Community Forest International’s education program unites schools from New Brunswick, Canada with schools in Pemba, Tanzania creating a cross-cultural, environmental learning experience.
“ While schools and parents elsewhere push young children to read, write and surf the Internet earlier in order to prepare for an increasingly cutthroat global economy, some little Germans are taking a less traveled path — deep into the woods. Germany has about 700 Waldkindergärten, or “forest kindergartens,” in which children spend their days outdoors year-round. Blackboards surrender to the Black Forest. Erasers give way to pine cones. Hall passes aren’t required, but bug repellent is a good idea.”
*Read full article” by clicking below.
(Source: Wall Street Journal)
John Abbott discusses the need for education to address the pressing issue of sustainability.
Featured in this video:
John Abbott is the President of the [[http://www.21learn.org/|21st Century Learning Initiative]], an initiative to facilitate the emergence of new approaches to learning in the United Kingdom.
A village primary school has brought a new sense of pride to a former mining community devastated by a pit closure. The 107-pupil Cassop Primary School in Durham has become the first in the UK to be wind-powered through a wind turbine located in the school grounds. It also became the first to win an award for the country’s greenest school as part of the prestigious National Teaching Awards – screened live on BBC2.
Read [[http://news.independent.co.uk/education/education_news/article3084321.ece|full article]]
(Source: The Independent, UK) (22 October 2007)
“I believe that current formal education still prepares students primarily for the world of the past, rather than for possible worlds of the future….[we have] not yet figured out how to prepare youngsters so that they can survive and thrive in a world different from one ever known or even imagined before.” Howard Gardner
This report from the Canadian Council on Learning notes that aboriginal people in Canada are sharply under-represented in science and engineering occupations. More can – and must – be done to increase the relevance of learning and engagement of Aboriginal students in science and technology. Choosing careers in science and technology will benefit Aboriginal students directly through employment, but more importantly they can make a tremendous contribution to Canada.
In this article, grade four teacher Diane Petersen writes:
Ian’s work as a scientist began with a contradiction: “The scientists said that you can’t find any horny toads here. And I said, ‘My dad and I go out and catch them.’” The thirteen-year-old has now traveled to Idaho and California, where he and three classmates surprised working scientists by describing new discoveries about where the 3-inch-long lizards live and what they eat. “One man said that we presented better than most college students did,” says Ian.
The centre:
The Saturna Ecological Education Centre (SEEC) is an experiential, place-based ecological learning centre on beautiful Saturna Island, British Columbia.
Our programs:
We provide Southern Gulf Islands students with elementary Eco-Adventures and high school Environmental Studies programs.
Curriculum Connections:
Our programs connect to the BC education curriculum, while encouraging learners to go deeper, immersing themselves in the natural world to feel, understand and act for the environment.
The Saturna Ecological Education Centre (SEEC) is an experiential, place-based ecological learning centre on beautiful Saturna Island, B.C. Operating as an alternative school within the local school district, SEEC programs integrate science, social studies, physical education, language arts and fine arts to create unique learning adventures that promote critical thinking, social responsibility and personal growth.
Visit the [[http://www.seec64.ca/home/index.cfm|SEEC website]] or read the school’s newsletter, attached below.
