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November 2001
Talking of education, I get swept in a wave of emotion about Prof. Savitri Burman, my teacher; my guru. Also Gayatri Raghava’s; and Anu’s, Mona’s, Arun’s, Amita’s.…. any number of individuals who are, today, scattered across the globe. So profoundly did she influence our thinking that most of us who studied her courses inevitably followed some vocation to do with the environment; and all of us imbibed from her, conservation ethics. Some of Prof. Burman’s students are teachers today and I am sure they are inculcating her love for nature in hundreds of young people every day, year after year.
When we, her students (I don’t like to say ex-student because her teachings come back to me in my day to day existence), meet up, all we do is talk about her. Remember how she sacked the architect and decided to design her own house because she said he displayed no environmental concerns? Squat on the floodplain and then blame the river for inundating your home, she would complain, saying that the city planners were nuts. Linkages, linkages. Always see linkages between your actions and the environment, she would emphasise.
How much fieldwork we did together! Roughing it out in the mountains, from one end of the Himalayas to the other, studying these ‘linkages’ but soaking in the beauty of nature at the same time. Experiences sublime. Almost ethereal.
Teachers have such a vital role to play in molding the minds of children. This is why I couldn’t possibly have missed a training workshop for environment teachers organized by the EEG.
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This was the first time that the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) organised a training workshop for teachers. It was also the first time that two non-governmental organizations in the Emirates – EEG and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) – worked side by side towards a common goal – environmental education. “This workshop,” said Habiba Al Marashi, chairperson, EEG, “will help teachers motivate students to embrace green thinking.” Participants would be given tips on practical education methods rather than theoretical and be made to understand ‘sustainable development.’
Earthsense attends the workshop to gauge the current thrust in eco-education and speaks to key resource persons.
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The programme focuses on ‘training the trainer.’ Plenty of environmental education resource materials greet teachers as they arrive at the Towers Rotana Hotel, Dubai, for a workshop – environment across the curriculum. Present are 42 teachers from schools in Sharjah, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi and Dubai; and resource persons - EEG’s Habiba Al Marashi, WWF International’s Luc P. Deslarzes, and WWF UAE’s Frederic Launay.
A film runs in the background – children absorbed in examining biological features at a nature camp; constructing a poultry pen extending over a fish pond so the droppings of chickens serve as food for fishes; planting trees in a school campus; learning how to recycle paper…..There is also a stack of similar films available for viewing.
But first, ‘the dark face of the environment’ because, like it or not, it is real and we are largely responsible for it. Fred races us through some depressing realities. The burgeoning human population. Cities that make up just 2 per cent of the land but consume 75 per cent of its resources. Glaciers retreating in every continent. The depleting forests, collapsing fisheries, catastrophically low freshwater supplies, global warming, threatened biodiversity….and, finally, what the WWF doing about these.
“Let’s leave our children a living planet. To make this possible, our consumption patterns must change, and environmental education plays a big role in making this happen, ” Fred concludes. To lighten the air, Luc takes over with a dig at an ‘ecologically sensitive’ future generation - teacher ribs student: “But Harry, you have to do more to save the world than just wear the right T-shirt!”
Seriously speaking, it is an optimistic view that Luc takes, defining environment education and pointing out what an enjoyable, creative teaching exercise it could be if used imaginatively in various disciplines.
ENVIRONMENT EDUCATION IS
- Acquisition of values, insights, feelings
- Dealing with all aspects of our environment including economic and cultural matters
- Use of senses such as smelling, touching, looking, tasting and listening
- Interactive, solution-oriented
- Hands on, outdoor activities
- Present in every subject of the curriculum
- Easing the task of teachers
- Having fun discovering new elements of our environment
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ENVIRONMENT EDUCATION IS NOT
- Acquisition of knowledge
- Dealing with natural sciences and ecology only
- Only an intellectual exercise
- A one-way communication or top down
- Only indoor, classroom activities
- An additional subject within the curriculum
- Supplementary work for teachers
- Only dealing with serious matters
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A cartoon flashes on screen -- conversation with a farmer – Do you use any chemicals on your vegetables? No. How come? No need to, there’s enough in the rain. We get down to some interesting examples of how educators in many countries are using stories, problems, solutions and activities relating to the environment.
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In language lessons, for instance, we may use A for Antelope, B for Butterfly, C for Coral instead of the usual Apple, Ball, Cat…. Maths too, presents many possibilities. Think of a method to count leaves on a tree in your schoolyard, other than cutting down the tree, of course! This exemplifies active mathematics used by the WWF UK. Sciences are the easiest to handle because the courses cover species, ecosystems, and biological diversity. In Switzerland, students prepared a map of the Swiss forests based on materials collected by them, Luc tells us.
Jog along the sea and point out features as part of physical education; introduce recycled paper in art lessons; use songs about nature in music classes; and talk about the management of waste in civic education. These are some useful ideas on how environmental studies can be incorporated in different subjects. Besides, teachers must also use children to draw the attention of parents towards nature conservation.
During the coffee break, we browse through the vast array of educational materials on display. These, as well as nature education video films will remain in the EEG office for a while for anyone to peruse and, if interested, place a purchase order with WWF International, Gland, Switzerland. Habiba reminds participants that there are also a couple of EEG environmental resource materials pertaining to the UAE, specifically, Don’t Waste our World, about waste management, and Hamloul, about the caring camel.
Post break, the participating teachers jot down their ideas on what EEG’s education priorities should be. Suggestions pour in. From recycling text books to outdoor trips; from workshops to quiz competitions; from poultry farming on a small scale in schools (most children have only seen dressed chickens in supermarkets) to using student power for educating society; and from conducting workshops to stepping up awareness work in local schools. Most ideas fall into three categories – communications, resource materials and support for school activities.
Clearly, far too much is expected from an already burdened EEG! Although Habiba didn’t find the ideas original, she would be happy to discuss these one on one with teachers. Better still, she wishes teachers would meet with each other to confer on the issue and share the results with EEG. “Help me help you,” she entreats.
WWF International’s Luc P. Deslarzes responds to a couple of questions from Earthsense
- Does environment education work? Is there time for it?
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Environmental education helps a lot to raise awareness and make people change their behaviour; but it is not the only element. We will always need policemen and rangers to protect nature. Besides, governments must work together. There are international conventions that help.
But, may be, environment education is not succeeding quickly enough. This means that we will continue to lose species on account of human activities. This is the price that humanity will have to pay. Now, where will it stop? The question is wide open. But I think environmental education aims at helping people find an answer to this question.
I am generally optimistic, but not always. Sometimes I am afraid to see how much money states spend on armaments. Afraid to see that we are losing our traditions in pursuit of a materialistic vision. Will it change one day? I hope. We have to use several means to achieve this. Education is one of the main, but not the only, means.
- Is an educator’s own environmental behaviour important?
Very important. Just as children imitate their parents at home, at school they imitate the teacher. So it is important that teachers behave as they preach. This is also valid for non-governmental organizations like WWF. It is a big concern within our organisation and we try by all means to reduce our consumption.
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WHAT ON EARTH CAN WE DO?
Fight the urge to buy the "newest," "latest," "best,"
"hottest" or "most unusual" version of something we
already have and clearly don't need.
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