Outdoor Education And Climate Change

Outdoor education serves as a medium through which children are instilled with unique care for the environment, strong communication skills, and exceptional interpersonal relationship skills. However, with the severe effects of climate change looming, the objectives of outdoor education programs have to be reevaluated, given that children are most severely affected by the phenomenon. How can outdoor education be utilized as a tool to transform young people to be more active in the climate change movement?

Over the recent years, there has been a myriad of heatwaves, tsunamis, and hurricanes that have impacted different parts of the globe. For instance, in September 2017, Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, killing over 3000 people. Although there have been disasters in the past, climate change has increased the occurrence and intensity of such catastrophes in the present era as shown in Figure 1.1. The response to climate change varies across different countries. Developed countries have significantly faster recovery rates than developing economies. Although Hurricane Matthew impacted Haiti in September 2016, the country has not fully recovered (World Bank, 2017).

Fig. 1.1 Relationship between Atlantic sea surface temperature and tropical storm power

Of all the groups that experience climate change, children are the most likely to be affected significantly. According to a report by Save the Children (UK), about 175 million children are annually affected by disasters triggered by climate change. Most often children experience climate change in more extreme ways because of their vulnerability to a range of associated stresses as well as long-term developmental complications (Bartlett, 2008, p. 72). Malnutrition is already one of the most significant contributors to child mortality. Natural events such as heatwaves, hurricanes, and floods damage crops culminating in food shortages (Vaghri, 2018, p. 106). These events present critical implications for children in low-income communities, while those in high-income communities may have little or no effects (Bartlett, 2008, p. 72). Children also tend to be inquisitive and often play outdoors, exposing themselves to a range of environmental health hazards such as radiation or accumulated contaminants. The fragile bodies of children also make them disadvantaged when they face catastrophes such as storms and floods (Vaghri, 2018, p. 106).

The children of today and tomorrow will be the most affected by climate change, though they bear little or no responsibility for it. However, world leaders have given children a minimal platform to represent themselves and future generations when considering solutions for the problems created by climate change. This lack of a platform has triggered children around the world to stage demonstrations in the fight for climate justice (Vaghri, 2018, p. 107). Greta Thunberg, one of the climate activists from Sweden, has taken on the responsibility and travels the world, stirring the youth to rise and fight for their future. In about 16 months since she started her campaign, the 17-year old girl has advocated for climate justice at United Nations conferences, spoken with various heads of state about environmental sustainability plans and inspired about 4 million youth to join her movement (Alter, Haynes, & Worland, 2019).

Fig 1.2 Greta Thunberg campaigning against climate change in front of the Swedish parliament

With all the climate change perils children are susceptible to, environmental sustainability must be significantly enhanced. To enhance sustainability, education must play a key role in changing attitudes and behavior. And outdoor education programs can provide an excellent platform through modeling and mentoring to foster environmental sustainability.

One primary method of promoting sustainability is through the creation of awareness. Outdoor programs that involve understanding and experiencing nature can change behavior and are crucial attributes of sustainability. Outdoor educators should create lessons from which young people can learn experientially (Prince, 2017, p. 65). These do not have to be highly energetic activities with expensive equipment in a specific location, but instead, activities where participants are living and have the chance to go outdoors with the freedom to explore. Outdoor schools can also raise awareness for environmental sustainability through practices such as riding bicycles, micro-generation of electricity through hydro-schemes, solar panels, and wood chip/log boilers. Living and being outdoors also fosters sustainability as young people spend time outside in parks, gardens, and forests in place of using electronic devices such as the tv and video games for entertainment (Prince, 2017, p. 166).

Environmental sustainability can be greatly enhanced through empowerment. Outdoor educators have demonstrated the effectiveness of role modeling or mentoring in terms of mutual participation in outdoor activities with young people to address their needs and interests. However, outdoor teachers and educators have found it difficult to teach about sustainable practices if they are not personally invested in a broader sustainability project. According to research by Higgs and McMillan, students in a secondary school who were immersed in the direct and continuous observation of sustainable practices by people they respect rather than being told of their value were more likely to adopt such behaviors. To empower young people in environmental sustainability, outdoor schools should provide tangible and personal applications of sustainable practices (Prince, 2017, p. 167).

For environmental sustainability to be enhanced, young people have to see or feel that they are working towards an empirical goal. They need to feel that their actions can bring about a positive outcome. For instance, journeying, a key component of outdoor education, is executed by kayak, canoe, or foot. This alternative to motor transportation helps reduce carbon footprint. Educators should share knowledge about the benefits of reducing carbon footprint to young people as a motivation to encourage them to undertake journeying by environmentally sustainable means (Prince, 2017, p. 167).

Children kayaking on a lake

While education has been touted as the primary means to address global sustainability issues, more of the same education will not facilitate change. In early childhood education, there is an opportunity to go beyond pedagogies of role modeling and scaffolding caring for nature and engaging in more challenging and responsive dialogic pedagogies exploring world views, ethics, and values of sustainability. Young children in outdoor education should be involved in a supportive setting where dissension and consensus can be constructively negotiated with others. These conversations may open up a positive platform for change (Bhagwanji, 2016, p. 5).

Outdoor education serves as an excellent opportunity to instill in young individuals great interpersonal skills and responsibility towards the environment. However, to improve outdoor education programs in the present era of climate change, the structure of teaching will have to be modified to enhance environmental sustainability for the present and future generations.

References

Alter, C., Haynes, S., Worland, J. (2019). Person of the year 2019: Greta Thunberg. Time.

Bartlett, S. (2008). The implications of climate change for children in lower-income countries. Children, Youth and Environments, 18 (1), 71-98.

Bhagwanji, Y. (2016). Addressing policy, practice, and research that matters. International Journal of Early Childhood Environmental Education, 4 (1), 1-103.

Prince, H. E. (2017). Outdoor experiences and sustainability. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 17 (2), 161-171.

Physical Geology (2017). Relationship between Atlantic tropical storm cumulative annual intensity and Atlantic sea-surface temperatures [JPEG file]. (Earle, S.) Retrieved from shorturl.at/nSW56.

Rapidly assessing the impact of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti. (2017). World Bank. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2017/10/20/rapidly-assessing-the-impact-of-hurricane-matthew-in-haiti.

Vaghri, Z. (2018). Climate change, an unwelcome legacy: The need to support children’s rights to participate in global conversations. Children, Youth and Environments, 28 (1), 105-114.