170
on students’ interpersonal competence and on school climate. Pupils repeatedly
reflected their empathy towards marginalised or oppressed heroes presented in the
role play. However, the impact on their issue awareness or action competence
remained limited. One reason was that teachers, concerned with the demands of the
method, highlighted its interpersonal level rather than its link to the sensitive issue
(Vadurova and Slepickova 2015; Krepelkova 2018).
Again, it supports the importance of a careful, sensitive and age-appropriate
approach and not to force pupils into taking bigger steps than they are prepared to.
11.4.3 Ecological Knowledge and Inquiry Competence
While the link between ecological knowledge and behaviour is usually interpreted
as weak or non-direct, it is assumed that this kind of understanding may increase the
quality of decision (NAAEE 1999; Hungerford and Volk 1990; Hungerford et al.
1980). It is reasonable to propose that students should be able to develop some basic
understanding of concepts such as energy flow, food chains and food webs, species
interactions and the cycling of materials. These concepts would be preferably
learned outdoors either at a schoolyard or as a part of an outdoor residential (a few
days long) programmes. As some authors reflect, pupils tend to develop an alternative ecological framework, contradicting scientific concepts (Abdullah 2015).
Replacing these frameworks with scientifically more sound concepts may be a challenging and non-straightforward process (Abdullah 2015; Saglam and Ozbeg 2016;
Hadenfelt et al. 2016). These environments could also be beneficial for the development of basic pupils’ understanding of the nature of science and acquiring basic
inquiry skills.
Although this competence seems to be important mainly from the science education perspective, it could form a basis for future environmental literacy-oriented
projects. Such an effort is obvious in the GLOBE programme, where students and
their teachers participate in data collection and inquiry-based learning activities
focused on the analysis of the local environment (GLOBE Czech 2016). While
some of the schools limit their involvement with a simple data collection without
further analysis (Činčera and Mašková 2009), in other schools, students link their
findings with a follow-up community-based action. For example, a group of sixthgrade students from a small school in the Czech Republic analysed data about pollution of a local stream. After the analysis, they organised a collective action to
clean it and planned to present their findings to the local municipality.
To link students’ investigation with a manageable action outreaching the borders
of school provides an important step towards encouraging students to other actions.
J. Činčera et al.
on students’ interpersonal competence and on school climate. Pupils repeatedly
reflected their empathy towards marginalised or oppressed heroes presented in the
role play. However, the impact on their issue awareness or action competence
remained limited. One reason was that teachers, concerned with the demands of the
method, highlighted its interpersonal level rather than its link to the sensitive issue
(Vadurova and Slepickova 2015; Krepelkova 2018).
Again, it supports the importance of a careful, sensitive and age-appropriate
approach and not to force pupils into taking bigger steps than they are prepared to.
11.4.3 Ecological Knowledge and Inquiry Competence
While the link between ecological knowledge and behaviour is usually interpreted
as weak or non-direct, it is assumed that this kind of understanding may increase the
quality of decision (NAAEE 1999; Hungerford and Volk 1990; Hungerford et al.
1980). It is reasonable to propose that students should be able to develop some basic
understanding of concepts such as energy flow, food chains and food webs, species
interactions and the cycling of materials. These concepts would be preferably
learned outdoors either at a schoolyard or as a part of an outdoor residential (a few
days long) programmes. As some authors reflect, pupils tend to develop an alternative ecological framework, contradicting scientific concepts (Abdullah 2015).
Replacing these frameworks with scientifically more sound concepts may be a challenging and non-straightforward process (Abdullah 2015; Saglam and Ozbeg 2016;
Hadenfelt et al. 2016). These environments could also be beneficial for the development of basic pupils’ understanding of the nature of science and acquiring basic
inquiry skills.
Although this competence seems to be important mainly from the science education perspective, it could form a basis for future environmental literacy-oriented
projects. Such an effort is obvious in the GLOBE programme, where students and
their teachers participate in data collection and inquiry-based learning activities
focused on the analysis of the local environment (GLOBE Czech 2016). While
some of the schools limit their involvement with a simple data collection without
further analysis (Činčera and Mašková 2009), in other schools, students link their
findings with a follow-up community-based action. For example, a group of sixthgrade students from a small school in the Czech Republic analysed data about pollution of a local stream. After the analysis, they organised a collective action to
clean it and planned to present their findings to the local municipality.
To link students’ investigation with a manageable action outreaching the borders
of school provides an important step towards encouraging students to other actions.
J. Činčera et al.