1st Edition
Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) in the English-Speaking Caribbean
This book offers readers a diversity of perspectives, experiences and practical examples from various facets of Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) that can propel practice, further research and inform decision-making in the region, thus making for more cogent and effective ESE.
The Caribbean region is comprised of what is said to be the largest number of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), together with the non-island nations of Belize, Guyana, and Suriname. Although diverse with respect to governance, size, topography, and income, the Caribbean region has a common set of geographic and socio-economic characteristics that make it vulnerable to environmental hazards, economic challenges and social instability. Further to these particular vulnerabilities are various phenomena that pose critical sustainability challenges, two of which are climate change and crime and violence. Consequently, responsive and relevant ESE is needed to address these issues through knowledge enhancement, attitudinal change, skills development and behaviour change. As we seek solutions, this text brings together various empirical and theoretical contributions focused primarily on the English-speaking Caribbean region, that explore a number of areas such as ESE pedagogy, teacher education, values education and progress evaluation.
This volume will be a key resource for educators, policymakers, scholars and advanced students of ESE, as well as those interested in protecting our planet. It was originally published as a special issue of Environmental Education Research.
Introduction: Promoting environmental and sustainability education in the Caribbean: research imperatives to inform practice
Therese Ferguson and Sharon Bramwell-Lalor
1. An investigation of environmental awareness and practice among a sample of undergraduate students in Belize
Rasheda Moody-Marshall
2. Linking environmental knowledge, attitude, and behavior with place: a case study for strategic environmental education planning in Saint Lucia
Momoe Kanada, Paul Norman, Naoko Kaida and Steve Carver
3. Using school-based assessments to advance the integration of sustainable development competences by capitalising on the practice of teaching to the test
Clavia T. Williams-McBean
4. Uncovering environmental and sustainability education themes in Caribbean secondary education certificate (CSEC) English literature
Joanne Nazir and Sharmila N. Harry
5. The arts in environmental education: connecting learners with their talents and nature
Miguel Ison and Sharon Bramwell-Lalor
6. Sustainable learning and some counterculture values in Jamaica: a Rastafarian spiritual ethos to ESD
Romina De Angelis
7. In pursuit of a sustainable future for Jamaica: values, critical consciousness, and the pre-service teacher
Denise Minott and Garth Minott
8. Teaching as a work of heart. Why teaching teachers to care is important in ESD work in Jamaica
Carol Hordatt Gentles
9. ESD progress, problems and prospects in the English-speaking Caribbean: Some perspectives from the field
Therese Ferguson
Biography
Therese Ferguson, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the School of Education (SOE) at The University of the West Indies (Mona Campus, Jamaica). She serves as Coordinator of the SOE’s ESD Working Group, and Programme Leader for Change from Within, a school-based initiative in Jamaica that addresses violence.
Sharon Bramwell-Lalor, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the Mona Campus of The University of the West Indies. Her primary instructional areas are Science Education and Environmental Education. She is a member of the Education for Sustainable Development Working Group at the School.