Evaluating teachers’ self-perceptions of their knowledge and practice after participating in an environmental education professional development program

Abstract

Building teachers’ confidence in their understanding of nature and encouraging the use of field experiences with students are important factors in increasing environmental awareness in students. A River Runs Through It (ARRT) is an integrated environmental education professional development program, immersed practicing teachers in hands-on field inquiry while providing them with valuable experiences, tools, and support necessary for raising teacher enthusiasm and self-confidence. The authors begin by taking a broad look at environmental education. They then narrow the focus to their environmental education professional development program – ARRT – and the positive knowledge and attitudinal impacts found from allowing teachers to explore local outdoor environments with a support system that aided them in bringing their ARRT experiences into their own classrooms.

Keywords:

• environmental education
• outdoor education
• evaluative case study
• teacher professional development

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank the reviewers of our manuscript for their expert advice that aided us in better aligning our research questions with our collected data and conclusions.