(From the ISHN Member information service) With Spring finally here in the northern hemisphere, this item about flowers might be of interest. Two articles in March 2015 Issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health report on studies examining the impact of plants and flowers on children and youth. The first study was " implemented with Portuguese students and consisted of several activities, exploring pre-existent Scientific Gardens at the School, aiming to investigate the antibacterial, antitumor and anti-inflammatory properties of plant extracts. This project increased the knowledge about autochthonous plants and the potential medical properties of the corresponding plant extracts and increased the awareness about the correct design of scientific experiments and the importance of the use of experimental models of disease. The students regarded their experiences as exciting and valuable and believed that the project helped to improve their understanding and increase their interest in these subjects". The second "study aimed to clarify the physiological and psychological effects on high school students of viewing real and artificial pansies. Forty high school students (male: 19, female: 21) at Chiba Prefectural Kashiwanoha Senior High School, Japan, participated in this experiment. The subjects were presented with a visual stimulation of fresh yellow pansies in a planter for 3 min. Artificial yellow pansies in a planter were used as the control. Compared with artificial pansies, visual stimulation with real flowers resulted in a significant decrease in the ratio of low- to high-frequency heart rate variability component, which reflects sympathetic nerve activity. In contrast, high frequency, which reflects parasympathetic nerve activity, showed no significant difference. With regard to the psychological indices, viewing real flowers resulted in “comfortable”, “relaxed”, and “natural” feelings." Read more>>
Teacher, Administrator and Ed Faculty Understanding of Sustainable Development Impedes Adoption8/13/2014 (From the ISHN Member information service) As we learn more about how health and social programs can be better integrated within education systems, one of the new areas for discussion is how educator understandings, beliefs and professional identities will have an impact on their willingness to address such issues in their practice. Three articles in the July 2014 issue of Environmental Education Research provide insights on teacher, administrator/school leader and education faculty understanding of the concept of sustainable development plays out in their respective work assignments. One article shows that Swedish teachers differ in their understanding of the concept mostly according to their subject traditions. generally do not have a holistic understanding which is prescribed in the formal curriculum documents. The second article examines how a holistic, whole school approach and vision to ESD can be developed by school leaders in different ways. The third article examined how teacher educators were constrained from addressing ESD in their work due to pressing and competing priorities, even when they understood the concept. Read more>>
(An item from the ISHN Member information service) The Center for Green Schools in the USA has released its comprehensive, multi-intervention model for promoting sustainable development through schools. The Whole-School Sustainability Framework is a complement to the US Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools school recognition program criteria and a resource to guide schools in setting the cultural conditions needed to support sustainability efforts. The framework is organized into the three components of schools: organizational culture, physical place and educational program. Within these three components, there are a total of nine principles identified. The report defines each principle, gives relevant research findings (social science, business, education and building science fields), and includes a short case study of a school or district. The release of the Whole School Sustainability Framework was accompanied by an enlightening discussion of eco-school models, beginning with a reference to the US Green Ribbon Schools. "The Green Ribbon Schools criteria are helpful in organizing all of the ideas inherent to green schools into actionable metrics. A critical point to be made alongside any discussion of Green Ribbon Schools is that these pillars are meant essentially to drive measurable outcomes. They do not directly take into account the community connectivity, social action and environmental justice values that are central to realizing these sustainable outcomes. One way to look at the utility of Green Ribbon Schools is to see it as the reporting mechanism that is supported by a deep foundation of these values. Schools must foster and support a culture of conservation and shared responsibility to accomplish the goals set out in the three pillars. Where the Green Ribbon Schools criteria guide a school’s roadmap toward sustainability by defining the ideal outcomes, the Whole-School Sustainability framework can serve as a compass to stay the course. Its components complement Green Ribbon Schools, addressing necessary foundational elements of healthy school culture and leadership."
The Center's release closes with a comment about the various green school models which can equally be applied to all school-based or school-linked models of human development. " It is often tempting to compare and contrast frameworks and systems that exist around green schools and extract their differences, looking for commonalities that would make the ‘perfect’ green schools measuring stick. Such an exercise does not accomplish what it sets out to do—and, worse, it often serves to weaken the movement around healthier, greener, more inspiring school environments. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ framework for a school but only the one or combination of several that works best to accomplish a school’s particular goals." Read more>> (An item from the ISHN Member information service) Three articles in Issue #5, 2013 of Environmental Education Research provide a parallel discussion currently underway in the healthy schools sector about integrating health, social and environmental programs within education systems in order that they become sustainable and seen as a core part of schooling. The first article examines the constraints that exist within a school district and how a long-term plan/model (Eco-schools) can be combined with the literature on school improvement to make progress despite the constraints. The second article discusses how "environmental education" and "education for sustainable development" are different, with one (EE) seeking specific innovations and the other (ESD) seeking transformative change or system reform. The third article suggests the use of a systems-based approach to secure a long-term commitment to ESD from universities or other educational institutions. All three of these concepts are echied in the parakllel discussions withiun the school health movement. Read more>>
(An item from ISHN Member information service) The use of ecological analysis and action as a concept is emerging in many school-based programs and approaches. It is more than fitting to see how it is in use in the flield of environmental education. An article in Issue #2, 2013 of the Journal of Environmental education suggests that an ecological framework be used to design instructional programs. Read More>
(An item from ISHN Member information service) n article in Issue #6, 2012 of Environmental Education Research discusses how teacher reflections in a small case study on implementing a curriculum on education for sustainable development can help to understand the implementation process and ongoing teacher concerns. The author notes that It examines what the teachers learned about effective pedagogy from undertaking a systematic study of their own practice in ESD/GCE-based topics, and it highlights the development of their own understanding of, and values about the place of ESD/GCE in the curriculum. Findings emerging from the study were that critical reflection on their work gave the teachers the confidence to adopt the more learner-centred pedagogy of ESD/GCE, and that teachers, too, were able to learn/benefit from the participation in ESD/GCE activities. Read more.
(An item from ISHN Member information service) There has been an increasing number of research articles published recently that are describing the perceptions of teachers. These studies help us to understand the concerns, professional norms, normative and sociological factors that will determine how teachers approach various health, social and environmental issues in their classrooms. An article in Issue #5, 2012 of Environmental Education Research is an example of this trend. The study examined the perceptions or pre-service teachers of using outdoor settings as a learning environment. The researchers report that "Based on the results of 110 participants, this study suggests preservice early childhood educators perceive parks as the most conducive outdoor setting for achieving educational outcomes, specifically structured learning about nature, and that they are more inclined to use maintained outdoor settings than natural outdoor settings. The strongest predictors of intention to use natural outdoor settings were perceived difficulty in using natural settings, participants’ level of nature relatedness, and the degree to which they agreed that experiences in nature were important for young children’s health and wellness. Barriers to address include perceived lack of access to natural settings and safety concerns. Read more.
(An item from ISHN Member information service) An article in Issue #5, 2012 of Environmental Education Research draws from the experience of a Queensland Environmentally Sustainable Schools Initiative Alliance in Australia – "to argue that while network participants were engaged and committed to participation in this network, ‘old’ forms of top-down engagement and relationships needed to be unlearnt. This paper thus proposes that for participation in decentralized networks to be meaningful, new learning about how to participate needs to occur." The authors suggest that the assumption that we automatically know how to work within networks needs to be challenged and that we need to specifically identify the problems inherent in the process. Read more.
|
Welcome to our
|
RSS Feed