Environmental Education in the panhandle of the Okavango Delta of Botswana. Paper presentation
Presentation
Overview
Overview
Description
This paper explores the integration of environmental education into the secondary school curriculum of Botswana. Using a place-based approach and postcolonial critiques of education in southern Africa, the paper relies on a wide variety of published materials and empirical data from a case study in the Okavango Delta, a United Nations-designated World Heritage Site. The paper examines tensions that exist between official knowledge embedded in the formal school curriculum and textbooks and the traditional knowledge systems of the communities in which these are situated. Classroom observations in a secondary school and semi-structured interviews, with 6 teachers and 26 community members, were conducted. Although teachers demonstrated efforts to integrate environmental education in social studies and science subjects, our qualitative data suggest that teachers did not adopt an integrative approach to in their efforts to incorporate environmental education into the curriculum. This was due to 1) limited educational resources and 2) insufficient training of teachers and ongoing professional development. This study provides insights for re-orienting the practices of environmental education in ecologically rich places, such as the Okavango Delta. It addresses pedagogical values, which are framed by an eco-centric worldview. Furthermore, it explores opportunities for revamping professional development initiatives on environmental education through the use of geo-spatial technologies and strengthening partnerships with communities and informal learning institutions. This could be achieved through interdisciplinary, thematic, and project-based approaches to pedagogy.
