Schooling ecologically : an inquiry into teachers' ecological understanding in 'alternative' schools

David Wright

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    3 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This article reports on an inquiry into ecological understanding and the professional practice of a selection of teachers in alternative and/or independent non-systemic schools in Australia, Canada and the United States. Through a reflective, participatory framework, based on the premise that it is one thing to observe ‘an ecology’, another to understand one's self as part of it, as actively involved in ‘bringing forth our world’, the project sought to understand if and how teachers employ systemic, ecological insights in their teaching. The project looked at the underlying ecological principle of ‘connection’ and how teachers work with this, through teacher education and options for further education in ecological understanding, at the responsibilities schools hold for ecological understanding, and at ways in which individual teachers have worked with this form of knowledge. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with small numbers of teachers in five schools. The philosophical underpinnings of these schools were considered in relation to the teachers’ capacities to facilitate ecological understanding and the organisational setting in which these schools operate. Teacher perspectives are reported and discussed through a structured presentation of selected responses to a series of questions on the overlapping themes of ecological insight and formal and informal learning processes.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)136-151
    Number of pages16
    JournalAustralian Journal of Environmental Education
    Volume29
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2013

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Schooling ecologically : an inquiry into teachers' ecological understanding in 'alternative' schools'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this