Connecting the Dots: Key Strategies that Transform Learning for Environmental Education, Citizenship and Sustainability

Available in French as well: Relier Les Points

Key Learning Strategies for Environmental Education, Citizenship and Sustainability

Which learning strategies best contribute to students becoming engaged and active citizens involved in achieving environmental, social and economic sustainability?

Connecting the Dots focuses on learning strategies and the ways of organizing learning experiences; the “how to” of learning. These learning strategies involve students as engaged learners, learning within the context of their communities and addressing relevant, local issues.

The learning strategies advanced in this document are not new. They are common to environmental education and many other fields of educational research and practice. What is new is the means by which these strategies when used together, connect the many dots that are necessary to achieve an interconnected worldview. These “dots” include:

• Linking environmental, economic and social issues within subjects and across subjects
• Linking students to each other, their home life, their schools, their environment and their community
• Linking knowledge, skills, and perspectives through student engagement and action
• Providing a meaningful context for the implementation of numeracy, literacy, character and other educational objectives.

The Seven Strategies

1. Learning Locally – Community as Classroom
2. Integrated Learning
3. Acting on Learning
4. Real-World Connections
5. Considering Alternative Perspectives
6. Inquiry
7. Sharing Responsibility for Learning with Students

Authors: Stan Kozak and Susan Elliott
Graphics and Layout: Anita Sekharan