Module 3.2: Reading
The conditions of a good
practice
A good practice should involve all members of the school community. Analytically:
• Educators
• Students
• Parents
• Non-teaching school staff
• Parents
• Local community – agencies
The above participants should have an active role and take initiatives in all stages of the organization and implementation of an environmental action. Due to lack of time, teachers plan the actions themselves and involve parents and community members in the implementation stage. The parents' opinion should also be taken into account in the definition of the purpose of the action and in its planning and in the evaluation of the results.
The stages of an educational action
• Define context
• Planning
• Selection of Strategies and actions
• Ensuring Support from the local community
• Implementation and integration of the policy into the daily routine of the school
• Record of School Needs
•Timetable
• Review
• Comments- Suggestions
• Evaluation
• Conclusions
Lets examine the steps one by one:
Define context
The initial stage is about the main goal. The actions planned for the place should aim to get to know the place but also to create a sustainable future in this place.
The main goal is part of the general policy of the school unit for the improvement of the place.
The unique identity of the place for each member of the unit and the search for these special characteristics are the goals of the actions.
The members of the school community jointly decide on the context in which the actions will be implemented as well as the educational approach that will be chosen.
Planning
At this stage, the financial resources available for this action should be studied costs for their organization, such as for example the visits outside the school and the cost should be calculated.
At this stage, the duration of an action is also calculated. The duration is not the same in of all actions and depends on the goals that have been set and what is expected learning results. Actions can last a few hours inside or outside teaching hours, such as the organization of a workshop related to special characteristics of the place and others to last for the whole school year.
It is good that the actions are not carried out only during the teaching hours but also outside to enable parents and agencies to participate
Choice of Strategies and actions
The selection of actions should be based on the criteria of active participation students and taking initiatives. The students will get to know through the actions and they will love their place and above all they will look for the solutions they need for the sustainability of the local environment, Russ &Camp Krasny (2015) apply five axes to which actions in Environmental Education can be included:
1. The city as a class
2. Solving the problem
3. Environmental care
4. Individual and social development
5. The classroom as a social-ecological system
Ensuring Support from local community
The support and participation of parents either in the institutionalized form as an Association
Parents and Guardians as a non-institutionalized form as voluntary help simply from parents is an important parameter for the success of a good practice.
Strengthening the participation of parents contributes to the transformation of the school unit in a community. Parents live in the same place as teachers and students and they also give their own symbolic meanings to the place. Through these recruiters become aware of their participation.
Implementation and integration of the policy in the everyday life of the school
The success of an action is examined by the change of attitudes of the participants in it dealing with the place mainly with its ecological dimension and at the same time the acquiring skills for the sustainability of the elements of one's biophysical environment place. Students and teachers will make sure to connect with their environment and to improve it either in the immediate local environment of the school or in the wider one environment of their city.
They implement recycling programs at school, plant flowers in the yard space and finally they ensure that the school space is friendly and neat and more ecological. The culture of the school is transformed and all members of the school unit take initiatives for the transformation of the school them in a green school. The construction of a vegetable garden will contribute positively to changing attitudes and acquiring skills.
Record of School Needs
Recording the needs of the school unit is a necessary condition for a good one practice. All members of the school unit participate in a survey to highlight the needs that should be satisfied by the implementation of the action. For example if the place where the students live is not friendly for them to come to contact and discover the elements of nature such as animals, birds, trees but also access to the sea are invited to carry out actions in this regard direction. The goal is for students to be able to enjoy the beauty of nature and try to maintain or improve it.
Timeline
In the next stage, the school unit should with the cooperation of all involved to define the schedule of actions. The duration of the actions determined by the goals and needs it intends to satisfy. The actions they can be short-lived and aim to change their connection students with the place but also of longer duration with the aim of strengthening it ecological awareness and importance of place.
Review
During the implementation of the program and in the effort through the environmental approach the students and other participants to create relationship of respect with the place and the natural environment, some actions they have designed may be judged in the course that they are not suitable or do not cause the student interest. Participants are invited to discuss during of the actions, the course and the expected results and then to modify the programming.
Teachers should discuss in plenary whether the environmental approach which was selected satisfies the following criteria according to Derret all, (2017):
1. Participatory learning is promoted
2. Students have the possibility of self-expression
3. Experiential learning should be place-based
4. Empathy is cultivated
Comments - Suggestions
The comments and suggestions concern the achievement of the goals initially set but as well as the strategies chosen.