The Eco-School program is designed to encourage young people to engage in their environment by providing opportunities to actively protect it. This research investigated the state of student engagement in the Eco-School program in two secondary schools – one located in Spain; the other in the Netherlands. This research also sought to identify factors influencing student participation and factors leading to a whole-school approach. Engestrom’s Second Generation Activity Systems Model was used as an analytical framework for conducting this study. This model maps the interaction between individuals and their environment as well as their interrelationships.
The two schools involved in this research differ significantly in both their school situation and socio-economic context, yet they share certain characteristics. Both schools are secondary institutions, have participated in the Eco-School program for a number of years, and are considered to have “a good implementation†of the Eco-School program. Primary data for the study was collected through semi-structured interviews and observations conducted during five-day visits at each school. Interviewees included students, school staff, parents, and other school community members. School documents and websites were also used as sources of data, but the interviews were used the most for the analysis.
The program at the school in Spain (School 1) is integrated into the entire school, and almost every student participates in Eco-School activities. The program in the school in the Netherlands (School 2) is a project within the school, and only a few students participate. The outcomes of the program differed widely between the two schools, with School 1 showing “a much wider range of positive outcomes than School 2 in terms of physical changes in the environment and behavioural changes within students.†Positive changes in School 1 included (1) the creation of more pleasant school grounds, (2) a more than 50% reduction of electricity, water, and paper consumption over a four-year period, and (3) student adherence to pro-environmental behaviors at school and at home. School 1 also had a dramatic reduction in early school dropout – from 20% to 2% within the last four years. Changes at School 2 were small but included the establishment of new waste separation boxes and increased attention towards sustainability within the curriculum. Some of the data indicated that an increase in environmental awareness at School 2 was limited to Eco-Committee students.
The use of Engestrom’s Second Generation Activity Systems Model as a conceptual framework for this research proved to be useful. Analysis of the data indicates that “neither School 1 nor School 2 demonstrated the expected picture of students, as a ‘driving force’ of the Eco-School programme.†Most of the activities and initiatives at both schools were teacher-led and thus not consistent with the general expectation of the Eco-School program. The positive outcomes and the student engagement that did occur were supported by five factors: (1) an activity-based and community co-operative approach, (2) the simultaneous use of an adapted reflective and an action-oriented approach to learning, (3) adaptations to the learning environment according to the students’ needs and capabilities, (4) close teacher guidance in Eco-School activities and good student-teacher relationships, and (5) establishing the Eco-School program as an overall educational framework of the school. While this research is too limited to provide conclusions or guidelines on the application of these five components in Eco-Schools elsewhere, the findings support further investigation.
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