Abstract
Taking England as our case study, this paper reviews secondary school environmental education from a policy perspective. By drawing on Stevenson’s typologies for environmental improvement and Lucas’ categorisation of environmental education, we analyse national policy documents, local authority and Multi-Academy Trust policies; and individual school planning documents. Our findings suggest in these areas a general absence of environment education policy, and where identified a rhetoric towards conservative reform framed as technology solutions, where learning is about the environment, rather than for the environment. We explain how the (lack of) environmental education rhetoric is a result of global economic changes and national austerity policies, and offer insights and signposting for policy makers.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Kate Greer & Meg Maguire for their insights and helpful feedback.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 Education provision, curricula and assessment in the UK are the responsibility of each devolved nation.
2 It was noted that the OCR GCSE ‘Environmental and land-based science’ had been recently withdrawn, with the final exam in summer 2018. Also, the AQA GCSE ‘Environmental Science’ has since been withdrawn, with the final examination in summer 2017.
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Notes on contributors
Melissa Glackin
Melissa Glackin is a Senior Lecturer in Science Education at the School of Education, Communication and Society, King’s College London. Her research explores environmental education and out-of-classroom learning in secondary schools.
Heather King
Heather King is Reader in Science Education at the School of Education, Communication and Society, King’s College London. Her research examines social justice-informed pedagogical practices in schools and informal science learning environments.