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Unit 31 : Environmental Education : Concept and Need

effective management. Specialist discipline-based knowledge, while contributing critically, Notes
is no longer adequate by itself - an holistic appreciation of the context of environmental
problems is essential.
Meeting this need presents a dilemma to the formal education systems over whether
environmental education should be taught as a separate subject or incorporated into one or
more particular subject areas. The right answer may vary from situation to situation,
depending on what is most practical - suffice to say, a much stronger re-orientation of all
relevant areas of formal education towards issues of sustainability is required.
Equally important is the need to establish better communicative links between those people
working on, or learning about, similar or related environmental issues, but who come from
different professional or disciplinary backgrounds. Better grounds for communication and
partnerships are also required between formal and non-formal education settings, and between
various groups with competing interests on environmental issues.
In Australia the quality of our environmental education is enhanced by the opportunity to
appreciate and learn from our indigenous peoples' experience, particularly their affinity with
the environment in which they lived and continue to live.
4. Environmental Education must be practical.
One of the most fundamental defining characteristics of effective environmental education is
that it must lead to actions which result in better environmental outcomes, not simply the
accumulation of inert knowledge or impractical skills.
This is ultimately the yardstick by which the effectiveness of our efforts in environmental
education is measured.
5. Environmental Education must be in harmony with social and economic goals and accorded
equal priority.
Effective environmental education must also encourage the pursuit of environmental goals
in a way that acknowledges other powerful and legitimate social and economic goals - it
should not be taught in a vacuum, or simply equip people to pursue an agenda on the
margins of society.
Environmental education needs to incorporate this reality by providing people with the
knowledge, understanding and capacity to influence mainstream society in a way which
progresses environmental objectives along with other legitimate social and economic
objectives.
Similarly, one of the objectives of environmental education is to develop a fundamental
acceptance in the community that the nation's environmental objectives should be accorded
the same priority as its social and economic objectives.

What do you understand by the statement “Environmental education must be lifelong”.

Self Assessment

2. State whether the following statements one ‘True’ or ‘False’:
(i) All major natural resources in the country are in grave danger of irreparable damage.
(ii) Environmental education does not give any kind of information regardin the saving of
natural resources and population.
(iii) Environmental Education must be lifelong and involve everyone.
(iv) What environmental education integrated into a science curriculum, there is a lot of
improvement in student achievement in science.
(v) A society can survive without natural resources.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 295