Guiding Question and Response
Guiding Question: : How do Indian teachers use the natural environment as an integrating context for instruction?
As an Environmental Education (EE) teacher for the Calvert County Public Schools, I teach students and develop curriculum that normally take place in an outdoor setting and use it as a context for teaching not only science, many other disciplines as well. Prior to the International Field Experience, I began to research environmental education in India.
The Global Environmental Education Partnership, an organization that promotes a global approach to teaching and learning about the natural world, profiles EE programs that are in place around the world. I was very interested in the India profile to help prepare myself for the IFE. According to the profile, EE is mandated by the Supreme Court of India and is a component of the National Curriculum Framework. Professional development is EE is provided through a variety of modalities, including in-service training, distance learning, and professional conferences. In fact, the Indian Constitution cites the need to “take measures to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and the wildlife of the country” (Article 48-A). The constitution also makes it a “fundamental duty of every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment including, forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife and to have ecological compassion for the living creatures” (Article 51 A(g)). Education is recognized as the primary means to achieving environmental protection.
A variety of professional organizations engage with the implementation of EE across India. These include the Centre for Environmental Education, which is a national program that is supported by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change. The mandate of the organization is to promote environmental awareness nationwide. The Centre is committed to the role of education in promoting sustainable development, development of educational materials and to build capacity for programs to take place.
I was quite excited to learn more about the environmental education opportunities in India, particularly since there were apparently strong placemarks in the national curriculum and even discussion in the country’s constitution. To better prepare myself for the experience, I reached out to the CEE and other organizations for more information and to lay the groundwork for potential partnerships. Despite numerous attempts, I was somewhat disappointed that I received no response to my inquiries.
During my school visits during the International Field Experience, I found little evidence that the natural environment was being incorporated into instruction. Indian students and their teachers are under a great deal of pressure to perform well on the college entrance exams that are administered at the end of grades 10 and 12. Even though this content is embedded in the national curriculum, the material that appears on the exams drives what takes place within the classroom, leaving little time for content that doesn’t appear on these assessments.
Some of the impediments to incorporating outdoor study are structural. For the most part, students remain in the same classroom for the entire school day. Teachers rotate in and out of the room, bringing any instructional materials with them to each class. This may make it difficult to plan for activities that require bringing students outdoors or to develop project based learning programs since other teachers will be using the classroom for teaching in other disciplines
The Global Environmental Education Partnership, an organization that promotes a global approach to teaching and learning about the natural world, profiles EE programs that are in place around the world. I was very interested in the India profile to help prepare myself for the IFE. According to the profile, EE is mandated by the Supreme Court of India and is a component of the National Curriculum Framework. Professional development is EE is provided through a variety of modalities, including in-service training, distance learning, and professional conferences. In fact, the Indian Constitution cites the need to “take measures to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and the wildlife of the country” (Article 48-A). The constitution also makes it a “fundamental duty of every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment including, forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife and to have ecological compassion for the living creatures” (Article 51 A(g)). Education is recognized as the primary means to achieving environmental protection.
A variety of professional organizations engage with the implementation of EE across India. These include the Centre for Environmental Education, which is a national program that is supported by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change. The mandate of the organization is to promote environmental awareness nationwide. The Centre is committed to the role of education in promoting sustainable development, development of educational materials and to build capacity for programs to take place.
I was quite excited to learn more about the environmental education opportunities in India, particularly since there were apparently strong placemarks in the national curriculum and even discussion in the country’s constitution. To better prepare myself for the experience, I reached out to the CEE and other organizations for more information and to lay the groundwork for potential partnerships. Despite numerous attempts, I was somewhat disappointed that I received no response to my inquiries.
During my school visits during the International Field Experience, I found little evidence that the natural environment was being incorporated into instruction. Indian students and their teachers are under a great deal of pressure to perform well on the college entrance exams that are administered at the end of grades 10 and 12. Even though this content is embedded in the national curriculum, the material that appears on the exams drives what takes place within the classroom, leaving little time for content that doesn’t appear on these assessments.
Some of the impediments to incorporating outdoor study are structural. For the most part, students remain in the same classroom for the entire school day. Teachers rotate in and out of the room, bringing any instructional materials with them to each class. This may make it difficult to plan for activities that require bringing students outdoors or to develop project based learning programs since other teachers will be using the classroom for teaching in other disciplines
Another factor that may prevent widespread adoption of outdoor learning is cost. Many of the schools that I visited lack resources to bring students off campus to participate in field experiences. They also would be challenged to purchase some of the equipment such as water quality test kits, nets, or other gear that is typically used for field experiences in the United States.
In my discussions with teachers, there was a definite recognition in the value of hands on experiences as an effective instructional tool. Many teachers are trying to incorporate these approaches with their students.
During our visit to the Army School, an International Geography Education conference was taking place on campus. The theme, Citizen Science in the Classroom illustrated that at some schools, hands on, outdoor learning was taking place. Some schools were engaged with the monitoring of bird populations, assessing the levels of pollution on their school campus, or examining traffic patterns around their schools. Unfortunately, our schedule did not allow for us to participate in the conference, but the principal was kind enough to share the program materials with me, including contact information for the participating teachers. I am following up with some of those teachers to explore some opportunities for some joint projects in environmental study.
A strategy that we have used in our program to address the costs and logistical challenges presented by a project involving field experiences is to make better use of the school grounds or engage students with independent projects that are conducted outside of the school day. Our system is launching a biodiversity monitoring project in which students collect data about the organisms found in their schoolyard and their backyard. The data will be shared with the Maryland Biodiversity Project, a citizen science project with a goal of documenting the distribution of living things across the entire state. I am working to develop a tangent project in which our students share their findings with students from India and have Indian students collect similar data to share with our students.
Amphibians are a group of organisms that have experienced global declines. Habitat loss, climate change, disease, and introduction of non-native species have all contributed to this decrease in biodiversity. In meeting with science teachers at Vidhyalakshmi School, I proposed that we develop a partnership to begin a shared project on amphibian monitoring. I taught a 10th grade biology class about the importance of amphibians and some of the causes for their decline. I discussed the idea for a joint project and there seemed to be a great deal of interest among the students and the classroom teacher. In fact, one student brought in a toad that he had found in his community to show to me! I donated some handheld recorders and a CD of south Indian amphibian calls to help to jump start the project. My hope is that we will be able to share recordings, videos, and photographs of the species that we find in our respective communities and begin to dialogue about some of the reasons for the decline and action projects to help to reverse the loss of these important species.
Awareness of the need for environmental protection is evident in Indian schools. In virtually every school that I visited, student work related to recycling, water conservation, and biodiversity preservation could be seen in classrooms and in the corridors of the buildings. It was obviously a topic of interest and concern for the students and teachers in these schools. We conducted a rather extensive interview session with a group of high school students at the Vidhyalakshmi School. Students were very interested in our opinion of how they could transform their concern into action. Students were very
cognizant of the serious issue of litter pollution in their community. We brainstormed with the students, ideas for taking action to combat this issue. I hope to be able to continue to provide support for these students as they work on a local solution.
I think that there are numerous connecting points between the students in India and my home community in Calvert County. I found that there are several shared issues and a level of interest for some joint projects and dialogue. I think the best starting point will be some small attainable project that has a high probability for completion. Building on those initial successes will facilitate the development of a more sustainable global education partnership.