What Are the Benefits of Environmental Education?

The benefits of environmental education are numerous, from promoting positive health and wellbeing to developing skills such as creative thinking and empathy.

5 minute read | #environment #climatechange #wellbeing #carbonfootprint

Do you want to teach your class about environmental issues? Is sustainability a priority at your school? Are your pupils aware of climate change and carbon footprints? Would you like to help your class connect with nature? In this post, we’ll take a look at the benefits of environmental education and ways to fit it into your jam-packed curriculum.

Benefits For Our Young Learners

The benefits of environmental education are numerous, from promoting positive health and wellbeing to developing skills such as creative thinking and empathy. If you’re unsure as to how necessary it is to teach about nature, read on...

Connecting with nature has been shown to be one of five core ways to support positive mental health and wellbeing. The benefits of spending time outside include reduced stress and anxiety and increased energy levels.
Learning about the world around us can enhance a sense of gratitude. We rely on the planet and everything it provides us with every single day – to breathe, to drink, to eat.
Recognising that we are all part of a larger community with shared responsibilities towards looking after our planet can help create a strong sense of community and belonging. Outdoor learning provides great opportunities for teamwork and team building.
We can learn about the power of caring and nurturing through nature. Even empathy and respect are values that can be taught through environmental education.
Using the environment can bring learning to life and give aspects of the curriculum real context. For many learners, this helps with grasping concepts that might otherwise seem pretty abstract. There are also plenty of opportunities for problem-solving, decision-making, and critical and creative thinking.

Done well, environmental education can support a rise in academic achievement. Happier learners make better learners so the benefits to pupils’ wellbeing of spending time in nature can actually improve their ability to learn key information. The context of learning in the real world can also help embed information for many pupils.

Benefits to the Planet and Its People

Greenhouse gas levels are at an all-time high, causing temperatures on Earth to rise.
More than one million species face extinction; the loss of biodiversity leads to food scarcity and reduces water quality.
At the current rate of consumption, we’d need 1.7 planets to support our demand on the earth’s resources.
Climate change caused by the richest in the world is causing the poorest to flee their homes due to droughts, floods and storms.

The pupils of today are the planet protectors of tomorrow. Environmental education shapes young minds, creating environmentally aware citizens who can make a positive difference going forward.

Fitting Environmental Education into the Curriculum

Timetables are tight. Teachers often struggle to cover all the academic objectives so how can there be room to introduce another area of learning? The truth is, there isn’t room. Environmental education can, however, be woven into the curriculum a school already delivers in many subtle (and some not-so-subtle) ways.

Provide reading material – fact or fiction - that connects children to nature in some way.

Take an art lesson outside or bring nature inside for inspiration.
Develop science skills and knowledge through environmental education.
Apply mathematical concepts to the physical world.
Devote assembly time to informing students about environmental issues.
Develop research skills through topics relating to deforestation, climate change, pollution, floods and droughts.

Make the environment the subject of a drama lesson or a class assembly.

Extra Ways to Nurture Environmental Awareness

Here are some more ways to promote a love of nature and an awareness of actions we can all take to make a positive difference.

Keep plants in the classroom or a class pet. This will help children to respect nature and learn about the responsibility they share to take care of it.
Discuss news items relating to environmental issues at the start or end of the day or week.
Set up a gardening club at lunchtime or after school.
Involve pupils in discussions about how the school recycles and the purchasing of plastics.
Collaborate with local organisations to work on conservation projects in the area.

Celebrate awareness events, such as World Soil Day, International Animal Rights Day, World Water Day and International Mother Earth Day.
Appoint ‘Eco Captains’ or ‘Planet Heroes’ to oversee everyday issues in school such as recycling and switching off appliances and lights when not in use.
Use posters around school to remind students and staff about reducing waste and being more environmentally conscious.
Communicate advice on being more environmentally aware with families. This can include energy-saving tips, water-saving tips and information about local recycling initiatives.

“It is our collective and individual responsibility... to preserve and tend to the world in which we all live.” Dalai Lama.

How will the next generation be able to protect our precious planet if we don’t educate them about not only the issues but the scope for potential problem-solving? Let’s invite children to learn from the past and the present. We can educate them about the things the human species have done that have put Earth at risk and invite them to think critically about these.

Encourage a passion for protecting our world. Out of passion comes drive and motivation. Out of motivation comes problem-solving in order to make a change. And, let’s be honest, that’s what we so desperately need for our planet to survive.