Listening to kids: Developing an inclusive evaluation process for environmental education.

摘要

Environmental education (EE) is thought to be integral to a sustainable future. Environmental education program evaluation can lead to greater program success, outcome verification, program improvement, and can be used to illustrate success to funders, policy makers, and decision makers (Thomson & Hoffman, 2003). Children are often the intended recipients of environmental education programs. However, seldom are they involved in the evaluation of such programs. This research sought to develop an action research evaluation model that included children as participants in an evaluation of two marine based EE programs in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The study found that learners have important and relevant details to share about their education experiences. It suggests that hands-on learning experiences in nature are critical for the development of ecoliteracy. However, this study also identified challenges with evaluation of environmental education programs and participatory approaches to evaluation.