An Environmental Education Approach to the Training of Middle Level Teachers: A Prototype Programme. Environmental Education Series 30

This document describes the design, content, and methods of a teacher education program (TEP) with a specialization in environmental education (SEE), intended to prepare teachers for middle schools. The SEE is also suggested as inservice for staff members. Part 1 presents the goals of the TEP and translates these goals into learner objectives. It presents a model of environmental literacy and several crucial components of this model as they relate to the goals (e.g., environmental sensitivity and citizenship responsibility). Part 2 provides some background on the nature of the middle school and on characteristics of middle school teachers and students. Part 3 offers a full description of "core" courses, with specific suggestions for the inclusion of environmental content, and discusses concerns and suggestions regarding both the scope and sequence of courses within the SEE. Part 4, "Planning for Instruction in Environmental Education," focuses on the variables of instructional design, resources, and methods; presents the General Teaching Model as well as a set of corresponding instructional methods and resources; and discusses critical outcomes of instruction and the instructional strategies needed to help students realize those outcomes. Part 5 presents sample activities for courses within the SEE. (LL)