Exploring the Value of an Environmental Education Course in Jamaica as a Tool for Promoting Environmental Action

GROWING RECOGNITION ABOUT THE POSSIBLE CONTRIBUTION OF human lifestyles and population growth to the quality of the environment has led to renewed focus on human-related environmental issues. Concerns such as water management and security, waste management, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and climate variability are applicable to Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, and require our immediate response. Education is recognised as a critical tool for achieving environmental knowledge and awareness, values and attitudes, skills and behaviours, and promoting effective action1 to sustain present and future generations. Environmental education therefore has been a priority in the education of the population in general.2 UNESCO has called on education systems to introduce pedagogies that empower learners3 in environment-related matters. Teacher preparation programmes, such as that offered by the School of Education, University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Jamaica, have for many years been equipping teachers for infusing environmental and sustainable development issues in their classrooms. In this article we will describe the orientation of environmental education towards sustainable development, then we will explore how the Jamaican education sector has responded to this orientation. We will lastly investigate how UWI teacher educators have been using an environmental education course to encourage responsible environmental action and further the sustainable development focus. Drawing on examples from the course, we will examine how environmental action was addressed and how pre-service and in-service teachers responded to the call for environmental action.