Educators’ perceptions of bringing students to environmental consciousness through engaging outdoor experiences

Abstract

This paper explores the premise that environmental education involves raising environmental consciousness rather than simply knowing about the environment in a technical-rational manner and acting for it in mechanistic prescribed ways. The paper draws on educational theory and data from a phenomenological case study of educators working together at an outdoor education centre in urban Canada, whose practice of environmental education we believe can best be described as environmental consciousness raising. Based on our study’s findings, we suggest that raising environmental consciousness involves connecting people to their environment, fostering care for the environment, and building agency for the environment. Educating for environmental consciousness also requires providing people with deeply engaging experiences that afford authenticity, multidimensionality and serendipity. Our study shows how these features can work to raise environmental consciousness, by creating epiphanies or moments when sudden expansions of the self, realization and empowerment become possible.

Keywords:

• environmental consciousness
• environmental education
• outdoor education

Acknowledgement

We are grateful to the staff of Faraway Dale Outdoor Education Centre for so graciously sharing their time, thoughts and practices with us. Their enthusiasm and passion for environmental education and outdoor education were inspiring. Without them, this research would not have been possible.

Notes

1. Pseudonyms have been used to refer to the facility at which the study took place and the participants. This is in keeping with the ethics protocol governing the study in which we agreed to ensure anonymity of the participants and centre.