Environmental Education: Definition of the Career Path
Before we begin defining teaching in both the traditional classroom setting and other nontraditional settings, let’s look at some recent job listings.
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Earth Science Teacher. Area senior high school full-time position available for the upcoming school year. School-based experience preferred and a degree in earth science a must. Send letter of interest, résumé, standard application, certificate, transcripts, and three reference letters to:
Earth Science Instructor. Community college currently seeking full-time, continuing contract (tenure-track) professor; prefer specialization in geology and/or oceanography; credentials in more than one physical science preferred. Minimum requirements include master’s degree from accredited institution and eighteen graduate semester hours in geology, oceanography, or other related field. Teaching experience, knowledge of discipline, awareness of current trends in instruction, and experience with instructional technology. Salary based on credentials and experience. We offer excellent employer-paid benefits package. For information specific to credentials and assignments, e-mail to:
Visiting Assistant Professor. In Wildlife Ecology (non-tenure-track, nine month appointment), Department of Biological Sciences, Eastern University. Teach undergraduate and graduate courses in Wildlife Management degree program (B.S.) and Applied Ecology Option (M.S.). Ph.D. or All but Dissertation. If ABD, a minimum of eighteen hours of graduate course work In wildlife ecology or a closely related discipline is required); degree(s) must be from a regionally or internationally recognized institution. The following required for online application: (1) curriculum vita, (2) cover letter including specific area(s) of teaching expertise, and (3) teaching philosophy. Other required documents include (1) contact information of three professional references, (2) copies of official transcripts, and (3) three letters of reference. These materials can be attached to online application, or mailed to:
Naturalist (Forest Preserve District of a County). Contribute to the preservation of natural and historic resources and habitats, flora, or fauna; restore, restock, protect, and preserve such lands for the education, recreation, and pleasure of all county citizens. Under general supervision of the Nature Programs Manager, develops and conducts environmental awareness programming for youth groups and the general public. Directs interns and seasonals on day-to-day operational tasks. Education: Bachelor’s degree in biology, ecological sciences, environmental education, or closely related field. Full-time. Starting pay $39,600. Send cover letter and résumé to:
Program Staffer (Church-Related) Youth Camp. Seeking program staff to teach outdoor/environmental education, to facilitate leadership/challenge program, and to facilitate group programming for the nine-month school year. Teach grades 4 - 8 during one- to three-day programs, facilitate curriculum development, and facilitate work projects with other staffers. Salary is $1,200 per month, full health and dental benefits, matching 403(b) retirement, one week paid vacation plus Christmas break and holidays, free housing, most meals provided. Can also apply for summer position to make it a year-round job. Must have college degree with course work in related subjects and passion for improving the environment. Apply online:
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What are the common threads that run through all of these jobs? If you reread the descriptions, you will find that each position, as well as all other positions in environmental education, demands that you:
• Love to teach
• Respect the natural environment
• Operate as an effective team member
• Develop and prepare educational materials
• Present educational programs
• At tend to administrative duties
• Undertake other, setting-specific duties
Build on Your Love of Teaching
Opting to follow a career path in teaching environmental studies must be carefully pursued because, as with any teaching position, the subject matter becomes subordinate to its delivery. In other words, your sheer love for the environment will not ensure success in teaching. An environmental educator must not only love his or her subject but also experience satisfaction from working with the clientele, that is, students. Environmental educators, like all educators, are just that: they are teachers first, and environmentalists second. For you to be a successful educator, it must be apparent to your students that you are enthusiastic about being in the classroom and about your subject! Not everyone is prepared to elect education as a career path. For those who do, there are considerable rewards and some drawbacks, too.
Respect the Natural Environment
No matter where you may find yourself employed as an environmental educator, your respect for the natural environment was a driving force in your career choice. Whether it was your disgust at seeing dead birds and fish lying along an oil-covered river bank in Louisiana after the accidental release of waste oil during a storm, or simply an overgrown, trash-strewn lot in your neighborhood that you passed on the way to school, this interest in the environment has led you to want to teach others to prevent problems or mitigate them once they have occurred. Somewhere, somehow, you acquired an extraordinary appreciation for the natural world, and you derive a sense of accomplishment from teaching others.
Operate as an Effective Team Member
Educators work with overseers, administrators, peers who are specialists in their own fields, support staff, and, often, volunteers. You will be called on to interact effectively with the group of professionals you’ll work with. Whether it is in a middle school with a counselor, in a high school with a curriculum coordinator, in a college with your department chair, in a government organization with the chair of the board of directors of a for-profit institution, or in a nonprofit agency with a group of volunteer workers, you’ll need to be able to operate successfully in a team environment.
Develop Audience-Specific Educational Materials
Knowing your audience is critical to your success as a teacher. In the following section we discuss some working conditions that affect the materials you prepare to use in your teaching. A presentation to a group of fourth graders will he different from one that focuses on the same subject matter but is directed to an eighth-grade class. A field trip with high school students must emphasize hands-on instruction, because if you just talk at the students, you will quickly bore many of them. You’ll find a few listening, a few more looking around, and a cluster at the back of your group whispering about what they will be doing over the weekend. And you must tailor the presentation not only to the group but also to the setting. Environmental educators have to devote lots of time to planning projects and to field preparation to develop real-world examples, both good and bad, of prevention practices, the results of environmental decisions, and remediation and mitigation strategies.
Present Audience-Specific Educational Programs
There may be great variability in your class’s receptiveness to learning, depending on whether they are required to be in attendance or not. And the age of your class will play a major role in how you go about presenting your material. Working with high school sophomores who are in a required science class will be very different from educating adults who have signed up to learn more about the local habitat that supports a colony of loons.
Attend to Administrative Duties
Teachers at the middle and high school levels must deal with lots of meetings, both with staff and with parents. Additionally, they must attend to lots of record keeping, grading of papers, development of assignments and presentations, and myriad other duties. College teachers have similar duties, though dealing with parents is not usually among them. At this level, fewer assignments are required, so the amount of record keeping is reduced. But effective presentations and assignments are required, and grading is also essential. Students learn more effectively if they receive written feedback from an assignment soon after it has been turned in. If a great deal of time passes between the due date and the return of assignments, students tend to pay less heed to suggestions for improving their work. They often forget the con text of the assignment and have moved on to other priorities.
Undertake Other Setting-Specific Duties
The range of other duties you will be responsible for undertaking varies with the work setting. While the middle school teacher who is called on to teach general science might also be charged with teaching earth science, a high school science teacher offering a class in biology may be responsible for serving as the adviser to one of the school’s clubs. College professors who have their doctoral degree in environmental biology may be expected to undertake a community outreach effort, such as developing a plan to preserve a local natural area that has been deeded to the community, and an environ mental interpreter working for a nonprofit organization may be responsible for feeding animals housed at the center. The point is that you must be sure that you understand the full range of duties your environmental educator position will require. The job descriptions shown throughout this section provide a sense of the range of tasks that fall within a given type of job.