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Environmental Citizenship within existing school subjects. A school subject usually
originates from a university discipline. Biology and mathematics are two typical
examples of this. In contrast some school subjects do not exist at the university
level; they are constructed for school to meet some important knowledge domains
of society that do not stem from one discipline alone (Gericke et al. 2018). Civics,
for example, is a subject that stems from both political science and national economy at university level. Another is natural science, a school subject that is taught in
many countries drawing from biology, chemistry, physics and geoscience. Hence,
finding aspects of Environmental Citizenship in different school subjects will illustrate different problems and/or opportunities, depending if the school subject is a
‘miniature’ of the disciplinary subject or if it is a construct of the school system,
which inevitably will give more possibilities to include Environmental Citizenship
perspectives from a Future 2 tradition. Another solution is to let Environmental
Citizenship take the form of a specific subject in itself, but this requires political
decision-making, and in most countries, it is a long-term goal.
Another aspect of secondary schooling is that lower secondary education in
many countries is part of the compulsory school system aiming to foster literate citizens, while upper secondary schooling is voluntary and preparatory for further studies or a profession. If we use the categorisations of school aims developed by Biesta
(2015), lower secondary school could be seen to aim at socialisation (to be able to
understand and act within social practices), and subjectification (to be able to understand and create meaning), while upper secondary school aims at qualification (to
be able to qualify for a further professional life). Hence, it will probably be easier to
implement Education for Environmental Citizenship in lower secondary school
because socialisation and subjectification are more in line with a Future 2 education.
However, we need to stress that these are assumptions and could vary considerably
depending on the country and the school system. In the following sections, we will
elaborate on these issues.
13.2 Environmental Citizenship in Policy and Curriculum
Environmental Citizenship has been a constantly contested and evolving concept in
multiple disciplines for decades (Pallett 2017). However, in recent years
Environmental Citizenship has in fact become an integral element of civic and citizenship education curricula, both globally and at the European level (CoE 2018;
Schulz et al. 2016). Most education systems in democratic societies have rather
similar objectives of citizenship education, and in that, future citizens would be able
to (i) interact effectively and constructively with others; (ii) be critical thinkers; (iii)
act democratically; and (iv) act in a socially responsible manner. These objectives to
a large extent relate to the socialisation goals of education (Biesta 2015). Hence,
Environmental Citizenship at a curricular level follows the trajectory of a Future 2
perspective and can be seen as a response from the educational system to accommodate curricula due to changes in society.
13 Environmental Citizenship in Secondary Formal Education: The Importance…
Environmental Citizenship within existing school subjects. A school subject usually
originates from a university discipline. Biology and mathematics are two typical
examples of this. In contrast some school subjects do not exist at the university
level; they are constructed for school to meet some important knowledge domains
of society that do not stem from one discipline alone (Gericke et al. 2018). Civics,
for example, is a subject that stems from both political science and national economy at university level. Another is natural science, a school subject that is taught in
many countries drawing from biology, chemistry, physics and geoscience. Hence,
finding aspects of Environmental Citizenship in different school subjects will illustrate different problems and/or opportunities, depending if the school subject is a
‘miniature’ of the disciplinary subject or if it is a construct of the school system,
which inevitably will give more possibilities to include Environmental Citizenship
perspectives from a Future 2 tradition. Another solution is to let Environmental
Citizenship take the form of a specific subject in itself, but this requires political
decision-making, and in most countries, it is a long-term goal.
Another aspect of secondary schooling is that lower secondary education in
many countries is part of the compulsory school system aiming to foster literate citizens, while upper secondary schooling is voluntary and preparatory for further studies or a profession. If we use the categorisations of school aims developed by Biesta
(2015), lower secondary school could be seen to aim at socialisation (to be able to
understand and act within social practices), and subjectification (to be able to understand and create meaning), while upper secondary school aims at qualification (to
be able to qualify for a further professional life). Hence, it will probably be easier to
implement Education for Environmental Citizenship in lower secondary school
because socialisation and subjectification are more in line with a Future 2 education.
However, we need to stress that these are assumptions and could vary considerably
depending on the country and the school system. In the following sections, we will
elaborate on these issues.
13.2 Environmental Citizenship in Policy and Curriculum
Environmental Citizenship has been a constantly contested and evolving concept in
multiple disciplines for decades (Pallett 2017). However, in recent years
Environmental Citizenship has in fact become an integral element of civic and citizenship education curricula, both globally and at the European level (CoE 2018;
Schulz et al. 2016). Most education systems in democratic societies have rather
similar objectives of citizenship education, and in that, future citizens would be able
to (i) interact effectively and constructively with others; (ii) be critical thinkers; (iii)
act democratically; and (iv) act in a socially responsible manner. These objectives to
a large extent relate to the socialisation goals of education (Biesta 2015). Hence,
Environmental Citizenship at a curricular level follows the trajectory of a Future 2
perspective and can be seen as a response from the educational system to accommodate curricula due to changes in society.
13 Environmental Citizenship in Secondary Formal Education: The Importance…