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Sustaining the Manitoban Francophone community: ESE in Preservice Education at the Université de Saint-Boniface

Using the community as classroom in an Indigenous Perspectives in Education course:
USB students explore the Arctic Topiaries exhibition on the Red River near The Forks, Winnipeg, in February 2019. Made of snow and ice, these warming huts were designed by @michaelmaltzanarchitecture and built by @jakobi_heinrichs in partnership with the Manitoba Inuit Association to celebrate the opening of the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) Inuit Art Centre.

Our What’s happening in ESE at… Series continues:
This week we’re in conversation with Dr. Laura Sims from the Université de Saint-Boniface

By Alysse Kennedy
ESE-TE Project Coordinator

Preparing preservice teachers within Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) at the Université de Saint-Boniface (USB) in Winnipeg, Manitoba may look a little different than at other Canadian faculties of education. As the only Francophone university in western Canada, USB places a particular emphasis on linguistic and cultural sustainability.

Tasked with the responsibility of preparing French-language educators in Manitoba as well as the overarching goal to educate for reconciliation, USB’s preservice teacher education program provides mandatory courses to support its teacher candidates. These courses are purposefully related to both the local communities being served and the long-standing cultural context within which the university is inherently steeped. Consequently, at the heart of these courses you’ll find pedagogical approaches that are not only community-focused but also community-based: teaching and learning strategies that address cultural and social aspects of ESE in TE (For more on these pedagogical approaches, see Block, Sims and Beeman, 2016).

Dr. Sims cites using the community as classroom, the community as teacher, using inquiry-based learning and research-based teachings as powerful pedagogical approaches not just for teaching about environmental and social justice concepts but to also engender a deeper context of overall inclusion (for more on inclusion see Sims and Desmarais, 2020). This commitment to inclusion is multifaceted. It includes growing the Francophone community within Manitoba. It includes anti-racist education as the Francophone community is becoming more diverse, with the majority (57%) of new Francophone arrivals being of African descent. Inclusive practices also have a crucial focus on decolonization: an earnest effort is made to focus on fulfilling their Treaty 1 responsibilities (for more on Dr. Sims’ experience teaching this course see Sims, 2019). Courses taught by Dr. Sims integrate ESE in an interdisciplinary way to encourage broader lateral thinking as well as collaboration.

With respect to managing eco-anxiety when dealing with tough topics like the environmental crisis, Dr. Sims strongly feels that community-based learning, using nature as a teacher and promoting agency through inquiry, action-based learning and responsible citizenship help to connect students’ psychological contexts with the environmental. These can foster positive mental health and wellness (for more see Sims, Rocque, and Desmarais, in press). These are aspects tied to inclusion that Dr. Sims believes can help USB’s faculty of education face the environmental crisis in a more meaningful way for their students.

Check out articles mentioned in this post below:

Block, L.A., Sims, L., and Beeman, C. (2016). Contextualizing education for sustainability and teacher education in Manitoba faculties of education. In D. Karrow, M. DiGiuseppe, P.  Elliott, Y. Gwekwerere, and H. Inwood, (Eds.), Canadian perspectives on initial teacher environmental education praxis (pp. 128–152). Canadian Association for Teacher Education.

Sims, L. (2019). Inspirée face aux défis: l’expérience d’une professeure non autochtone en lien à l’intégration des perspectives autochtones dans la formation des enseignants en contexte minoritaire francophone manitobain. Cahiers franco-canadiens de l’ouest, 31(1), 89-108.

Sims, L., and Desmarais, M.-É. (2020). Planning to overcome perceived barriers: environmental and sustainability education, inclusion, and accessibility. International Journal of Education and Sustainability, 3(1), 1-17.

Sims, L., Rocque, R., and Desmarais, M.É. (in press). Enabling students to face the environmental crisis and climate change with resilience: Inclusive environmental and sustainability education approaches and strategies for coping with eco-anxiety. International journal of higher education and sustainability.

Check out more articles related to teaching from USB’s Dr. Laura Sims below:

Beeman, C., and Sims, L. (2019). From relationship to something more: Environmental and sustainability education and a new ontological position. In D. Karrow and M. DiGiuseppe (eds.), Environmental and sustainability education in teacher education: Canadian perspectives (193-208). Springer.

Sims, L., Asselin, M., and Falkenberg, T. (2020). Environmental and sustainability education in pre-service teacher education in Canada: A case study. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 23(1), 14-32.

Check out this recorded webinar on strategies for helping students cope with eco-anxiety (available in French and English):

English version of webinar: 

Desmarais, M.-É., Sims, L. and Rocque, R. (2020, august). Helping Students Cope with Eco-anxiety: 11 Strategies Educators can Use. [Video]. Loom. https://www.loom.com/share/c3808b71512a4bf8a90765570df00fca 

French version of webinar: 

Desmarais, M.-É., Sims, L. et Rocque, R. (2020, août).Aider les élèves à faire face à l’écoanxiété : 11 stratégies à mettre en œuvre. [Vidéo]Loomhttps://www.loom.com/share/e2fa6daec23f45058303b0f68974f994 

Thank you to Dr. Laura Sims for participating in an interview.


Honouring Dr. Lucie Sauvé’s Contributions to Environmental and Sustainability Education/Hommage aux contributions de la Dr Lucie Sauvé à l’éducation relative à l’environnement et à la viabilité

Special Guest Author post by Dr. Doug Karrow
Photo courtesy of Dr. Lucie Sauvé

Note – A French-language version of this post is available following the English version

Dr. Lucie Sauvé

The Canadian Environmental Education and Communication Network (EECOM)’s Standing Committee on Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education congratulates Dr. Lucie Sauvé on the recent announcement of her retirement.

Lucie has been an avid supporter of the Standing Committee since its inception in 2017. She was a key and active participant during the National Roundtable hosted by Trent University, delivering one of its keynote addresses while contributing to several roundtables. She has provided important academic and emotional support to the fledgling organization since its early days, through her involvement in the Standing Committee’s research and outreach activities. In recent years, she has assisted by contributing key advice and resources to support federal grant applications and important research to various knowledge mobilization activities, e.g., Sauvé, L. (2019). Transversality, diversity, criticality, and activism: Enhancing E(S)E in teacher education. In D. Karrow & M. DiGiuseppe (Eds.), Environmental and sustainability education in teacher education: Canadian perspectives, (pp. 49-62). Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature AG. ISBN: 978-3-030-25015-7

Dr. Sauvé began her education career as a history, geography and Latin teacher and contributed to the production and dissemination of educational materials in Quebec. She segued to academic life in the 1980’s by completing a master’s degree in environmental science and then the 1990’s by completing a doctoral degree, the first in the French-speaking world to focus on environmental education (read more about this here).

After a short appointment at the University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières in 1991, she joined the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) in 1993 where she remained until retirement at the rank of full professor of the Department of Didactics, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Director of the Research centre in environmental education and ecocitizenship (visit the Centre’ERE website here).

Lucie held the Canada Research Chair in Relative Education to the Environment from 2001-2011 contributing to developing of research in environmental education. As well, she has led several major international cooperation projects in Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, and Bolivia.

I recall meeting Lucie for the first time as she helped coordinate and co-chair the 5th World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC), Montreal, Quebec, 2009. I was immediately captivated by her passion, unassuming leadership style, and the unique manner she conceptualized environmental education which focused on our “relationship with the environment [which] contributes to the formulation of our being-in-the-world. . . .” (read more here). This perspective on environmental education helped foster a much-needed critique on the reductive tendency of the ‘education for sustainable development’ discourse, which emphasized the development of an ethical social relationship with our environment.

Lucie’s research activities are exemplary and her publication record impressive, as is her ongoing directorship of the Centr’ERE of UQAM, where her legacy remains.

Anyone who has had the honour and pleasure of working with Lucie first-hand knows of her grace, passion, and keen intellect. In our ongoing work to educate another generation of teachers on the issues of Environmental and Sustainability Education, Lucie has been stalwart. We wish her all the best as she enters another exciting chapter of her life, as dedicated as ever to lead and educate a future generation Canadians about their ethical relationship with the environment.

Thank you, Lucie!

Hommage aux contributions de la Dr Lucie Sauvé à l’éducation relative à l’environnement et à la viabilité

Traduction libre du texte Honouring Dr. Lucie Sauvé’s Contributions to Environmental and Sustainability Education par Dr Doug Karrow

Photo de Dr Lucie Sauvé

Le Comité permanent du Réseau canadien d’éducation et de communication relatives à l’environnement (EECOM) sur l’éducation à l’environnement et à la viabilité dans la formation des enseignants félicite la Dr Lucie Sauvé pour l’annonce récente de sa retraite.

Lucie est une fervente collaboratrice du Comité permanent depuis sa création en 2017. Elle a été une participante clé et active lors de la Table ronde nationale organisée par l’Université Trent, prononçant l’un de ses discours principaux tout en contribuant à plusieurs panels. Elle a fourni un important et chaleureux soutien académique à cette organisation naissante depuis ses débuts, grâce à sa participation aux activités de recherche et de sensibilisation du Comité permanent. Au cours des dernières années, elle a offert des conseils et des ressources clés pour soutenir les demandes de subventions fédérales et d’importantes recherches dans le cadre de diverses activités de mobilisation des connaissances : par exemple, Sauvé, L. (2019). Transversality, diversity, criticality, and activism: Enhancing E(S)E in teacher education. In D. Karrow & M. DiGiuseppe (Eds.), Environmental and sustainability education in teacher education: Canadian perspectives, (pp. 49-62). Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature AG. ISBN: 978-3-030-25015-7

La Dr Sauvé a commencé sa carrière en éducation comme enseignante d’histoire, de géographie et de latin et a contribué à la production et à la diffusion de matériel pédagogique au Québec. Elle est entrée dans la vie universitaire dans les années 1980 en complétant une maîtrise en sciences de l’environnement puis dans les années 1990,  en complétant un doctorat, le premier dans le monde francophone à se concentrer sur l’éducation relative à l’environnement (en savoir plus ici).

Après une courte nomination à l’Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières en 1991, elle s’est jointe à l’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) en 1993 où elle est demeurée jusqu’à la retraite comme professeure titulaire au Département de didactique, Faculté des sciences de l’éducation, et en tant que directrice du Centre de recherche en éducation et formation relatives à l’environnement et à l’écocitoyenneté (visitez le site Internet du Centre’ERE ici).

Lucie a été titulaire de la Chaire de recherche du Canada en éducation relative à l’environnement de 2001 à 2011, contribuant au développement de la formation et de la recherche en éducation environnementale. De plus, elle a dirigé plusieurs grands projets de coopération internationale en Bolivie, au Brésil, en Colombie et en Bolivie.

Je me souviens avoir rencontré Lucie pour la première fois alors qu’elle aidait à coordonner et coprésider le 5e Congrès mondial d’éducation relative à l’environnement (WEEC), tenu à Montréal, Québec, en 2009. J’ai été immédiatement captivé par sa passion, son style de leadership sans prétention et sa manière unique de conceptualiser une éducation relative à l’environnement axée sur notre « relation à l’environnement [qui] contribue à la formation de notre être-au-monde. […] » (en savoir plus ici). Cette perspective sur l’éducation relative à l’environnement a contribué à susciter une critique indispensable de la tendance réductrice du discours associé à l’éducation pour le développement durable, en mettant l’accent sur le développement d’une relation sociale éthique avec notre environnement.

Les activités de recherche de Lucie sont exemplaires et son bilan de publications impressionnant, tout comme sa direction du Centr’ERE de l’UQAM, où son héritage demeure.

Quiconque a eu l’honneur et le plaisir de travailler avec Lucie connaît sa grâce, sa passion et son intelligence vive. Dans notre travail continu pour éduquer une autre génération d’enseignant.e.s sur les questions de l’éducation relative à l’environnement et à la viabilité, Lucie a été bien présente . Nous lui offrons nos meilleurs vœux alors qu’elle entre dans un autre chapitre passionnant de sa vie, aussi dévouée que jamais à éduquer les futures générations de Canadien.ne.s, concernant en particulier leur relation éthique avec l’environnement.

Merci Lucie!


WEBINAR EVENT | “Shifting ESE Online in Teacher Education” – Sept. 24 @ 1:00pm (EST)

Join teacher educators from across Canada and the US to discuss how they are pivoting environmental learning in teacher education to digital formats. Learn from faculty experienced with online teaching about their preferred strategies, promising practices, and innovative ways they are engaging preservice students and inservice teachers in Environmental & Sustainability Education.

Details:
Thursday September 24, 2020 – 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) 
Register in advance for this webinar using this Zoom link here

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

We look forward to having you join us for this free event!


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


NAAEE webinar partnership: Deepening Environmental Learning for Student Teachers

Thanks to a partnership with the NAAEE and their eePRO platform, our Standing Committee hosted a webinar focused on ESE in Preservice Teacher Education (PTE). Entitled “Deepening Environmental Learning for Student Teachers”, it featured examples of innovative practice from across Canada, such as faculties of education that have their own educational gardens, offer Land-based learning, collaborate with local NGOs, or ones that offer year-round programming in ESE for preservice teachers. Hosted by teacher educator Hilary Inwood and new teacher Alysse Kennedy, they shared what ESE in PTE can be from both faculty and students’ perspectives. A lively discussion ensued from those attending the webinar – over 50 people from across North America had registered, demonstrating the high degree of interest in this topic. If you missed this webinar, you can access it (and other excellent webinars) in the NAAEE’s archive at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R7N0txqOxI&feature=youtu.be


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


Canadian Journal of Environmental Education Special Issue Call for Papers

Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education (ESE-TE) remains a critical challenge for faculties of education across Canada. At a time when the impacts of climate change, biodiversity collapse, mass migration, and food and water shortages are increasingly evident throughout the country (Worldwatch Institute, 2018), the roles of educators at all levels of our education system are imperative to help Canadians 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.

This special issue of the Canadian Journal of Environmental Education (CJEE) invites Canadian teacher educators to share their research on ESE-TE to raise and strengthen the profile of this developing field. Although not exhaustive, several questions arise: How are teacher educators in faculties of education contributing to this shift, from policy, praxiological, philosophical, theoretical, conceptual, methodological, curricular, and pedagogical standpoints? What lessons are being learned? What evaluations are being made? How are they impacting the field as a whole? What challenges are slowing down progress in this field?

The call was inspired by the Research Roundtable on Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education, hosted as part of the Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication’s (EECOM) annual conference in Cranbrook, BC. All Canadian teacher educators and scholars doing research in this area are welcome to submit works for review in any of the related discourses, for example – Environmental Education, Education for Sustainable Development, Environmental and Sustainability Education, Place-based Education, Sustainability Education, Nature-based Learning, Eco-Justice Education, or Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Wisdom, in relation to Teacher Education.

For more information, please contact Susan Docherty-Skippen (susan.docherty-skippen@brocku.ca). Please submit manuscripts through the CJEE author submission process – noting that the manuscript is for the ESE-TE themed issue. Guidelines for submissions, e.g., word length, publication style, etc., can be found on the CJEE website: http://cjee.lakeheadu.ca

Deadline for submissions is February 28, 2019.


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

Community partnerships enhance  ESE in teacher education

How can community partnerships enhance  ESE in teacher education?  OISE’s Dept. of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning aims to find out.  OISE is collaborating with the Toronto District School Board’s EcoSchools program  to integrate preservice and inservice professional learning on ESE on a broad scale to explore the benefits of bringing novice and experienced teachers together.  This is not a new idea, as Faculties of Ed often lead workshops for teachers, and teachers model ESE for teacher candidates during practicum.  What makes this collaboration innovative is its scale and commitment.  Unfolding over three years, this initiative involves a wide variety of workshops, talks, and experiential events; a cohort of teacher candidates focused on ESE; an annual conference and Ecofair; practicum placements; an Action Research team; and intensive summer courses.  It aims to support learning in a range of ESE traditions, including nature-based learning, place-based ed, eco-justice ed, as well as include a strong presence of Indigenous ways of knowing.  A 3 year research study is investigating the experiences of all of the participants. This ambitious project hopes to demonstrate new ways for school boards and Faculties of Education to collaborate on meaningful, impactful approaches to moving ESE forward.  For more info on this project:  https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/ese/TDSB_EcoSchools/index.html


Engaging affect: Using kahoot and experience with nature to teach EE

Dr. Darren Hoeg was charged with leading a one-off session on Environmental Education, embedded in the intensive teacher-preparation course for Secondary Science teacher candidates at the University of Alberta. He had 90 minutes to get a feel for the group of up to 100 students and turn their minds on to both the issues of the environment and how to tackle them through Science teaching. He turned to a real-time class survey to get the class thinking and participating. Using the Kahoot application platform, Darren asked the students nine different questions with four possible answers. They were able to interact using their smartphones or other digital devices. After each question, he used the anonymous results to lead a brief discussion. The questions touched on concerns of individual choice, dependence on technology and the Oil Sands, among others.

As the complexity of questions increased, from a social and philosophical standpoint, and with only 20 seconds allowed to respond to each question, there were fewer responses as the survey progressed. For example, the first question, about food choices, asked: When I make grocery purchasing decisions, I consider the following in my selection: Local (23%), Organic (13%), Price (59%) or Non-GMO (5%). Results are shown in parentheses. For this question 56 of the 58 participants responded. In contrast with a later question, only 44 of the 58 students responded: 

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