| Environmental issues continue to grow in importance in our global society. Many call upon education to ensure that citizens are well prepared to mediate current and future environmental crises, as well as to nurture humans' relationships with nature. A gap still exists between environmental education and traditional public schools; therefore this study is intended to provide a bridge between environmental and ecological education and traditional public education by studying the practices of ecologically minded teachers in traditional public schools.; Four questions guided this study: (1) What are the intentions of ecologically minded teachers? (2) How are those intentions realized (or not realized) in that teacher's practice? (3) What is the hidden curriculum in the physical environment of the classroom? (4) What is the significance of studying the practices of ecologically minded teachers for environmental and ecological education in particular and for education in general?; I use Educational Connoisseurship and Criticism, an arts-based qualitative research method (Eisner, 1988). Eco-educational criticism specifies the particular ecological lens through which I filter my observations and interpretations. I observed each of the four participants for three to six weeks and conducted two formal interviews, one before the observations and one following.; Several key findings emerged. First, two intentions were common among participants: (1) teachers want their students to care about themselves, about others, and about the world, and (2) teachers want students to examine their own lives and beliefs. Second, ecologically minded teachers' intentions are realized through cultivating environments of care. Third, several curricular themes include explicit ecological curriculum, complementary ecological curriculum, care as curriculum, and critical (ecological) thinking. Fourth, the physical classroom environment provides a type of ecological niche that supports the teachers' intentions.; This study has a variety of implications for environmental and ecological education, as well as for education in general. Teacher preparation programs interested in attending to ecological themes should consider including an exploration of care in the classroom, as well as an understanding of ecological thinking. Educators in general may want to explore the idea of complementary curriculum and its effect on teachers' practices. |
