My education, both in and out of school, helped me develop a very real environmental commitment. By this I mean I am committed to living my life in a way that helps solve environmental problems instead of causing them.
Perhaps the most important thing I got out of school was a sense of responsibility toward the environment. I'm referring to a responsibility which considers man's relationships with the environment, and which acknowledges the rights of other species to survive. . . in reality, an attitude which respects the living systems.
As I look back, I am convinced that my teachers and parents were, themselves, committed to the environment. Some of my teachers, in particular, acted as wonderful role models for us. First of all, they lived an environmental ethic. Most were not radicals in the strict sense of the term, but it was obvious that they had thought about their personal lives in an environmental context. They also suggested books about the environment to read and places to go and things to do out-of-doors. Some of them even planned weekend outings or summer programs at interpretive centers for us.
Many times our classes were held out-of-doors. An example is when we learned about food chains and food webs. I can still remember visiting different ecosystems to observe the animals and plants there and to try to identify the energy exchanges taking place. I guess the important thing was that our teachers really made those ecological concepts come alive for us. We also learned how they were important to understanding environmental problems and issues.
Much of our environmental instruction was issue-oriented. Sometimes our entire class would work on a single issue, looking at it from all possible angles. We examined the positions that people might take on that issue, the values associated with those positions, what these people believed that led them to those positions and values, and what the alternative solutions were for that issue. When we evaluated the possible solutions, we always looked at the social, economic, and legal consequences. And of course, we never took our eyes off the ecological consequences of the issue and of its possible solutions.
Most importantly, we were encouraged to take a close look at our own community and region, to investigate problems and issues close to home, and to make recommendations on how to solve those issues. That gave us a chance to use our community as our "laboratory." And we really began to see how important each citizen could be in helping to make his or her environment a better place.
Of course, as young citizens, we needed a firm foundation in citizenship action skills. I started to develop those skills way back in elementary school. Knowing what could be done and having practiced the skills in a school setting did a great deal to build confidence in one's ability to bring about change. Because we got involved in some important local issues, we felt as though we were participating citizens and not just spectators on the sidelines.
Anyway, it's hard to identify one thing and one thing alone, and say that it is the reason I am environmentally responsible today. All of the things I have talked about here are important
Source: H.R. Hungerford, ÒThe Development of Responsible Environmental Citizenship: A Critical Challenge.Ó Journal of Interpretation Research, Volume 1, Number 1.