Environmental educators learn about EE content and best practices through various processes such as learning communities and storytelling. The Learning Communities in Environmental Education, Sciences and Mathematics is a research group that conducted five action research studies in Brazil. The purpose of their research was to identify common approaches to professional development for environmental education. For this study, the authors examined key principles from previous studies conducted in Brazil that assessed professional development programs for environmental educators.
Participants from the five studies were a mixture of professors, pre-service teachers, postgraduate students, and elementary school teachers. The five studies resulted in five key concepts that the authors summarized in this article: 1) learning communities; 2) Education Wheels; 3) listening and communicating as a form of learning; 4) inclusion in the field; and 5) fictional narratives. One study evaluated learning communities, one assessed fictional narratives, and three implemented Education Wheels. Each of these studies and concepts will be discussed in further detail.
In the first study, 15 science teachers ranging from beginner to experienced met once per week for a year to discuss science and technology learning units. They participated in writing exercises and developed lesson plans. The researcher of the first study observed their meetings and studied their lesson plans to assess if the group of teachers developed into a learning community, which are self-created groups with shared interests that strive to educate each other. Overall, the findings suggested that the group of 15 teachers developed a learning community. Many indicated that the learning community motivated others in the group to read, discuss, and think critically about the topics within the lesson plans. The researchers identified four primary characteristics that constituted the group as a learning community: 1) members' ability to shift their roles within the group; 2) a sense of belonging to the community; 3) development of relationships within the group; and 4) the learning group encouraged active participation on a weekly basis. Overall, the research determined that the learning community encouraged accountability among members, fostered the development of relationships among teachers, and improved members' reading and communication skills.
In the second study, a researcher asked five environmental educators (who are also the authors of this paper) to produce oral and written reflections of their experiences. Over an 8-month period, these environmental educators reflected on life experiences that connected them to the environment and encouraged them to become educators. Then, the researcher held meetings with each educator to interpret their writing and identify common themes. From there, the researcher developed four fictional narratives to share the key information from the educators' reflections. This research demonstrated how fictional narratives can encourage knowledge reflection, which environmental educators may share within their classrooms.
The final three studies explored the concept of Education Wheels, a tool that encourages teachers to learn from each other through dialogue and reflection. Education Wheels are an approach to organizing education, using circles to encourage dialogue among educators. The concept is derived from Culture Circles, which suggest that teaching does not exist without learning. The authors highlighted that Education Wheels are different from meetings because they involve participation among group members regarding lesson planning and evaluation.
The third study reviewed reports by 15 pre-service teachers pursuing a teaching degree in Chemistry. During the research, the participants were teaching Chemistry to a group of high school students and asked to write weekly reports about their work and lessons learned. The researcher compiled the reports into five stories and shared them among the participants, allowing them to reflect on their own experience and learn from each other's stories.
The fourth study assessed an Education Wheel consisting of 6 education teachers in a technical school. While the group of teachers formed an Education Wheel prior to the study, the researcher assessed their dialogue and reflections and identified key concepts.
Lastly, in the fifth study, twelve educators, professors, and students from the Postgraduate Program in Environmental Education at the Universidade Aberta do Brasil (UAB) developed a two-year online course focused on environmental education. This course included 49 teachers who wrote fictional narratives twice per year about their experiences participating in the online program, which were analyzed for this study. The authors concluded that the Education Wheels allowed for the participants to develop curriculum that promoted environmental learning through dialogue and reflection.
Across all studies that explored learning communities, Education Wheels, and fictional narratives, the authors found that inclusion and communication were important for developing successful environmental educators. Specifically, the research indicated that a sense of belonging to an environmental community helped teachers to improve their environmental education skills. The authors suggested that communication focused on listening, a sense of belonging in the community, and reflection encouraged teachers to better understand their role as environmental educators. Through programs that include these elements, educators can improve confidence and become better teachers.
These studies have limitations. The authors of this article did not conduct the studies described, though they were involved in the second study. These studies were conducted in Brazil and included a range of education professionals with varying levels of experience. Results from these studies may not be transferrable to other countries or institutions. In addition, the research did not explore how the participants used what they learned to change or improve their teaching curriculum.
The authors recommend that institutions implement learning communities based on Education Wheels to support the professional development of environmental educators. Environmental educators can continue to learn by creating relationships with other educators and learning from each other.
The Bottom Line
<p>This study investigated approaches to teacher education and development in Brazil. The researchers examined five studies that consisted of elementary school teachers, postgraduate students, pre-service teachers, and professors. The authors summarized five key components of teacher development: 1) learning communities, or self-created groups that learn from each other; 2) Education Wheels; 3) learning through communication (talking and listening); 4) experiencing a sense of inclusion in the community; and 5) fictional narratives that facilitate reflection. The authors recommend that educational institutions implement these concepts to support environmental educators' professional development and ongoing learning.</p>
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