Environmental education: The Pontotoc experience

Excerpt

MOST teachers agree that helping students understand their future responsibility in caring for the environment is important. They also agree that education is the key to such responsibility. But many teachers shy away from outdoor environmental education activities. Why? Some say they have too much to do, and it would take too much time. Some feel it is someone else's job. Others blame lack of support from school administrators or lack of money or facilities.

While each reason may have some validity, many teachers simply do not get involved in environmental education because they are not prepared. They are not familiar with the fascinating natural phenomena that surrounds us all, and they do not feel comfortable teaching principals and concepts related to the environment. A teacher may know all the parts of a flower but not be able to identify common roadside plants when questioned by a student.

A program evolved during the past decade in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, that exemplifies how a successful environmental education program can be developed where these attitudes and situations exist. The program illustrates how problems were overcome, what objectives were established, how these objectives were accomplished, and what effect the program exerted …