Best practice: A Grade 11 Workplace Environmental Science ...
Best practice: A Grade 11 Workplace Environmental Science ...
Best practice: A Grade 11 Workplace Environmental Science ...
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<strong>Best</strong> <strong>practice</strong>: A <strong>Grade</strong> <strong>11</strong> <strong>Workplace</strong> <strong>Environmental</strong> <strong>Science</strong> teaching and<br />
learning success story!<br />
Imagine that you are asked to teach a science course about environmental issues for<br />
students on the workplace destination pathway. Now imagine that 90% of the students<br />
enrolled in the course are there not because they are passionate about the environment,<br />
but because it is a convenient credit or it solves a timetabling problem. That was exactly<br />
the make-up of the students sitting before Stewart Grant when he volunteered to pilot<br />
one of the two new environmental science courses for the Ministry of Education at<br />
Cedarbrae CI last year.<br />
The course, created to fulfill one of the recommendations of Minister Kathleen<br />
Wynne’s Working Group on <strong>Environmental</strong> Education (in Shaping Our Schools, Shaping<br />
Our Future: <strong>Environmental</strong> Education in Ontario Schools), offered the students<br />
fundamental knowledge of environmental science that could help them succeed in work<br />
and life after secondary school. In the process of exploring topics such as human<br />
impact, human health and the environment, energy conservation, and safety and<br />
environmental responsibility in the workplace, students not only achieved a new level of<br />
scientific and environmental literacy, but refined their literacy and mathematical literacy<br />
skills as well.<br />
Improving literacy skills, focusing students’ attention: case study analysis<br />
Case study analysis became a powerful means to help students improve both their<br />
general literacy skills as well as their environmental literacy. One particularly arresting<br />
case study dealt with the Dryden Pulp and Paper mill’s effluent contaminating the<br />
English-Wabigoon River with mercury, and the resulting impact on the health of the<br />
Ojibwa natives fishing the river and living on the nearby Grassy Narrows reserve.<br />
Students gathered information by viewing video clips from CBC archives and listening to<br />
audio interviews in preparation for writing an opinion response. Their assignment was to<br />
contend with the assertion that the Ontario government was guilty of environmental<br />
racism and neglect in their treatment of the Grassy Narrows natives.<br />
To help students organize their opinion piece, Stewart provided the students with a<br />
template. He supplied guiding prompts such as:<br />
My opinion about the topic is___________________________________<br />
I think this because__________________________________________<br />
Other people might think that__________________________________<br />
I don’t agree because_________________________________________<br />
The back of the template sheet provided students with lined space where they could<br />
draft their response. Stewart remembers the response of one student in particular.<br />
He had been told by this student’s guidance councillor that the student “hated science,”<br />
but loved to read and write—as was apparent from his constantly reading from whatever<br />
current piece of fiction that he always carried with him. Along with guidance councillors,<br />
Stewart also worked closely with the attendance secretary, the student success teacher<br />
and other colleagues at Cedarbrae to tap into the full learning potential of each student<br />
in the course. In this particular case, he was hoping that the writing activity might engage<br />
the student’s interest—and the student did not disappoint. In fact, he far exceeded<br />
Stewart’s expectations.
After spending about 20 minutes working through the opinion response template, the<br />
student asked for another piece of paper. He had completely filled the back of the<br />
template and required more space for his draft! The finished prose was passionate and<br />
persuasive, beautifully incorporating the relevant science concepts as outlined in the<br />
curriculum.<br />
This was but one of many success stories that Stewart has from his work in piloting this<br />
“workplace” environmental science course. Other stories include students independently<br />
asking if they could collect samples to test the water quality of a local stream; students<br />
evincing pleasant surprise that the course “didn’t seem like other science courses” they<br />
were used to taking; students reminding fellow group members of their roles and<br />
responsibilities during the construction and monitoring of an air biofilter— with no need<br />
for Stewart to say a thing!<br />
Air Bio-filter constructed by Stewart’s students in their <strong>Environmental</strong> <strong>Science</strong> class<br />
Lessons from this approach to teaching and learning<br />
What was the biggest change? Stewart comments: “I found that my role in the class<br />
changed significantly while piloting this course. I no longer was the conductor of the<br />
classroom, orchestrating the actions of the students. Rather, I became a facilitator,<br />
guiding students in their acquisition of the intended concepts and knowledge.”
Such facilitation allows for improved dialogue between teacher and student to identify<br />
misunderstandings and alternate conceptions. It also makes the learning environment<br />
safe for the student—an environment where students can offer options and suggestions<br />
without fear of ridicule or put-down.<br />
Were there other advantages? Stewart says yes, that “having access to a plethora of<br />
engagement opportunities just by stepping outside the school made prepping lessons for<br />
this course easier than other science courses. The topics are current. All a teacher need<br />
do is to peruse a newspaper to find numerous local environmental issues that can easily<br />
be incorporated into the course.”<br />
Why try this approach? “I would recommend this path for teachers because students<br />
become so engaged in their learning. They are not doing it because they have to —they<br />
are doing it because they want to. The difference in attitude and therefore ability to learn<br />
is remarkable.”<br />
How hard is it to make this shift in the teacher’s role? How does it change the<br />
students’ role? “The hardest part of the process is being willing to ‘let go’ of the notion<br />
that students learn best in a highly disciplined environment. I am not advocating total<br />
anarchy and giving the students free reign. Instead, establishing your class as a<br />
scientific community at the beginning of the year through low-stakes activities, but with<br />
specified outcomes, sets a tone of serious purpose. An effective scientific community<br />
involves four elements: trust, collaboration, communication, and safety. When these<br />
elements are firmly entrenched in the class, students are more engaged in the learning<br />
tasks because they become responsible for their own learning and even see themselves<br />
as taking part in the larger scientific enterprise.”<br />
This best <strong>practice</strong> case shows us learning that is connected to students’ every day lives.<br />
It makes their education relevant. And it bestows on them a much more active role. As a<br />
result, understanding, knowledge acquired, and achievement levels jump. As does<br />
teacher satisfaction.<br />
And in keeping with the Ministry’s environmental policy framework, the learning is clearly<br />
in, about, and for the environment…as well as in, about, and for the students!