How to Go Green: Creating a Conservation Culture in a Public High School Through Education, Modeling, and Communication

Abstract

This case study examines how energy conservation efforts in one public high school contributed to both sustainability education and the adoption of sustainable behavior within educational and organizational practice. Individual role models, school facilities, school governance and school culture together support both conservation and environmental education, specifically through the application of principles from behavior theory, including modeling commitments, values, expectations, and behaviors. In addition, role models with the traits of charismatic leaders can be especially instrumental. In this school, communication is the thread connecting the multiple aspects of modeling, helping to create the synergistic relationship between conservation efforts and environmental education. This study demonstrates that conservation efforts, when modeled successfully in a public school setting, can simultaneously and synergistically meet the goals of conservation and sustainability education.

Keywords:

• energy conservation
• environmentally responsible behavior
• public schools
• sustainability education
• teaching through modeling

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors would like to thank Bill Peisner, Wellington Middle School, for his assistance with this project and comments on the manuscript.