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Understanding Student Learning in Environmental Education in Aotearoa New Zealand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2012

Chris Eames  and
Miles Barker
Chris Eames*
Affiliation:
University of Waikato
Miles Barker
Affiliation:
University of Waikato
*
†Address for correspondence: Dr Chris Eames, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand. Email: c.eames@waikato.ac.nz
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Abstract

This paper seeks to provide a perspective on environmental education in Aotearoa New Zealand. To contextualise this perspective, it illustrates how environmental, socio-cultural and political imperatives have shaped the development of environmental education in this land. These imperatives illuminate the natural history of the country, the connectedness within the worldviews of the indigenous Māori people, the pioneering views of some enlightened European settlers, and tensions between development and conservation. We connect this context with an overview of research in Aotearoa New Zealand into one aspect of environmental education – student learning in schools. Examples from recent research in this area are provided to show how these approaches are contributing to the Aotearoa New Zealand-ness of environmental education.

Keywords

student learningenvironmental educationNew Zealand
Type
Research/Practice Articles
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 27 , Issue 1: Special Issue: The “ness” of Environmental Education , 2011 , pp. 186 - 191
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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