Environmental education in finland – a case study of environmental education in nature schools

The article aims to introduce Environmental Education (EE) in Finland and to discuss how it has been taken into account in Finnish nature schools. Firstly, we present EE models used in Finland. Thereafter we describe a qualitative case study on EE in nature schools (NS). The aim of the study was to get information for the development of EE. The research questions were: Who are the visitors to NSs? What are the educational aims in NSs? What kind of educational methods and approaches do NS teachers use? The resultant data for the questions from 1 to 3 is based on the questionnaires completed by 23 (61 %) NS teachers in 2006. The data were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively using both deductive and inductive content classification methods. The results showed that most NSs offered their services almost exclusively for children and young people and the main visitor group to the NSs were pupils from primary and lower secondary schools. The ideas on fostering a sustainable way of life and environmental responsibility mentioned in the criteria of the nature and environmental schools were expressed by most respondents. The most used educational methods were nature trips and inquiry learning methods, while the most common approaches were physical activity and learning by doing in nature. The impact of the NSs cannot be very strong when each pupil typically only visits a NS once or twice during her or his entire compulsory education. Based on the results, it seems that the teachers did not take into account the meaning of evaluation. None of them mentioned it as a part of EE.

Models In Environmental Education ,

Cross-Curricular Theme ,

Nature Schools ,

Environmental Schools ,