode for wildlife.
If we think that lessons in classrooms compensate for the paucity of nature camps, we are mistaken. Environmental studies are not a part of the formal school curriculum. Teachers, too burdened trying to cope with the existing syllabus, can spare little time for something that is clearly ‘extra-curricular’. Most have neither the inclination nor the motivation to put in the extra effort required. “You have to have commitment. We are loaded with work. Only a handful of people can do it. I have had to work double the hours,” says Gayatri Raghawa, Geography teacher, Abu Dhabi Indian School, who also runs a nature club called Prakriti.
The problem is particularly acute in private schools, which are run more like businesses and where commercial interests are paramount. But public schools that face none of the problems of private schools – workload, focus on financial gains, constraints on taking students out – are also restricted by the syllabus from which, ecology and environment have been dropped.
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Besides, parents don’t encourage children to take an interest in the environment because they feel that career opportunities in the field are limited, apart from which there is almost an obsessive concern about child safety especially during outdoor activities when teachers are harried with calls from overly anxious parents. “Parents have to be educated too,” comments Aayesha Nasreen, Physics teacher, Our Own English High School, Abu Dhabi.
There are suggestions on how to upgrade environmental studies in schools: an environment project be made a compulsory part of the UAE Social Studies programme in which students are required to produce socially useful or productive work. Another is organising regular teacher training workshops and better still, a dedicated centre on environmental education, perhaps with the assistance of non-governmental agencies. Also, it is important to initiate nature clubs at the school level.
“How long will it take for a green society? I cannot say. But it will be easier in the UAE because you will be starting early; you will be pioneers. Switzerland, where I live, has become a highly environmentally conscious country, but it has taken us a whole generation. We have a long history of grappling with environmental excesses,” says Deslarzes.
An evening of environmental drama
The Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency, Abu Dhabi, celebrated World Environment Day, 5 June 2001, by sponsoring an evening of environmental drama comprising two plays written and performed by students of the Abu Dhabi Indian School and the Indian Ladies Association’s Special Care Centre. The plays enacted were entries by the Abu Dhabi Indian School to the Shell Better Environment Award competition 2001- 02. One was ‘The Chipko (hug the trees} Movement’ and the other ‘The Bedu’s Story.’
Children of the Special Care Centre (with narration by students of the Abu Dhabi Indian School) presented a commendable performance of ‘Chipko.’ Based on what is probably the world’s most well-known grassroots eco-development movement, ‘Chipko’ was born one morning in March 1973 in the remote mountain town of Gopeshwar (Chamoli district,
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Uttaranchal state, India), an area that remains remarkably green even today. This ‘hug the trees’ movement attracted countrywide and global attention, particularly from environmentalists and those interested in the process of social change.
This is how the story unfolds. An unprecedented flood wipes out a Himalayan settlement. The devastation is made worse because there are no protective forests on slopes, having been cut down by greedy contractors faster than trees can replenish. Distraught villagers, realising the vital ecological role that forests play in their lives, decide not to remain silent spectators to the wanton destruction of their natural wealth; their means of sustenance. So when representatives of the Simonds Company come to axe ash trees for the manufacture of cricket bats, women and children resist. They hug the trees identified for felling, and so force the loggers to return empty handed. In another village, women physically block entry into the forest. So is born a community movement for the protection and rejuvenation of nature, one that has a ripple effect through the country.
“See what we women and children can do to protect the environment? If we can, so can you,” was the message from children of the Special Care Centre.
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From lofty, sylvan surrounds of the Himalaya to the dunes of Arabia. ‘The Bedu’s Story’, was inspired by Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency’s desert ecology field trips and a book, ‘Hamad, the Young Falconer’ by Randa Hamwi Duwaji. We are transported with city-bred Hamad into the desert wilderness, accompanied by scientists from the National Avian Research Centre, Sweihan, as well as Bedouins, one being a wise old falconer named Ghanem. During Hamad’s sojourn in the desert, we are acquainted with falcons and houbara bustards; rolling balls of dung (dung beetles) and gerbils trying to nab these for their supper; desert hares and wild cats; oryx and Arabian leopards….While we are regaled by these wondrous creatures of the desert, young Hamad has thought-provoking discussions with Ghanem about falconry, the past ways of the Bedouin, their culture, tradition and practice of nature conservation, the last considered a “religious duty.” And we get an insight into the efforts being made by the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency to protect biological diversity. Ultimately Hamad wants to become a conservationist himself - to respect nature, not “tip the scales” and “leave something for tomorrow.” The play was conservation education at its most enjoyable.
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WHAT ON EARTH CAN WE DO?
Use reusable sponges and washable cloth napkins, dish towels, and handkerchiefs instead of paper ones.
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