Social/emotional function/development

Fostering ethical approaches to decision-making that take the environment into consideration is an important goal of environmental education. Giving moral weight to both human and nonhuman nature, or eco-centric ethics, contrasts with traditional Western ethical systems, which tend to prioritize humans over nonhuman aspects of the environment. Field philosophy, which refers to a way of thinking that combines ecological and ethical learning during an outdoor field-based course, may offer an avenue for teaching eco-centric ethics and fostering personal development.

One promising avenue for improving early-childhood environmental education is to consider how children develop moral judgments about human behaviors that impact the environment. Over time, research and practice have consistently documented that school-aged children view the environment as having moral standing; that is, they consistently interpret behavior that harms the environment as morally wrong. It is less clear, however, how young children morally judge behaviors that harm the environment.

Research suggests that building trust may be instrumental in supporting broader intended outcomes of environmental education (EE), such as fostering personal growth, encouraging civic engagement, and contributing to pro-environmental behavior. Few EE studies to date, however, have characterized, operationalized, and measured trust particularly as it occurs in informal settings.

Music has an extraordinary capacity to communicate complex topics and emotions, which makes it a valuable mechanism for environmental education. However, limited literature exists on how music and EE intersect, and how music can be most effectively used within EE. While musicians have informally discussed their pro-environmental work, this study uses a systematic approach to better understand their perspectives. This research investigated how musicians promote pro-environmental perspectives and behaviors through their songs.

School gardens are becoming increasingly popular as places for students to learn across disciplines. They are viewed as teaching tools that can effectively develop students' language skills, cultural and social competencies, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) competencies, understanding of food systems, health and wellness knowledge, and creative expression abilities. Research indicates that garden learning can promote positive health and academic outcomes for young children.

Professional development opportunities can help educators from diverse disciplines integrate environmental education into their classrooms. Researchers argue that environmental education often requires learners to transform, or reframe, the ways they see, understand, and interact with the world. By extension, professional development in environmental education should facilitate such transformative learning. According to previous research, the most effective professional development models are those that are relevant and long term, and that foster teacher collaboration and communication.

Anthropocentrism is the view that humans are the only creatures that have intrinsic value, which means that they matter more than other animals. Anthropocentrism is viewed as on the rise in Western culture, and some environmental philosophers blame this way of thinking for many environmental issues. Thus, changing those patterns of thought could begin to help people think about the environment more inclusively and potentially motivate conservation. Dualisms are a way of understanding the world by dividing it into two opposing entities, such as male/female, nature/culture, and self/other.

Understanding the long-term impacts of environmental education (EE) is one way to assess programs' overall success in cultivating environmental stewardship. However, it can be difficult to track those impacts over time and directly link the behaviors to particular EE experiences. In this study, the authors attempt to illuminate those complex, multifaceted linkages between non-formal programs and eventual stewardship behavior by examining the role of EE in influencing participants' social environmental identities.

Young people are increasingly learning about the world around them through digital technologies. In the classroom, researchers find that digital technologies can increase student engagement and aid in understanding lesson content. Environmental education centers and facilities have been incorporating digital technologies, ranging from microscopes to e-books, into their programs, but not enough is known about how best to integrate these technologies with studying the natural world.

Research has long supported the idea that outdoor experiences can support various environmental education (EE) outcomes, including environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Researchers and practitioners view such outcomes as important elements of environmental literacy, yet there is some contention as to whether traditional, school-based EE and informal, outdoor EE function differently when fostering those outcomes.