Basics of Environmental Education
Course Materials
The Basics is an independent study and can be completed at your own pace. It is a prerequisite to complete enrollment into the North Carolina Environmental Education Certification program, and should also be submitted before taking the Methods of Teaching Environmental Education workshop as it introduces many key concepts. The Basics of Environmental Education consists of a group of readings with corresponding reflection questions, a self-assessment activity, and two online learning modules from the North American Association for Environmental Education. This workshop also provides 10 hours of EE Certification credit!
Participants are encouraged to complete the readings and activities in the sequential order for full understanding. Your completed answers to the discussion questions should be between 40-200 words, depending on the depth of the question.
Basics of EE Independent Study Questions
Submission: Send your completed answers in one document as an attachment to EEcertificationNC@lists.deq.nc.gov. You will also need to attach the two completion certificates from the NAAEE modules (items 2 and 4) and a scan or photo of your completed NAAEE self-assessment (item 10). Please include "Basics of EE" and your full name in the subject line so we can match it with the correct pending account. The Basics of EE counts as 10 hours in Criteria I and an EE Form is not necessary. You will be notified when your response has been accepted and your EE Certification enrollment is complete, but contact us if you have any questions during the process.
Articles and Activities for the Basics of Environmental Education
The readings and activities needed for the Basics are linked within the Basics of Independent Study Questions document and we have also included them here for your convenience, along with the corresponding item number.
2.) What is EE?
4.) The History of EE
5.) Captive and Noncaptive Audiences - A Story about How I Arrived at the Idea and What I Mean by It (Appendix 4 from Making a Difference on Purpose, Sam H. Ham)
6.) A Sense of Wonder for Young Minds David Orr
7.) Beyond Ecophobia David Sobel
8.) Two Hats John Hug
9.) Should Action Be a Goal? No J. Kwong
Should Action Be a Goal? Yes Rick Wilke
Self-Assessment (hard copy)
11. Review the EE Organization and Agency Information document. Our Partners page can provide more details if desired.
(Optional) Watch Meaning Making as the Endgame of Interpretation Sam H. Ham