Environmental Education Training
According to the fifth report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, if people are to prevent climate change from causing global climate disasters, we have to act for rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes at all levels of the society. To make changes happen, promotion can be done through laws and regulations, publicity, education, and so on. In my belief, education is a more permanent and long-term solution to this.
Speaking of education, schools and teachers are playing the most important role. Building and implementation of a formal curriculum would influence the whole generation in the society. In order to advocate environmental education (EE) effectively, it all depends if the formal curriculum is mainstreamed, as well as if teachers have the ability and capacity to implement EE.
Based on the Guidelines on Environmental Education in Schools promulgated by the Hong Kong government in 1999 (CDC, 1999), EE in schools needs to be implemented in a Threefold Approach, along with whole-school participation and by cross-curricular means. However, EE in Hong Kong has been generally marginalized in the formal curriculum and constricted at the knowledge level. Teachers in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools are not having a comprehensive understandings to EE. Indubitably, this phenomenon can be caused by different reasons, including society’s expectations on the functionality of education, government’s education policies, the exam-oriented culture in the past and the training for local teachers. Many of the reasons are far-reaching issues and are difficult to address instantly. Even so, the need of environmental education is imminent. The development of professionalism in EE cannot be halted because of the obstacles encountered.
Environmental Education Training for School Teachers
In fact, various curriculum at different levels of education in Hong Kong encompass themes and elements closely related to environmental education, for instance, ‘Nature and Life’ for kindergarten education, ‘General Studies’ for primary education, ‘Science, Geography, Biology’ for secondary education, as well as ‘Other Learning Experiences’. Therefore, I believe that despite it is hard to increase the ‘quantity’ of EE, in terms of time and proportion, we can start with improving the ‘quality’ like by increasing the teaching effectiveness. For example, local natural environment and biodiversity can be utilized as examples in explaining concepts to be taught. With that, learners’ interest in the subject matter can be aroused through their ownership and sense of connectivity as well as familiarity with the Hone Kong environment. In addition, interactive and interesting approaches, like board games and outdoor group games, can be adopted for environmental education.
Hence, we attached great significance to the training of in-service and pre-service teachers. Only when teachers themselves understand the importance of EE and learn how to apply highly-efficient EE teaching methods, they can enhance teaching effectiveness. We cooperate with kindergartens, primary and secondary schools to hold development training, in-school lectures and workshops for teachers sharing fundamental concepts of EE via an array of methods. Besides, bringing teachers to experience the outdoors, they would better understand the ecology and biodiversity of Hong Kong, as well as acquire skills for outdoor environmental education.
For instance, from September to December in 2018, OWLHK received funding from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, and cooperated with the Curriculum Development Institute of the Education Bureau to organize a life-wide learning teacher professional development workshop. It was themed ‘Multi-discipline Learning Through Board Games – Environmental Education’. It aimed to raise primary teachers’ insights on EE and explore the possibility of board game learning through personal experiences.
During the workshop, I shared about EE and ecological conservation in Hong Kong. Teachers were then divided into groups trying out the board game ‘Law of the Forest’ published by OWLHK, to experience game education as an effective method for teaching. We received very positive feedback from teachers about the training. I am most grateful to receive an email from one of the participants sharing his thoughts about the event.* To me, as an educator, apart from transferring professional knowledge and resolving doubts, the most gratifying thing is that others can truly be inspired. This life-influencing process is always so powerful.
Moreover, we cooperated with the Child Education Centre for Teaching & Learning, Department of Childcare, Elderly and Community Services, Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Sha Tin), to organize a series of ‘Outdoor Training for Kindergarten Teachers’. A total of 48 kindergarten teachers from different kindergartens were divided into three groups (based on regions of Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories) throughout the in-depth EE and training. As the theme of this training was urban ecology, to make well use of the natural environment and biodiversity, teachers were brought to different urban parks in their own regions to learn about innovative ways that could assist their teaching for children.
After the activity, kindergarten teachers have brought the message of EE back to their school. We were invited by many to conduct further training for their own school, like extending their visit to Tai Po Kau Natural Reserve for further enrichment. It was indeed very touching to see how EE rippled and influenced further than ever. This progress is our motivation to work devotedly.
*Review from a Participant of Teacher Training
I am one of the participants of today’s talk about environmental education through board game. Your speech inspires me a lot. I studied about the environment in my bachelor degree. Even though now I am a teacher, I still cannot link what I have learnt into my job. I appreciate you and your team’s passion towards environmental education.
Interflow in Environmental Education Sector
Aside from school teachers, professional development for environmental educators is also important. In 2020, we were invited by the Hong Kong Wetland Park to conduct an EE training for their fellow colleagues. We particularly demonstrated four innovative EE modes, including realistic puzzle-solving, nature logbook, board games and wildlife videography. Educators had a chance to experience hands-on operation and advantages of different EE modes, then on to reflect and review a way to integrate into their future work.。
On the other hand, OWLHK actively puts forward the interflow within the industry so as to promote exchanges of ideas in the EE sector of Hong Kong. In 2017, OWLHK jointly organized the ‘Hong Kong Environmental Education Interflow Workshop’ with five other EE institutions, including Green Power, Ocean Park Department of Education, the Conservancy Association, Hong Kong Bird Watching Society and WWF-Hong Kong. The workshop was held at the Fanling Environmental Education Resources Centre on September 4. The Ho Koon Nature Education cum Astronomical Centre and the Ocean Park Conservation Fund were also invited to the workshop, summing up to a total of eight organizations’ EE colleagues participating in the interflow.。
This interflow meeting was the first ever formal meeting of the EE community in Hong Kong in the past ten years. At the meeting, environmental educators discussed about the current situations and shed light on four different themes: (1) how to enhance the professionalism of environmental educators and other educators, (2) how to effectively implement EE to make changes on recipients’ attitudes and behaviours, (3) how to integrate EE in formal curriculum, and (4) the challenges and opportunities of EE in Hong Kong. From the discussion, conclusions were drawn and suggestions were made for report, which were considered as a highlight for the industry.。
Contributing Wholeheartedly
Professional development of EE is a big topic to address. It requires the cooperation from various aspects and multiple perspectives to carry out. Nonetheless, all big changes are rooting from small ones. ‘A thousand-mile journey begins with the first step”. Where there is hope, there will be a way. OWLHK is now committed to cooperating with schools, offering training for school teachers and promoting mutual discussion and collaboration of the industry. Then next step is to drive for professional development of environmental educators. We hope that EE in Hong Kong will gradually embark on professionalism and raise the industry to a whole new level!！
Written by Dr. Xoni Ma