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Mar 2, 2021    |      0 comments

CJEE Special Issue + Join us for the Research Symposium!

Environmental and Sustainability Education remains a critical challenge for faculties of education across Canada. The involvement of educators at all levels of education is imperative to help Canadians address the climate crisis and make cultural and societal shifts to more sustainable forms of living. Teacher educators are key actors in this, given their influence on the education and training of pre-service and in-service teachers.

A recent special issue of the Canadian Journal of Environmental Education (vol. 23, issue 1) features articles by Canadian teacher educators who are strengthening this developing field through innovative research and developing new practices. This issue was co-edited by Doug Karrow, Laura Sims and Hilary Inwood, members of EECOM’s Standing Committee on Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education.

This work will be further explored in a biennial Research Symposium on April 21, being offered on the opening day of EECOM’s upcoming conference. Please join us for the Research Symposium and conference – the first time these events have been offered online!

May 26, 2020    |      0 comments

Research Symposium of EECOM’s Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education (ESE-TE) Standing Committee

EECOM’s Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education (ESE-TE) Standing Committee will be hosting a bi-annual Research Symposium on April 28th, 2021 at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT), in Toronto, Ontario.

The logo for the 2021 EECOM conference taking place in Toronto which includes the ESE-TE Research Symposium. The logo features the Toronto skyline with buildings, trees and water, with the Two Row Wampum belt symbolizing The Dish with One Spoon Treaty. The theme for this conference is Exploring the Nature of Cities: Urban Environmental Education in Action.
EECOM 2021 conference logo

The focus of the upcoming research symposium is on research activities in the field of ESE in preservice and inservice teacher education. The research symposium is meant to be an opportunity to share research in a supportive community of like-minded individuals who are committed to furthering the field of ESE-TE. The symposium is academic in style, featuring 15-20 minute presentations. To date, presenters have been notified of acceptance. All people interested in this area of research are welcome to attend!

For more information, visit the EECOM 2021 conference website

Submitted by Laura Sims

Sep 5, 2019    |      0 comments

Introducing Our Work in ESE in Teacher Ed

Working as part of the EECOM family does have its advantages! We were honoured to work in partnership with the EECOM Board as they began to work on a new series of videos highlighting the work that is being done under its network. As one of its Standing Committees, our team focuses on better embedding Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education, which is a tight focus given the breadth of how environmental learning manifests in both formal and informal education settings across the country. At the EECOM 2018 conference in Cranbrook, members of the ESE-TE Committee were interviewed to help us communicate our mission and goals. The result is terrific, highlighting what our Committee is about, surrounded by the beautiful vistas of the Kootenays. If you haven’t seen it yet, catch it on our YouTube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoI5ORCUsPw

Apr 30, 2019    |      0 comments

ESE-TE at AERA 2019 in Toronto!

The American Educational Research Association conference, which took place in April in Toronto, was a great time for those working on the ESE-TE team to connect, discuss their research, and share it with a broader audience. Members of the ESE-TE Standing Committee were involved in a variety of presentations, helping to advocate for a presence for ESE in all levels of education. One of these highlighted the ways that ESE can take multimodal forms in preservice teacher education, which aligned with the theme of the conference. Paul Elliott (Trent) shared the benefits and challenges of integrating ESE with Indigenous Ed in a core preservice course, while Susan Gerofsky (UBC) highlighted the critical learning that takes place in UBC’s Orchard Garden with teacher candidates. Laura Sims (St. Boniface) analyzed community-based approaches to ESE in her faculty of ed, and Hilary Inwood (OISE) discussed the impacts of creating environmental art installations with teacher candidates. This session was very well-attended (with over 60 in attendance for a Sunday morning session), demonstrating the strong interest in ESE in Teacher Ed. There is talk underway of turning this into a book….stay tuned for more!

LtoR: Paul, Laura, Hilary and Susan

Nov 6, 2018    |      0 comments

EECOM Research Roundtable Reflections

The recent Research Roundtable hosted by the ESE-TE committee of EECOM was a success!  We welcomed over 70 educators  and researchers to this event, which took place on Oct. 18 as part of the 2018 EECOM conference in BC.  It was such a pleasure to meet so many people dedicated to learning about how to better integrate ESE into both preservice and inservice  teacher education.  The Roundtable hosted over 20 research presentations; a sincere thank you to all of the presenters!  These provided an excellent introduction to the variety of research being done in ESE-TE across Canada, and initiated many conversations around the importance of teacher ed that permeated the wider EE conference.  The day ended with three break out sessions focused on: Indigenous Ed and ESE; types of supports, resources, and professional learning needed in this area; and how best to move forward in this work.  These drew on the experience and expertise of those in attendance to identify what is needed to broaden and deepen the work being done in ESE-TE.

Many who attended the Roundtable have asked for more info on how to get involved in this work.  Here are a few suggestions:

  • join our network to get regular updates, resources and calls for involvement in ESE-TE
  • deepen your understanding of the current praxis of ESE-TE
  • share your work in ESE-TE in an upcoming issue of CJEE
  • advocate for a clear presence of ESE in your local faculty of ed
Oct 12, 2018    |      0 comments

Special Signature Event on Climate Change at CACS-ACÉC 2018

At CSSE at the University of Regina last May there was a signature event with a focus on Climate Change, organized by the Canadian Association of Curriculum Studies (CACS).  According to the promotional materials, the goal of the sessions was to address critical issues of today’s world in order to engage a non-academic public and to make scholarly ideas accessible to everyday Canadians. I was only able to attend the third part of the planned event, which integrated the arts into public climate change education.

Organizer Paul Zanazanian (McGill) commented that the event “examines the challenges of climate change from several disciplinary perspectives. Our goal is to provoke thought and discussion, and hopefully activism, on this topic that is so important to all of us.” The event was co-organized and performed as well by Kathryn Ricketts (U of Regina).

Kathryn Ricketts. Photo by Valerie Triggs and Michele Sorensen

The Performative art pieces, as a walking tour with durational art-making, took place in the green space that runs along campus, on the banks of Wascana Lake. Kathryn Ricketts presented a dancing embodiment of her bird-character Remington. This anthropomorphized bird wore a fur coat and a rubber pigeon mask, and moving to an internal music, it intermittently gave out all of its birdseed, and then came back looking for food, but by then many of the onlookers had  dropped the seeds into the tall grasses under our feet.

Another evocative performance, facilitated by Sarah Schroeter and her third year Drama Education students (Allene Bautista Chernick, Robyn Dyck, Erin Goodpipe, Tara Hanson, & Sara Salazar – U of Regina), invited us into a formal dinner set under the Joe Fafard statue “Mind’s Garden”. Each of the courses of the imaginary meal became more and more confrontational, including the grizzled spine of a deer and ending with the “ashes of our children”. The takeaway of these interactive performances was the sense of provocation, dissonance, and necessity; in tackling climate change education, we must prepare for engaging in pedagogies of discomfort and for preparing our teacher candidates for this new reality.

Feb 8, 2018    |      0 comments

Support is coming from the Deans of Education!

We’re getting support from many groups for ESE-TE; it is exciting to see this happening!  In October members of our ESE-TE Standing Committee were invited to address the fall conference of the Association of Canadian Deans of Education (ACDE).  Drs. Nicole Bell, Paul Elliott, Lucie Sauvé and Hilary Inwood spoke eloquently about the rationale for and praxis of ESE-TE in their Faculties of Education; this was supported by Dr. Nigel Roulet’s compelling talk about climate change and the important role education has to play in addressing it. Our timing was right – the Deans unanimously voted to write a new Sustainability Accord, a policy piece that will discuss the roles that Canadian Faculties of Education can (and should) play in ensuring a more equitable future for all living things on this planet.  Check into the progress of this important policy on the ACDE’s website.

Jan 18, 2018    |      0 comments

Interest in ESE in Teacher Ed is Growing!

There is no doubt that Environmental & Sustainability Ed (ESE) is growing in Canada!  We have formalized our national network of post-secondary educators dedicated to better integrating ESE into preservice teacher education – as of last summer, our group is now a Standing Cttee of EECOM, Canada’s premier national organization dedicated to environmental learning. This will provide a strong foundation from which to build our work; EECOM has been at it for over 25 years.  We already have plans in the works to offer a research day on ESE in Teacher Ed as part of EECOM’s conference next October in Cranbrook, BC…more details coming next month!