Personalizing and Empowering Environmental Education Through Expressive Writing

Abstract

The authors explored the perceived effects of an environmental expressive writing exercise by using a modified phenomenological method. The authors asked preservice teachers enrolled in a required public university science and society education course to compose multigenre compositions describing personal environmental impacts, followed by written reactions to the assignment. A group of 5 students from the course participated in interviews in which the authors investigated their backgrounds, attitudes, and experiences related to the expressive writing project. Analysis of the participants' multigenre projects, interviews, and written reactions suggested that students enjoyed the assignment, personalized the content, and indicated empowerment to act responsibly through knowledge gains and refinements of beliefs and values.

Keywords:

• empowerment
• expressive writing
• phenomenology
• writing to learn (WTL)