Complementary curriculum: The work of ecologically minded teachers

Myriad international efforts exist to infuse and reform schools with ecological perspectives, but in the US those efforts remain largely on the fringes of schooling. The purpose of this study is to offer a perspective on this issue from inside schools. If one looks to the future success of environmental education, one must consider the work of teachers. To that end, this qualitative study explores the intentions and practices of three ecologically-minded teachers in traditional public high schools in the US. The research methodology used was eco-educational criticism, an arts-based inquiry method with an ecological lens. The teachers were interviewed about their intentions for their students, and then observed to see how those intentions were manifested in the classroom. A follow-up interview then synthesized the connection between their ecological beliefs and their general intentions for students.