If the dawn of the Anthropocene heralds the collapse of the natural and social sciences into a single geostory, then why not also a radical synthesis of the anthropocentrism of Marxist theorising with the biocentrism of Deep Ecology? This article proposes just such a unification for theorising education. First, those on the educational left who wish to develop a fundamental unity between red and green should perhaps unearth the roots of Deep Ecological thinking and delve into the long and manifold history of socialist movements, with the aim of identifying where, between the deep red and deep green, might lie some shared origins in common ground. The flawed but nevertheless distinctive monism of the first philosopher of Marxism, Joseph Dietzgen, offers a philosophy that both prefigures the cosmology of Deep Ecology and suggests means of reconciling the narrative of human toil and ‘progress’ with that of human ‘nestedness’. The task facing the socialist looking to explore such a possibility needs to be located principally at the level of ‘cosmic’, rather than ‘social’ ontology, and this article sketches the outlines of such a unity project. Second, from this synthesis flows a set of implications for education and human growth. As the article explains, themes such as alienation and subjectification that cross-pollinate the theoretical perspectives might serve as central motifs in a red biocentric educational project fit for the Anthropocene. It is not solely environmental education, but approaches to education more broadly that require reconceptualisation for the Anthropocene.

In an earlier paper (Skamp, Boyes, & Stanisstreet, 2009b), students' beliefs and willingness to act in relation to 16 specific actions related to global warming were compared across the primary secondary interface. More primary students believed in the effectiveness of most actions to reduce global warming and were willing to take those actions. In general there was a disparity between students' beliefs and their actions and explanations were proffered for these differences. Using these data, a derived measure of the potential effectiveness of education in encouraging each of these pro-environmental actions to reduce global warming is reported. This measure, and other derived indices, suggests where education could be most effective in encouraging willingness to take pro-environmental actions to reduce global warming.

The aim of this paper is to address the issue of the coherence of three dimensions of environmental education activities - its substantive purposes; the research informing its policy, organisation and practices; and the professional development processes supporting its practitioners. It will be argued (i) that the purposes of environmental education are socially transformative, (ii) that the dominant approach to research in the field is behaviourist and deterministic, and (iii) that within a context of socially transformative environmental education, the role that the dominant behaviourist approach to research plays in professional development needs to be critically examined. The paper outlines a current international project in environmental education which includes in its aims an exploration of the relationships among environmental education purposes, research and professional development.

WWOOF (Willing Workers On Organic Farms) is an increasingly popular form of ecotourism in Australia. An ethnographic study of 10 young adult international tourists was conducted at five rural Victorian WWOOF sites. The objective was to examine the participants’ nature experience. As part of the ethnographic study, this article selectively reports on the ecopedagogy at the WWOOF sites, focusing on the potential linking of spatio-sensory ‘doing’ in the environment and conceptual ‘learning’ about (including from, for, and with) the environment. The WWOOF environment is designed physically, materially, and naturally. These dimensions can be interpreted in overlapping spatial levels. Each spatial level partially correlates with the dominant bodily senses. By analysing the participants’ reflexive accounts of their WWOOF nature experience, this article suggests that their spatio-sensory ‘doing’ contributed to their environmental ‘learning’, which is categorised into three heuristic types. These are called symbolic, transpositional, and transformative. This study empirically and conceptually adds to the literature on experiential environmental learning with a possible ecopedagogical model of incorporating spatialised bodily senses in curriculum design.

Despite increasing recognition that whole-school approaches to sustainability have an important contribution to make in moving society towards a more sustainable existence, progress in this area remains slow. By examining the practices of the Ananda Marga River School, a small independent school in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland of Queensland, this paper aims to provide ideas and encouragement for teachers and school managers who wish to maximise the influence that schools can have on creating a more sustainable future. The following case study highlights the School's success at implementing practices that focus not only on resource management and greening the school grounds, but also on areas such as governance, partnerships, pedagogical approaches and curriculum development.

Concern for the environment has traditionally been associated with youth. Studies in the USA over the past twenty-five years have consistently shown that environmental concern declines with age (Buttel, 1979; Van Liere and Dunlap, 1980; Lowe, Pinhey and Grimes, 1980; Lowe and Pinhey, 1982; Honnold, 1981, 1984; Mohai and Twight, 1987; Arcury and Christianson, 1990). Just why this is so has been a matter of some dispute; the ‘aging’ hypothesis suggests that it is due to the socio-biological aging process; the ‘cohort’ hypothesis points to the differential influence of important historical events on birth cohorts, particularly in their formative years; and the “period” hypothesis proposes that both of these processes can be over-ridden as all age cohorts adapt to changing social, cultural and economic circumstances. Both the ‘cohort’ hypothesis (Mohai and Twight, 1987; Samdahl and Robertson, 1989) and the ‘period’ hypothesis (Honnald, 1984) have received some support.

A recent study in Australia (Blaikie, 1992) has offered some support for the ‘cohort’ hypothesis but has shown that the relationship between age and Ecological World View (environmental attitudes) is curvi-linear rather than linear. The strongest commitment to an Ecological World View (EWV) is to be found in a middle-aged cohort; younger cohorts hold a middle position and older cohorts have the lowest level of commitment. It would appear that this middle-aged cohort was influenced in its youth by the earlier wave of environmental concern in the 1970s, and it has either maintained this level of concern, or had it revived in the more recent wave. Today's younger generation has not reached this same level of concern, perhaps because of the differences in socio-economic climate between the 1970s and the present, and their greater susceptibility to the effects of the current recession.

This paper seeks to provide a perspective on environmental education in Aotearoa New Zealand. To contextualise this perspective, it illustrates how environmental, socio-cultural and political imperatives have shaped the development of environmental education in this land. These imperatives illuminate the natural history of the country, the connectedness within the worldviews of the indigenous Māori people, the pioneering views of some enlightened European settlers, and tensions between development and conservation. We connect this context with an overview of research in Aotearoa New Zealand into one aspect of environmental education – student learning in schools. Examples from recent research in this area are provided to show how these approaches are contributing to the Aotearoa New Zealand-ness of environmental education.

Despite the essentiality of freshwater to all life on the planet, the populous has inadequate understandings of water. Formal education plays a key role in shaping how individuals and communities make sense of water, its accessibility, management, consumption, and hazards. This article seeks to bring attention to the influence of cultural framings of freshwater and extreme freshwater events (such as flood and drought) in government-mandated school curricula in two water-vulnerable geographical regions of Australia and Canada. We seek to identify and respond to hegemonic social constructions that become naturalised if left unexamined. By examining the agendas and language around freshwater and extreme freshwater events in formal educational curricula, we gain a better understanding of the perceptions and assumptions made about freshwater. The results highlight that freshwater and extreme freshwater events are minimally conceptualised within these curricula as ‘nature-based’, rather than being part of a dialectical relationship with societal agendas and practices. This article discusses the implications of this framing and the psychological barriers that may affect the acknowledgment and investigation of extreme freshwater events. We conclude by offering curricular suggestions that invite community-based understandings of the dialectic relationship freshwater has with communities and regional ecosystems.

Significant progress has been made with respect to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in tertiary education institutions, particularly universities. There are also examples of ways in which sustainability has been incorporated into secondary schools and curricula, but with varying levels of success. ESD that has been incorporated in secondary schools has been shown to engage students and give more context to the curriculum, as well as enable students to develop the critical thinking required to tackle the big issues that face the planet now and into the future.

In the United Kingdom, while some aspects of sustainability have been introduced into the secondary school curriculum, they are often merged into other subjects and do not attract as much attention as traditional subjects. Furthermore, sustainability emphasis varies between schools, exam boards and teachers, leading to differing levels of understanding among teenagers. As a result, it could be argued that some young people fail to engage with global issues, which could be contributing towards the lower rates of young people voting in the United Kingdom. Promoting sustainable development, and how engineering can contribute towards it, could also potentially help reverse the decline in engineering student entries at universities, by attracting more interest to the engineering field. Thus, the question is raised as to how sustainability knowledge can be improved among teenagers.

The research investigated the scale and quality of ESD at secondary schools in the United Kingdom and recommended a range of solutions to improve sustainability teaching and thinking among teenagers. A range of research tools were used, including a literature and curriculum review, interviews and surveys with teachers and students, and a role-play case study.

The research involved a survey being conducted with 475 UK secondary school students aged 12–18 years. The survey was conducted to determine the current level of sustainability understanding of the students, where they learned about it, their preferences relating to issues facing the Earth, and how they think sustainability teaching could be improved. Surveys were purposely open ended, and teachers were instructed not to give prompts prior to the survey, to enable an accurate reflection of students’ knowledge. Results of the surveys varied across age group, school, overall attainment levels of students and exam boards. In general, results showed that while students are interested and knowledgeable about current issues, their level of understanding of sustainability is poor to moderate, and they want it to be taught in more subjects.

A gap analysis was then conducted with a curriculum review, survey results and interviews with teachers as inputs. The aim of the analysis was to determine the difference between a desirable level of knowledge and teaching of sustainability, and current practice. Among other things, the analysis indicated that interactive learning would be beneficial, and thus a role play, set in Cambridge and covering environmental, social and economic aspects, was designed and run at two schools in Cambridge. An element of competition was included, as well as a relatively open set of rules, to invoke creative solutions. Observation during the game indicated engaged students. Feedback from students indicated that the game was a fun and useful learning tool. Feedback from teachers was also positive, indicating that interactive teaching tools, like role plays, class debates and field experiments, can be very valuable towards teaching students about the complexities of sustainability.

After the role plays, the students were surveyed with identical questions to the initial survey. Results were compared, and sustainability knowledge and the ability to identify environmental issues was seen to increase significantly, far more so than originally expected. This increase in knowledge was highlighted by the students themselves in subsequent feedback sessions.

Finally, steps were proposed to improve sustainability education that could be implemented by schools and teachers or at the UK National Curriculum level:

• • a ‘Sustainability Week’ or sustainability short course to be run at early secondary school, with the aim to give students a holistic overview of sustainability;

• • aspects of sustainability, including real-world examples, to be included in all subjects and lead on from the short course;

• • interactive learning tools to be strongly encouraged and made available to all teachers;

• • training and support to be provided to teachers to improve understanding and ability to teach sustainability;

• • extra-curricular sustainability activities to be offered at all schools.

The aim of the research is to examine the environmental awareness and attitudes towards the environment of 5–6-year-old children attending nature-centred private kindergartens and public kindergartens. The study group of the descriptive research that used a screening model consists of 48 children from nature-centred Private Maki Kindergartens and 48 children from public kindergartens in the province of Balikesir in the 2020–2021 academic year. A Personal Information Form and Environmental Awareness and Attitude Scale for Preschool Children, developed by Soydan and Samur (International Electronic Journal of Environmental Education, 7(1), 78–97, 2017) for 60–72 months old children, were used in the study. The scale consists of two sub-dimensions as Attitude Towards Environment (15 items) and Environmental Awareness (11 Items) and 26 pictures. The Cronbach α coefficients of the Environmental Awareness (.74) and Attitude (.78) Scale for Preschool Children and the overall scale (.82) were calculated. The data were collected by the researcher through one-on-one meetings with each child. The mean, mode, median, skewness and kurtosis values of the variables in the study were calculated. To determine whether the environmental awareness and environmental attitudes of the study group differ according to the school they attend, independent samples t-test was conducted. According to the results of the research, a significant difference was found in environmental attitudes and environmental awareness of children in nature-centred kindergartens compared to children in public kindergartens. Children attending public schools are less exposed to the environment. Preparing the Pre-School Education Program in an environment-friendly manner to increase the environmental awareness of children attending public schools will be effective in terms of making a difference in their attitudes towards the environment.

This study sought to distil recommendations and curriculum design principles that could underpin the re-imagination of the RMIT University coursework Masters of Sustainable Practice (MSP). The aim of the study was to redesign the program to better meet the expectations of contemporary working professionals. Four data sources were used to develop 12 program recommendations: postgraduate sustainability education literature, postgraduate coursework literature, publicly available information for contemporary coursework Masters sustainability programs both in Australia and overseas, and interview data from current and graduate students from the RMIT University Masters of Sustainable Practice. The study proposes a novel curriculum (re)design model comprised of six curriculum design principles that the authors argue are essential for the development of curricula for contemporary working professionals. Sustainable practice coursework Masters programs need to: offer choice, flexibility and authentic work-based assessment opportunities; provide significant guidance to achieve individual aspirations and to customise the program for each student; recognise learning through current workplace roles and through continuing professional development opportunities; use integrative assessments to achieve the Australian Qualification Framework knowledge and skills application requirements; incorporate short credit-bearing courses, in particular for the development of employability skills; and support students to transition to professional practice.

This year of 1990 is an appropriate time to review the place of environmental education in the Australian school curriculum. After a period in the mid 1980s when environmental issues and political attention to the environment were on the back burner in comparison with economic issues, the environment is again a top international political priority. With Green victories in a number of European elections, even the hitherto unmindful Thatcher government in Britain is claiming an environmental concern and announcing several conservation measures, albeit with rather distant targets compared with a number of their prospective partners in Europe.

The Hawke government in its third term sensed a growing environmental disenchantment among its supporters, and appointed one of its heavy-weights to the Environment portfolio. This move, and the strong action he took over several sensitive issues, were enough to keep the Green preferences in line and ensure in 1990 a fourth, unprecedented Labor term of office.

The first Australian government involving official Green support appeared in Tasmania and in most of the other states the governments have upgraded Conservation and the Environment among their ministries.

Most Australians, according to a poll conducted late in May (The Age, 15 June, 1990), feel that the threat to the environment is real, and that its protection should be put ahead of economic growth. Such strong public support for the environment would have been unthinkable a decade ago, even though the evidence for much of the now widely recognised damage to the Australian and global environment was available.

This paper presents the results of a study that explored the effectiveness of three intervention strategies in facilitating energy saving behaviour among resident undergraduate university students. In contrast to a dominant practice of motivating with rewards or competition this study sought to appeal to students' intrinsic motivations. An experimental design was used with two intervention groups and a control group. The interventions were the provision of real-time feedback provided by an inhouse energy consumption display unit (ecoMeter) and a targeted social marketing approach. They were evaluated using energy consumption data and self-report data from the participants via an on-line survey and focus groups. Across the three research phases the rate of reduced electricity consumption for the interventions ranged from an average of 17% to 28% less than the control group. The findings provide evidence that facilitation of intrinsically motivated behaviours can result in reduced energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Physical education (PE) is a site that brings categories of difference under erasure, presenting a wicked problem for how a sense of belonging is cultivated for all learners to foster physical activity, health and wellbeing across the lifespan. This article explores how, we, as two teachers of PE, turned to postqualitative and ‘new’ materialist inquiry to generate a sense of belonging within a PE/environmental education nexus. Taking up Karen Barad’s agential realism and Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s rhizome, we conceptualise this PE/environmental education nexus as a transdisciplinary approach to curriculum that enacts a knowing/being/thinking/doing between, and across, borders, boundaries, categories, fields and practices. We then show how this nexus was actualised in our teaching practices through two vignettes. As transdisciplinary approaches to curriculum are grounded in the lived, embodied and embedded (micro) politics of location, individuals are imbued with affective obligation to enact affirmative patterns of relating moment-to-moment. This means that a sense of belonging is always imminent, invented and co-created, bringing attention to situated obligations to enact good relations with ourselves, each other and wider planetary systems.

Context is an important element in understanding the nature of the curriculum in any field and its goals. Thus, Cornbleth (1988: 89) describes curriculum as “an ongoing social activity shaped by various contextual influences within and beyond the classroom”. She argues that curriculum is a “contextualized social process” which:

Similarly, Berlak and Berlak (1981: 24) write of the need to investigate teachers' decision making in terms of “the social, cultural and political forces and structures that are omnipresent in all social situations”. Sharp and Green (1975) argue that comprehensive explanations of teaching require an investigation of the “sociology of situations, their underlying structure and interconnections and the constraints and contingencies they impose” (p. 25).

Underwater photo-elicitation is a novel experiential marine education technique that combines direct experience in the marine environment with the use of digital underwater cameras. A program called Show Us Your Ocean! (SUYO!) was created, utilising a mixed methodology (qualitative and quantitative methods) to test the efficacy of this technique. Participants (adults and high school students) snorkelled, explored the ocean, and captured images both in and out of the water. Underwater photo-elicitation was proven effective at increasing awareness, eliciting emotional reactions, and fostering a sense of connection to the ocean. However, it was not necessarily effective for raising awareness of environmental issues nor for motivating pro-environmental behaviour. Interestingly, while some attitudes about and behaviours toward the ocean did become more environmentally sensitive, others appeared to shift unexpectedly away from environmental concern. This result was perhaps due to the lack in the program of an ecological knowledge-based component. Participants enjoying the beauty of the ocean did not realise the threats facing it or what to do about these. If the goal is to achieve significant attitude change and cultivate pro-environmental behaviour, this new approach should be supplemented with critical thinking/action competence and ecological/ocean literacy.

This paper revisits the history of environmental education in Australia in the 1970s and 1980s and draws parallels between these and current events in four countries, including Australia. It is argued that little has changed and that few environmental educators confront the inherently political nature of their work. It is concluded that environmental education activity must adopt a wider scope that includes political activity if progress is to be made.

This article reports on an inquiry that used permaculture design thinking to create a science and sustainability education intervention for a secondary science class. The aims were to cultivate student attitudes towards science, towards learning science in school, and towards the environment, and to trellis learning of science and sustainability. Research into impacts of the intervention took the form of an interpretive, mixed methods case study, which included the use of questionnaires, interviews and observations. As a context for learning, local permaculture food production projects, as experienced through field trips in the intervention, appear to promote the relevance of science and sustainability learning and the ability to engage students. Science and sustainability learning outcomes appeared to vary among students, although nearly all of them reported they enjoyed learning science with a focus on the environment, including one group of students who reported they did not generally enjoy learning science in school. There was some evidence that the teacher transformed his own thinking through his participation in the intervention.