Researcher(s):
Anna Foreman
ENVS course(s): 400 Initiated: September 2012 Completed: May 2013 Go to project site
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With a historically unprecedented call for the “environment” to be a topic taught about in schools on a global scale, entire nations are forced to put in ink what this subject is. India and the US have developed environmental education in response to the growing awareness of environmental problems. Comparing the environmental educational standards and self representations of these culturally and historically distinct countries provides interesting insights into how their conceptions of the environment frame approaches of environmental problems. I employ a dual methodology that systematically identifies, defines and analyzes each nation, state and local levels’ self-representations and standards of environmental education. Additionally I research the historical trajectory of environmental education of both countries. My results reveal how on a national level, India’s standards for environmental education do not include social science topics. Additionally, the national US standards for environmental education are not strictly reflected in the state standards. My implications section discusses how omitting social issues such as the economy or environmental justice implies an assumption that humans are not part of the environment and that the US system provides much leniency to states in writing educational standards. The ways in which actors such as India and the United States frame the environment reveal insights into the values and assumptions made by those who write standards of environmental education and those who teach environmental education.