Title
Wild in the City: The importance of urban environmental exploration for students and teachers
Author(s)
Stoeth, Emily;
Published
2016
Publisher
Green Teacher
Abstract
SO YOU’RE THINKING of taking your inner-city
class on a field trip to study ecology or natural spaces?
I’ll bet you’re planning to travel outside of the city—
perhaps to a large forest or preserve? Have you considered
staying local instead? There has long been a trend in urban
environmental education (EE) to take students from urban
areas into suburban or rural areas to experience “real
nature.” But all this practice does is send the message that
urban areas do not have enough nature to warrant study.
We do not need to take city kids far away in order to teach
them about nature and ecology.
As urbanization increases, it is all the more important
that we as educators turn our focus to exploring the future of
ecology—the unique biodiversity that thrives in metropolitan
areas. Students in urban areas should learn about nature
that is relevant to them in their everyday lives rather than
what exists only in far-away places. Not only is urban EE
less expensive, but more importantly, it can increase a student’s
connection to their environment and ultimately their
sense of environmental stewardship. Let’s stop taking kids
out of the city for nature field trips and shift our outdoor
exploration focus towards city ecosystems. In this article, I
hope to provide you with the essential tools to facilitate this
type of unique learning with your students.
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PUB19086