Developing Environmental Responsibility Through Place-based Education

摘要

In response to the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Synthesis Report, Dr. John P. Holdren, Director of the U.S. White House Office of Science & Technology Policy stated "The IPCC's new Synthesis Report is yet another wake-up call to the global community that we must act together swiftly and aggressively in order to stem climate change and avoid its worst impacts". Realizing this call to action will require the active participation of governments, industries and global populations. Unfortunately governments and industries often let short-term economic considerations govern their behaviors contrary to the efforts required to address long-term environmental and social issues associated with climate change. Communities, NGOs, families and schools often lead the way in the development of informed populations whose citizens are supported in their personal responsibility for social actions towards climate change. Schools that follow place-based educational principles actively involve students in a range of community concerns with goals of informing and encouraging action in a wide variety of environmental and social issues. Research identifying long-term development of responsible citizenship is linked to place-based education. This paper describes long-term analysis of a program utilizing place-based science education and how these practices have effected the students' perceptions of their social and environmental responsibilities as citizens. It then explores how these approaches have led to responsible citizenship in northern Canada.