Value education and environmental education

 

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Higher Education System

 

Value education and environmental education

 

Value education According to C. V. Good ” Value-education is the aggregate of all the process by means of which a person develops abilities, attitudes and other forms of behavior of the positive values in the society in which he lives.”

the National Conference On Minimum Curriculum Standards for primary stage organized by NCERT (National Council For Educational Research and Training) in July 1970, emphasized the importance of inculcating in the students moral and spiritual values which form a part of our culture viz., honesty, kindness, charity, tolerance, courtesy, sympathy and compassion.

The National Policy on Education has laid considerable emphasis on Value Education by highlighting the need to make education a forceful tool for cultivation of social and moral values. The policy has stated that in our culturally plural society education should factor universal and eternal values oriented towards the unity and integration of our people.

Dr. Kothari (1964-66) tried to emphasise the value viz., democracy, socialism, and equality of all religions. He attached great importance to achieve skills through science and technology and also balanced development of human values. National Education Policy (1986) studied Indian background and came to the conclusion that religious education is not possible in India as India is a country with many religions. N.E.P. (1986) therefore advocated the concept of value education, giving extensive meaning to the term moral education.

National value or constitutional value: Each country has its own independent constitution in which specific values are included. They are called national values or constitutional values, e.g. Following values are included in Indian Constitution.

Social value: Each country preserves some values according to its culture and these values are preserved land protected. Dr. Chilan has fixed the following values of Indian society viz. Pity, Self-Control, Universal brotherhood, honesty, respect and faith.

Professional Value: Many professionals are in existence and each profession has got its own independent values e.g. Following are the values of the teaching profession: Knowledge thrust, Sincerity in profession, Regularity and Faith.

Religious Value: Each religion has got its independent status, principles and rules e.g. Following values are included in Boudha religion. Wisdom, Character and Pity . Some values are common to all religions, whereas some values are attached to as particular religion only and they are the specialties of that particular religion.

Environmental Education:

 Environmental education enables learners to develop a structure of knowledge about the world and seek knowledge that they can use and develop throughout their lives. Environmental education empowers learners by enabling them to participate in a sustainable future. Thus, the foundation for a lifelong learning is laid by environmental education.

Meaning:

The concept of Environmental education (EE) was first formalized by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in 1970 at a meeting in Nevada, USA, as a process of recognizing values and classifying concepts in order to develop skills and attitudes necessary to understand and appreciate the inter-relatedness among man, his culture and his biophysical surroundings.

 

International bodies and programs, such as United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization (UNESCO), United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) and Centre for Environmental Education (CEE) have also been active in supporting environmental education.

The NCERT, State Councils of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and the District Institute of Educational Technology (DIET) are largely involved in inservice training in India.

‘Green Teacher’ a distance education course in Environment Education, for practicing teachers launched by Centre for Environment Education, Ahmedabad, India in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Canada in 2005. It is a one-year diploma program for teachers and educators.

Characteristics of Environmental Education

 Environmental Education is one of the most effective tools for increasing the general level of public environmental awareness, developing skills for solving environmental problems and maintaining and improving the quality of life.

 The aim of environmental education has been modified to emphasize environmental education for sustainable development (EESD) which has broader implications not only for environmental education but also for development, poverty, population and gender (DESD, 2005-2014).

Objectives of Environmental Education:

 Awareness : To acquire an awareness and sensitivity to the total environment and its allied problems;

Knowledge : To gain a variety of experiences in and acquire a basic understanding of, the environment and its associated problems;

Attitudes: To acquire a set of values and feelings of concern for the environment and motivation for actively participating in environmental improvement and protection;

 Skills: To acquire the skills for identifying and solving environmental problems;

 Participation: To encourage citizens to be actively involved at all levels in working toward resolution of environmental problems (UNESCO, 1978).

Evaluation ability: To evaluate environs measures and education programmes in terms of social, economic, ecological and aesthetic factors.

Environmental Education for Sustainable Development (EESD)

Environmental education is a learning process that increases people’s knowledge and awareness about the environment and associated challenges, develops the necessary skills and expertise to address the challenges, and fosters attitudes, motivations, and commitments to make informed decisions and take responsible action (UNESCO, Tbilisi Declaration, 1977).

Environmental education has been placed at the center of efforts to achieve sustainable development for the last several decades. International agreements suchas Agenda 21, for example, have called for a re-orientation of all education towards sustainability (UNCED, 1992, Chapter 36).