Ecoliteracy and Sustainable Development

Ecoliteracy considers ecological systems and awareness of how society

operates within natural aspects as an educational imperative. The basic principles
of ecoliteracy are good starting points to explore fundamental lessons that can be
learned from nature for the reform of society (Wahl, 2017).

David Orr (1992) posited that by failing to include ecological perspectives in

education, students are taught that ecology is unimportant. Orr and Capra (1990)
coined the idea of 'ecological literacy' as creating a new emphasis on the need for
education to integrate understanding of the interdependence between natural
processes and human ways of life. Therefore, ecoliteracy is the ability to
understand the organization of natural systems and the processes that maintain
the healthy functioning of living systems and sustain life on Earth.

In another perspective, ecological literacy is an understanding of the

principles of organization that ecosystems have evolved to sustain the web of life,
which is the first step on the road to sustainability. The second step is the move
towards ecodesign, of which there is a need to apply the ecological knowledge to
the fundamental redesign of technologies and social institutions, to bridge the
current gap between human design and the ecological sustainable systems gap of
nature (Capra, 2003).

Ecologically Literate Person and Society

For Wahl (2017), an ecologically literate person can apply such understanding to
the design and organization of communities and the creation of a regenerative
culture. To be ecoliterate means to understand the principles of organization of
ecological communities (i.e. ecosystems) and to use those principles for creating
sustainable human communities (www.wikipedia.org). An ecologically literate
person understands the essence of independence and interconnectedness and that
we are all part of a living system. An ecologically literate person translates this
understanding into actions that demonstrate Conscious efforts to minimize
negative impacts on our life-sustaining systems and maximizze value contribution
to our collective well-being, now and for future generations (http://
educationforsustainability.info/general/ecological-literacy/).

On the other hand, an ecologically literate society would be a sustainable

society, which does not destroy the natural environment on which they depend.
Thus, ecological literacy is a powerful concept as it creates a foundation for an
integrated approach to environmental problems. Advocates and catalysts champion
eco-literacy as a new educational reform emerging from holism, systems thinking,
sustainability and complexity. Wahl (2017) claimed that nurturing ecological
literacy in students of a wide range of ages has become the goal of sustainability
education programs worldwide.

Ways to Develop Ecoliteracy in Schools

A growing number of educators feel the need to foster learning that genuinely
prepares young people for the ecological challenges presented by this entirely
unprecedented time in human history. Thus, the goal is to raise students with an
important perspective called "socially and emotionally engaged ecoliteracy", which
is a process that offers an antidote for fear, anger and hopelessness which result
from inaction. Hence, the act of engaging in ecological challenges on whatever scale
is possible or appropriate. It develops strength, hope and resiliency among young
people.

In this case, ecoliteracyis founded on a new integration of emotional, social

and ecological forms of intelligence. While social and emotional intelligence extend
students' abilities to see from another's perspective, empathize, and show concern,
ecological intelligence applies these capacities to understanding of natural systems
and cognitive skills with empathy for all of life.

By weaving these forms of intelligence together, ecoliteracy builds on success

from reduced behavioral problems to increased academic achievement to foster
social and emotional learning.
 To help educators foster socially and emotionally engaged ecoliteracy, the
following are identified practices in age-appropriate ways for students, ranging
from pre-kindergarten through adulthood, and help promote the cognitive and
affective the abilities with the integration of emotional, social and ecological
intelligences.

1. Develop empathy for all forms of life. By recognizing the common needs we
share with all organisms, we can extend our empathy to consider the quality of life
of other life forms, feel genuine concern about their well-being and act on that
concern.

2. Embrace sustainability as a community practice. By learning the wondrous ways

that plants, animals and other living things are interdependent, students are
inspired to consider the role of interconnectedness within their communities and
see the value
in strengthening those relationships by thinking and acting cooperatively.

3. Make the invisible visible. If we strive to develop ways of living that are more
life-affirming, we must find ways to make visible the things that seem invisible by
using web-based tools, such as Google Earth, Good Guide and Fooducate Apps.

4. Anticipate unintended consequences. Teachers can teach students strategies for

anticipating unintended consequences. These include precautionary principle, that
when an activity threatens to have a damaging impact on the environment or
human health, precautionary actions should be taken. Another strategy is to shift
from analyzing a problem by reducing it to its isolated components, to adopting a
systems thinking that perspective examinees connections and relationships among
various components of the problem.

5. Understand how nature sustains life. Ecoliterate people recognize that nature
has sustained life for long that resulted to turning to nature when their teachers
imbibe three crucial tenets to ecoliterate living: (1) ecoliterate people learn from
people nature that all living organisms are complex and interconnected that
inhabit a particular place for survival; (2) ecoliterate people tend to be more aware
that systems exist on various levels of scale; and (3) ecoliterate people collectively
practice a way of life that fulfills the needs of the present generation while
simultaneously supporting nature's inherent ability to sustain life in the future.

Seven Environmental Principles of Nature

Considering the key to understanding environmental problems is to learn
about ecosystem. Ecology can be best appreciated in schools through a more
practical and more relatable perspectives and manner of orientation and
realization.

The following are basic environmental principles of ecosystem adapted from Barry
Commoner; cited in Butler, 2012).

1. Nature knows best. People need to understand nature and have to abide by the
rules it imposes. In essence, one must not go against the natural processes if he/she
would like to ensure a continuous and steady supply of resources.

2 All forms of life are important. Each organism plays a fundamental role in
nature therefore, all living things must be considered as invaluable instruments in
maintaining balance in the ecosystem.

3 Everything is connected to everything else. In an ecosystem, all components

interact with each other to ensure that the system is sustainable, of which any
outside interference may result in an imbalance and deterioration of the system.

4. Everything changes. People must rethink their relationship with the

environment through relevant technologies for positive changes.

5. Everything must go somewhere. Since wastes may go back to one's own

backyard in some other forms, it is important to become aware of the different
types of waste, classify and segregate those that are toxic and potentially
hazardous.
6. Ours is a finite earth. Awareness of the earth's limited resources leads to a
conscious effort to change one's attitude and initiative to recycle them.

7. Nature is beautiful and we are stewards of God's creation. Being the most
intelligent and being gifted with reason, humans are capable of controlling and
taking care of the creation to their own advantage.

Towards a Green School and Education for Sustainable Development

Schools play a great role in the development of academics but also
environmental ethics and care for nature among students.
The school environment, therefore, should encourage, support and nurture
students capacities on green environment as integrated in the curriculum and
instruction. This will allow them to connect with their surroundings and attend to
their health and safety needs, while motivating them to learn and imbibe a sense
of belongingness and sensitivity towards the school, society and even this planet.
Environmental issues and concerns can be effectively addressed when all
efforts of staff and students are geared toward adopting environmentally
sustainable principles at all levels, from planning and decision-making up to their
execution in the school's functioning as part of the daily routine, such as creating a
Green School.

Green School: The concept and background

The concept of Green School was introduced in Europe in the 1990s while
the Rio Earth Summit of 1992 took cognizance of the need to take action in every
area in which human impacts on the environment. The World Summit on
Sustainable Development (WNSSD) in Johannesburg in 2002 catalyzed the efforts
to bring about a shift in 'educating about the environment' to 'educating for
sustainability. This shift reflected the international climate of thinking about
Sustainable about Sustainable Development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising future generations to meet their own needs.
 There was a continuous misuse and abuse of natural resources in a quest for
development that would tend the future to be at stake. Hence, we need a deeper
understanding and action to respond to environmental issues and challenges that
our Earth is confronted with.
Recognizing education as a critical means to achieve sustainability, the
United Nations launched the 'Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
(DESD)' in 2005, to integrate principles, values and practices of sustainable
development into all aspects of education and learning in order to encourage
behavior that will create a more
sustainable future in terms of environmental integrity, economic viability and a
just society for present and future generations (UNESCO, 2005). A key objective of
the UNDESD is to foster better quality teaching and learning for ESD. This calls for
reorientation of thinking and practice of formal education, including teaching-
learning approaches and assessment.
Green Schools and ESD. The Green School is visualized as a school guided by
the principles or environmental sustainability. It seeks to create a conducive
environment to fully utilize all resources and opportunities inside and Outside the
school and orient teachers and students on environmental stainability through
active involvement of the community. It demands on-going, continuous and
synergistic efforts
Of stakeholders toward proving the environment of the school and its surroundings.

Students' learning experiences Outside school help them to consolidate and apply
knowledge, gain understanding of environmental processes, interrelationships and
issues, acquire life skills and help foster attitudes, values and sensitivity toward
environmental concerns.

A “Green School” is identified with those elements and environmental sensitivity to

promote environmental sustainability through various environment-friendly means
and encourage judicious use of resources. It also caters to the physical, mental and
emotional needs of a child by ensuring a school environment that is physically safe,
emotionally secure and psychologically enabling.
 Essential aspects of Green School Environment. The ‘greenness’ of a school
finds expression in various aspects of the environment. The Green School has clean,
healthy, protective and green surroundings. It also promotes both the physical and
the psycho-social health of learners and others in school; ensures a healthy
(provision of health services, such as nutritional supplementation and counseling),
hygienic (safe drinking water, neat and clean classrooms, playground and parks,
etc.), safe learning environment with healthy practices (e.g. a school free of drugs,
corporal punishment and harassment); and brings children closer to nature and
involves them in taking care of it.
Thus, a Green School is a school that engages the school community,
especially children, in critical thinking and learning by adopting participatory,
practical and collaborative approaches to work together and make the school
environment healthier for students and staff by involving the whole community to
work towards a sustainable future.

A Green School adheres to the following precepts:

1. Learning about the environment. It focuses mainly on acquisition of knowledge
and surroundings and related issues.

2. Learning through the environment. It refers to the processes of learning while

being engaged with environment inside and outside the classroom.

3 Learning for the environment. It aims at developing an informed response and

responsibility towards the environment beyond acquisition of skills and knowledge.

Understanding Green Curriculum. For a curriculum to be 'Green', it must include

the following aspects:
1. Environment is encompassing, multidisciplinary and dynamic, has scientific,
social, economic, political and technological dimensions.
2. Being holistic, a Green Curriculum views environment as all that is around and
aims to give a better understanding of the way the world functions its operations,
its alteration because of the actions of human race and its consequences.
3. It holistically addresses sustainability concerns, such as protection and
conservation of natural resources, traditions, culture and heritage, safety and
security, physical and emotional assurance, health and sanitation issues, concern
for equity and justice and interconnection between and among natural, social
physical and cultural environment.
4. This requires a teaching-learning approach where students are provided time
and space to explore different facets of environment and interconnect them.
5. A Green Curriculum is a mutual concern or teachers and students.

Creating a Green School. A Green School is a school that creates

a healthy environment conducive to learning, while saving energy environmental
resources and money.
Therefore, a Green School (1) reduces environmental impacts and costs: (2)
improves occupants' health and performance; and (3) increases environmental and
sustainability literacy. (https://www.centerforgreenschools.org/green-school).

Characteristics of a Green School. Green, healthy, and high-performing are the

characteristics of a green school that provides many benefits to students, teachers,
parents and the community, at large.

1. It protects health. Schools, built with more daylighting, better ventilation, and
healthy green building materials and pains are healthier for students and staff.

2. It increases student performance. Student test scores can improve up to 20%

when students learn in green classrooms.

3. It saves energy and money. Operating costs for energy and water in a green
school can be reduced by 20% to 40%.

4. It reduces carbon emissions. Green schools significantly reduce carbon dioxide

emissions.
5. It reduces water usage. On an average, a green school reduces water usage by
32% that has direct savings for the building.
6. It improves teacher retention. A green school can reduce teacher turnover by as
much as 5%, which improves student learning and school community, and can
result in financial savings for the school.
7. It improves daily attendance. It reduces absenteeism by 15%.
8. It provides a unique educational opportunity. Schools can become teaching tools
and important features of science, math, and environmental curriculum when
green features, advanced technology and design in schools are used to motivate
students about learning real world applications of green technologies and using
schools and schoolyards as living laboratories.
9. It creates green jobs. Investing in creating green schools is an investment in
green jobs, including green construction, building product manufacturing, and
green architecture.
10. It improves equity. Greening public schools creates an opportunity to improve
the health and educational settings for all students amidst diverse identities and
needs
(https://bostongreenschools.org/what-is-a-green-school/.

Smitsman (2014) mentioned practical suggestions on how we can support the

change for sustainability through ecological living. In order to sustain outer actions
for ecological living, it is helpful to remember and draw inspiration from the inner
or personal development dimensions of ecological living. The following are inner
and outer
ecological perspectives. To wit:

A. Inner ecology (Smitsman, 2014).

1. Become a catalyst of change to help co-create a better world and future

2. Care for and relate with non-human beings while spending time with nature.
3 Make the most of sustainability crisis that forces us to learn dream, think, design,
act and relate in new ways.
4. Join the rest around the world in becoming agents of sustainability
5. Nurture nature by taking care of our body and become aware of our natural
body rhythms.
6. Become more energy efficient and learn to recycle our own energy.
7. Learn to compost our own waste and no need to dump this unto others.
8. Become aware of rights, needs and well-being generations and explore how we
can support this in our actions

Outer ecology (Smitsman, 2014).

1. Educate ourselves about the resources that we, our family and/or
organizations utilize to fulfill and sustain our needs.
2. Reduce, reuse, repurpose and recycle.
3. Be aware of the real price of goods and services that we use. Cheap products
often have hidden costs (e.g. the cost of child-labor, animal cruelty, or degradation
of ecosystems).
4. Find out any child labor practices or natural resources that were sacrificed in
the process of producing products and services.
5. Recycle grey-water.
6. Collect and use rainwater.
7. Create an organic vegetable garden.
8. Compost organic waste and use the compost in the garden.
9. Create a garden (with a balance of endemic/indigenous plants) to support local
wildlife (animals, insects, trees and plants).
10. Create a roof garden (green roof) as a natural air-conditioning alternative to
increase garden space.
11. Buy organic and local products as much as possible.
12. Support local businesses and organizations that care for our planet.

Integrating Ecological Literacy into the Curriculum

The Center for Ecoliteracy (2015) promotes a variety of teaching strategies
based on practices that are developmentally appropriate to students' level and are
brain-based to foster knowledge, skills and values essential to sustainable living (Sly,
2015).
 Students learn best when teaching strategies are varied that include hands-
on activities, time for reflection, thoughtful discussion and combined indoor and
outdoor environments, including interdisciplinary projects (Sly, 2015). To wit:

1. Place-based Learning. It is an experiential learning that engages students in

their own environments and a strategy that captures their imagination and
advances environmental stewardship and civic engagement. Activities include
mapping the local environment to learn key ecological and cultural principles,
studying the interplay between local society and the environment, supporting
habitat restoration projects, and
working with local citizens to improve the quality of life in their communities.
Learning takes students out of the classroom and into the community and natural
environment. It adheres to the following principles:
1.1 Place-based projects are integrated back into classroom lessons.
1.2 Students want to learn in order to apply their knowledge to solving real
problems.
1.3 Students play an active role in redefining and recreating projects.
1.4 Students collaborate with local citizens, organizations, agencies, businesses and
government.
1.5. Students help make plans that shape the future of their social, physical and
economic environments.
1.6. Students are encouraged to view their Community as an ecosystem and to
understand the relationships and processes necessary to support healthy living.

Research reveals the benefits of place-based learning, Such as: (1) higher test
scores: (2) better grade-point averages; (3) improved classroom behavior: (4)
increased self-esteem and improved problem-solving abilities: and (5) higher-level
thinking skills (Sy,
2015).
2. Project-based Learning. It is a strategy that involves students in projects that
use a variety of resources, including the community, technology, outside experts,
written resources and the Web, while the teacher usually serves as facilitator of
learning.
 Using this strategy, research shows its impact on learners, such as: (1)
increased critical thinking skills of students; (2) fostered positive attitudes toward
subjects (such as the mathematics) and exemplary performance with conceptual
questions and applied problems; and (3) Improved positive study and work habits,
problem-solving capabilities and self-esteem.
Likewise, project-based learning bears environmental impact, such as habitat
restoration, modeling the evolution of agriculture, and changing food in schools.
3. Socratic Inquiry. This is named after the Greek philosopher Socrates, who
believed that questions (not answers) stimulate learning. Therefore, rather than
teaching facts and information, teachers encourage students to ask questions about
their assumptions, values, and preconceptions. Therefore, the role of the teacher
shifts from direct instruction to facilitating discussion.
Through skilled questioning, the teacher asks students to clarify their
statements, identify weaknesses in their arguments and provide evidence for their
reasoning.
In return, this strategy impacts student learning as evidenced by the
following outcomes. (1) Students reveal their beliefs, misconceptions and values and
eventually, clarify their thoughts related to the topic being discussed. (2) Students
become more adept in critical thinking. (3) Students improve their listening skills
and learn to better articulate their thoughts and ideas and become more tolerant
of diverse opinions.

4. Experiential Learning. It promotes students' involvement in the real world and

defines the teacher's role as a facilitator of learning. The process of learning leads
to behavioral outcomes. It is based on the premise that learning is an active and a
continuous process, with experience at its foundation.
It goes along with principles of learning associated with environmental
literacy.
4.1 Experiential learning is vital to schooling for sustainability.
4.2 Only through direct contact with the natural world will students develop an
in-depth understanding of fundamental ecological principles.
4.3 By working with others to solve real-world problems, they also develop skills
at the heart of sustainable living.
4.4 When students participate in experiential learning, they frequently follow the
learning cycle.
4.5 This is a process that starts with unstructured exploration, followed by concept
formation and application.
5. Interdisciplinary Learning. It emphasizes connections between traditionally
discrete disciplines, such as math, science, history, and language arts, rather than
limiting learning to one content area at a time. The following are advantages of
interdisciplinary
learning:
5.1 When teaching and learning are organized around themes, problems, or issues,
students seek knowledge and skills from a variety of disciplines to provide an
expanded and more complex understanding of the topics
5.2 When done well, interdisciplinary approach eliminates fragmentation and
learning of isolated skills.
5.3 It allows students to access a particular theme from different entry points as
they work with a range of sources of information and perspectives.
5.4 It also allows teachers to better differentiate instruction and create more
interesting and rich methods of assessment.
5.5 It increases students' motivation for learning, as well as their level of active
engagement.
5.6 Students recognize the value of their learning and become more involved in it.
5.7 Students learn more when they apply a variety of skills to what they are
studying and when they interact with their classmates, teachers, and members of
the community.
5.8 Interdisciplinary teaching and learning adheres to the principles that help
define sustainable living. (https://www.ecoliteracy.org/article/teaching-strategies).