National (United States) Guidelines for Environmental Education

Well, as it turns out, I'm not very good at blogging, although I probably could have made that assessment a little earlier - ha! I was hoping that as I rummaged through research for my dissertation, that I would have plenty to blog about; however, it soon become one more thing on my to-do list.

So, in an attempt to reclaim my initial motives for this page, I'm posting the webpages for national environmental education guidelines. These guidelines are established by the North American Association for EE and not by the government; therefore, they are simpy suggestions. However, because they are not influenced by the government, the people writing these guidelines are actual educators and scientists, not politicians (who are responsible for writing the laws that govern our youth's education and who have a tendency to focus more on party agenda rather than good education). Since these recommendations were written by educators, they would be an excellend tool for teachers worldwide.


NAAEE Environmental Education Materials: Guidelines for Excellence

The "Guidelines for Excellence" document lists a set of recommendations for developing and selecting environmental education materials. These guidelines aim to help developers of activity guides, lesson plans, and other instructional materials produce high quality products and to provide educators with a tool to evaluate the wide array of available environmental education materials. These guidelines involve 6 characteristics: 1)fairness and accuracy; 2) depth; 3) emphasis on skill building; 4) action orientation; 5) instructional soundness; and 6) usability.

(http://naaee.org/npeee/materials_guidelines/guidelines.pdf)


NAAEE Guidelines for the Preparation and Professional Development of Environmental Educators

The "Guidelines for Teachers" document lists recommnedations concerning the basic knowledge and abilities that educators need in order to provide high-quality environmental education. These guidelines cover 6 characteristics: 1) environmental literacy; 2) foundations of environmental education; 3) professional responsibilities of the environmental educator; 4) planning and implementing environmental education; 5) fostering learning; and 6) assessment and evaluation.

(http://www.naaee.org/programs-and-initiatives/guidelines-for-excellence/materials-guidelines/educator-preparation)