Nurturing Future Advocates: The Importance of Environmental Education
Recent alterations to educational priorities have resulted in significant discussion, much of it about the apparent reduction in the long-term security of native-teacher jobs in return for free kindergarten programs for all families. A quieter victim has been the Environmental Awareness Education Program, informally called Greenseed.
Although it was originally slated for cancellation, advocacy by international department staff members may have granted the program a reprieve, allowing it to continue in a reduced form for another semester, thus preserving an important tool for developing environmental awareness in Gwangju’s youth.
Greenseed, a volunteer program created by two Canadian teachers in 2010, takes place Saturday mornings at elementary schools around Gwangju. Since the program has grown in popularity since the fall of 2011, some schools now unfortunately have to turn away students.
Greenseed consists of a short opening presentation, a game where students race to match potential solutions to problems, watch an interactive puppet show where students alter the environment to reflect changes being made by current practices and a postcard writing activity to help students grasp the implications of environmental degradation.
Students leave not only with a sense of the problems, but also with a concrete idea of the small, everyday solutions that everyone can implement to help reduce environmental impact.
During times of financial constraint, it is easy to lose sight of the importance of programs like Greenseed, as they make relatively easy targets for budget cuts with minimal backlash; however, increasing awareness around environmental issues is essential to reducing cumulative impact. While arguably not an important English budget line item, emphasis on math and English can prevent parents and teachers from valuing programs focused solely on environmental issues.
Having native teachers teach Greenseed in English not only serves to increase its sales appeal , but also helps expose students to a variety of cultural perspectives about the environment.
Korea has a mixed relationship with environmental stewardship. In the last 10 years, significant strides have been made in reducing solid waste, with over 58 percent of all solid waste recycled, instead of previously dumping food waste into the sea.
However, the vast majority of these changes were imposed through government regulations, which is why trash bags and compost stickers must be purchased, rather than through grass roots movements. Limited public engagement is evident in the magnitude of Korea’s littering problem.
Such a huge dilemma requires public education and buy-in to combat it. A few of the other issues include wetland destruction and ballooning vehicle emissions.
Thus, young learner education programs, such as Greenseed, are essential in helping raise public awareness and understanding which are central to addressing these issues.