Dec. 5, 2009

As Paul Bohnert and I chatted about environmental education, I had a quick flashback to a moment in the early ‘90s watching three-foot long trout trying to leap up Lundbreck Falls – they’d invariably drop back into the pool at the foot of the falls, only to try again and again.

Paul is in the final stages of writing curriculum for an Environmental Stewardship option of Career and Technology Studies to be introduced in Alberta high schools next fall.

As with anything relating to environmental issues, getting to this point hasn’t been easy, although Paul’s resolve to do it has been an enthusiastic constant. He thought several times he had made a compelling case for the environment to be a integral part of a student’s education, only to be rebuffed or ignored.

Others before Paul had been certain of the importance of students learning about “the complex pattern of the environmental inter-relationships but also with environmental quality and with informed management of the earth's resources,” as Rick Mrazek, professor of science education at the U of L, wrote in 1987.

In a report for the Alberta Teachers Association’s Environmental and Outdoor Education Council, Dr. Mrazek saw subjects such as outdoor and consumer education, science, art, and social studies contributing to “environmental understanding, competence and the development of attitudes and values.”

So what’s happened in over 20 years? Paul is connected with groups such as Alberta Council for Environmental Education and Inside Education, which continue to beat the drum for more environment in our schools.

Inside Education, for example, offers teachers help with “the issues related to the environment and development.” It has been around since 1985 with support from oil and gas and forestry industries as well as Ducks Unlimited, Rural Alberta Development Fund and the provincial government.

“It’s the best PD resource for teachers in North America,” Paul says. It offers information on subjects such as climate change, waste, water, energy and forestry in a “bias-balanced” approach.

But, Paul has taken it further to a point where he hopes students will come out of high school as environmental stewards. He’s completing 52 courses that will teach among other subjects waste management fundamentals, forest sustainability, natural resources including water, soil and wildlife on top of minerals and hydrocarbons and their management with a conservation focus.

They’ll also be exposed to courses dealing with the “impact of attitudes, actions and lifestyles on forests” and “planning renewable energy development and conserving conventional energy.”

It was young people demanding more environmental focus in schools that convinced decision-makers of the need for the curriculum.

“More than 75 per cent of Canadian students polled said they weren’t getting enough environmental education and wanted more.” Albertans generally expressed the same view in an Ispos-Reid poll earlier this year.

He hopes heightened education will change behaviors toward the environment.

Last year teaching at Gilbert Paterson, Paul took 100 Grade 8 students on a field trip. “I asked how many had touched the Oldman River. Only five had. The rest knew water came from a tap and went down the drain. So, we touched the Oldman River. They were amazed.”

A good start.