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EETAP
Cases Workshop: by Planners and Presenters of the EETAP Cases Workshop Twenty people with diverse backgrounds and experiences came together for a 2-1/2 day workshop August 27-30 at the Lied Conference Center in Nebraska City, NE. The purpose of the meeting was to start a process for creating a collection of cases on environmental education and cultural diversity that will serve as a springboard for others to discuss the values and issues involved in creating a more inclusive field. This is an effort by EETAP to capture and use practitioner knowledge to better prepare environmental educators for working in and with diverse cultural communities. The team explored and developed �seed� cases through the facilitation of Tania Madfes of WestEd (WestEd is an education laboratory serving four western states). Cases are candid, dramatic, highly readable first person accounts of events or series of events that offer a problem-based snapshot of an on-the-job dilemma. Read alone, they offer an almost virtual experience of walking in another�s shoes and the opportunity for self-reflection. In a group discussion, cases are especially powerful, allowing different points of view to be aired and examined. The storylines of the cases will involve interactions with teachers, administrators, volunteers, community members, colleagues, and students. The various quandaries described in the cases arise during those interactions. Each case in the collection will provide an opportunity to examine a number of issues as they occur in the real world of environmental education. The questions posed by the authors deal with relationships, personalities, strategies, equity, workshop delivery and follow-up, and program administration and support. Cases are powerful discussion catalysts. Good discussion can help people dig into a case and learn things that assist them in thinking differently about issues. Deliberations stimulated through discussion can help people to: � Spot issues and frame problems in ambiguous situations � Interpret situations from multiple perspectives � Identify crucial decision points and possibilities for action � Recognize benefits and potential risks inherent in any course of action � Identify and test principles in real situations � Generate new principles that guide actions. The EETAP Cases Workshop was a successful and positive experience. Several participants stated that it was the best professional development experience they had attended. A total of eighteen �seed� cases were started and reviewed. Working in small groups, participants read each other�s cases and provided constructive feedback on how to improve the cases. Over the next eight months the team will continue to work together to develop the �seed� cases. The team will meet again in Winter 2003 to review and critique the cases before completing final drafts, editing, and testing. Watch for the casebook release in early 2004. �Through our combined experiences and world views we hope to not only clarify our own beliefs, but create a tool on environmental education and cultural diversity that will serve as a springboard for others to discuss the values and issues involved in creating a more inclusive field.� � Augusto Medina, EETAP; Lisa LaRocque and Alma Galvan, Project del Rio �Building
Community� at NAAEE by
Abby Ruskey, NEEAP Co-Director How do you build community? Members of the EETAP Demonstration Communities Project demonstrated how at this year�s North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) conference in Boston, Massachusetts. With �DiversitEE� as the theme of the conference, the nine members of the EETAP Demonstration Communities, most of whom had never been to an NAAEE conference before, felt welcomed. In the process of holding the three-hour symposium on meshing community needs with environmental education (EE), the nine panelists themselves formed into a new community representing leaders at the cutting edge of local EE capacity building. The team members traveled
to Boston from three very different communities: El Paso, TX/Juarez, New
Mexico, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Orange County, California.
During the NAAEE How
has your understanding of environmental education or community-based work
changed since you started work partnering? All team members felt that their experiences in the project had both increased their understanding of what environmental education is and how it can be utilized in and enhanced through use in their communities. At the end of the day representatives of Project del Rio, NEEAP and EETAP management discussed strategies for building local capacity, defining EE within communities and measuring project success. The bonds that had been formed among this small but vivacious group was evident as members hugged and took pictures of one another while group leaders attempted to pry them out of the meeting room to head back to their respective homes. In the course of a day the community experts had indeed �built community� in order to strengthen the field�s understanding of local EE capacity building. To learn more about each community, see page 8. For more information about the Demonstration Communities project go to the NEEAP website at www.uwsp.edu/cnr/neeap. Spotlight
on the The Groundwater Guardian (GG) community team has partnered with the local CREEC (California Regional EE Consortium) team. The teams combined are an impressive array of professional educators, interpreters, scientists, agency staff, environmental organization staff, and business and industry leaders. Together these leaders are developing plans to coordinate scientific and educational resources around a new state law requiring school campuses to comply with storm water regulations and will combine existing environmental education resources in the county and feature them in workshops, meetings for school administrators and other targeted groups. Project del Rio is teaming up with a special initiative, Healthy Communities, at the University of Texas, El Paso. This team will be working with one community, Chapparal, NM to identify the skills and strategies that groups and individuals need in order to become active and effective citizens to create a healthy environment through education. A steering committee of six individuals including a low income housing consultant, the Executive Director of the Organization of Industrial Centers (an adult literacy program), an epidemiologist, and a legislative liaison is leading the effort in Oklahoma City. The group is looking into pursuing three activities at this time: 1) becoming a Groundwater Guardian Community, 2) providing community education related to a superfund dump located in the neighborhood, and 3) holding an environmental education expo in 2003.
The NEEAP RapAs we go to print with this issue of The EE Advocate, NEEAP is putting the wrap on another busy year as a managing partner for the EE and Training Partnership (EETAP). The theme of this issue is �Diversity in Environmental Education�. What does this term mean and how do we achieve it? This issue of the EE Advocate doesn�t purport to answer these questions fully, but we feel we�ve provided you with news about some very important developments in the area of cultural diversity and EE capacity building. Work described in the lead article �EETAP Cases Workshop� promises to have a field-wide ripple effect in preparing environmental educators for working with diverse communities. Also featured is a story about the EETAP Demonstration Communities Project, where three teams of culturally diverse educators in three very different communities across the country are linking EE to the needs of people locally. At the Grassroots (page 3) describes how Teresa Mourad and the EE Council of Ohio (EECO) are on their way to developing a �special workshop for environmental educators with the important inclusion of educators from diverse cultures�. Read about the workshop and provide EECO with your ideas and questions via EELink. Also available are state capacity building updates about Alaska (next column) and the EETAP States (pages 4-5 & 8). �What�s New With EETAP?� and new diversity related capacity building resources can be found on pages 6-7. A short report on NEEAP�s pilot Leadership Clinic Design Workshop is also on page 7. As a participant in the EE and Cultural Diversity Cases Workshop I was treated to one of the most striking professional development opportunities of my career. I encourage you to seek out opportunities such as this workshop and the discussion started on EELink and engage in the work of �Culturing EE� (see �Resources and Opportunities�) that is so fundamental to our ability to achieve environmental literacy for all. Abby Ruskey, Co-Director, NEEAP News From
Here and There EE
in Alaska What�s going on in environmental education in Alaska? That�s a question that seems as broad and expansive as Alaska itself. The Alaska Natural Resource and Outdoor Education Association (ANROE), with the assistance of several sponsors, set out to discover some answers through a statewide environmental education conference that was held November 7-9, 2002 in Anchorage, at the Campbell Creek Science Center and Alaska Pacific University. The conference theme: �Discovering and Defining Environmental Education in Alaska,� proved to bring Alaska�s environmental educators together. The conference included over 30 presentations, three keynote speakers, a resource fair and fieldtrips. It was also highlighted by a statewide comprehensive planning session facilitated by Abby Ruskey, Co-Director of the National Environmental Education Advancement Project, which was attended by over 100 educators. This session provide a springboard to future planning for environmental educators in the state. There was a good balance of rural and urban educators from across the state participating in the planning process. For more information about ANROE visit their web site at www.anroe.org, or contact Eric Wade at admin@anroe.org , (907) 376-2561.
At
the Grassroots... Cultural
Sensitivity in EE - An Invitation to Dialogue by
Teresa Mourad, Executive Director, Environmental Education Council of Ohio
(EECO) It is a complaint we�ve all heard when it comes to getting people of diverse cultures to our workshops and programs: our programs are geared to everyone, regardless of cultures, backgrounds, or beliefs, but �they� don�t come. Currently, EE has been most effective in appealing to white, female, elementary science educators, leaving out a vast majority of other educators in other cultures, gender, grade levels and disciplines. It is timely that four of the eight states participating in the EETAP States Program � Arizona, California, Oklahoma and Ohio - included cultural diversity as one of the dimensions of their projects (read more about the EETAP States on pages 4-5). Nationally, critical discussions have been held by the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) at conferences since 1999 and recently, EETAP set out to consider case studies of EE in different cultural settings (see EETAP Cases Workshop: EE and Cultural Diversity on page 1). All these indicate the growing understanding that customizing programming with cultural sensitivity is crucial if we want to change the face of EE. In this light, the Environmental Education Council of Ohio (EECO) is planning a special workshop for environmental educators at the EECO conference March 28-30, 2003 with the important inclusion of educators from diverse cultures. I offer for your feedback, three broad areas that guide our plan: 1. develop guidelines on what culturally sensitive EE approaches would look like. What dimensions are salient in adapting instructional EE materials and teaching practice to speak to a culturally diverse audience? While related, this process must not be confused with multicultural education. Our goal is not to teach about diverse cultures. Rather, we are asking how multicultural viewpoints impact the way we design and deliver EE. (e.g. inner city educators of homeless youth tell us to focus on �community� and �family� in teaching about habitats.) 2. provide environmental educators with the skills, tools and knowledge to better serve culturally diverse audiences. We are all experts in the �ways of nature� - we can make all kinds of connections with water cycles, rotting logs and even the moon! Yet, it feels like we are stumbling in the dark when it comes to the �ways of culture� - what values are cherished by different cultures? What are their worldviews? How can we incorporate this knowledge into EE? What professional development opportunities do we need to design so that fewer and fewer will say, �we offered but no one came!� Whom should we work with? How should we start? 3. provide support for EE leaders to engage in ongoing exchange of ideas on enhancing cultural diversity. We need to feed and nourish each other in our commitment to include other cultures in EE and to help each other with resources, information about groups, networks or strategies that could be applied elsewhere. This is an exciting and challenging path to journey and EE-Link is facilitating an �e-Caf� to provide space for fellow-sojourners to stop in, share experiences, warn of pitfalls, point to useful resources� EECO will be honored if our workshop can act as a testing ground for your ideas! I hope that through EE-Link (eelink.net), you will join Ohio, the other EETAP states and NAAEE continue the much-needed discussion to bring cultural sensitivity to maturity in EE. �We need to feed and nourish each other in our commitment
to include other cultures in EE...� In
the Spotlight: EETAP State Updates The EETAP States
Program seeks to quickly and successfully advance EE training in eight
states utilizing the tools of capacity building and focusing on priority
initiatives in the field of Arizona: Making Changes to Build Capacity In order to achieve the capacity building efforts we have set out to accomplish through the EETAP States Program, The Arizona Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) realizes some organizational transformation is necessary to most effectively meet these goals. Recognizing this, the AAEE Board conducted a visioning process to become a more widely recognized organization with greater ability, agility and effectiveness. We have upgraded our informational materials, including the newsletter, brochure, letterhead, and web site. Our Mission and Vision statements were updated to reflect the significance of diversity and partnerships for AAEE as an organization. And circulation for our �SunCatcher� newsletter increased from 300 to 3000 through EETAP-sponsored mailings and partnerships. This July, an OAT (Organizational Assessment Tool) workshop, facilitated by Abby Ruskey, took place. Through this process, AAEE participants identified a clear need for strategic, tactical, and operational planning, and a need for strengthening AAEE in the areas of leadership development and membership. In response, a team from AAEE attended the Leadership Clinic Design Workshop this fall (see page 7). As a result of this training, an Arizona EE leadership clinic, emphasizing diversity outreach to Hispanic and Native American audiences, will be presented as a professional development component in conjunction with the September 2003 AAEE conference. Ohio: DiversitEE
Initiative Newly christened the Ohio DiversitEE Initiative, the project in Ohio has brought forth new ideas and programs. The effort has been challenging but rewarding: we have established relationships with the Ohio Alliance of Black School Educators and are developing follow-ups to the Language of Nature Writing Institute for language arts teachers. We have developed an educator workshop for local inner city educators as well as directors and youth leaders of social service agencies in Columbus offering afterschool programs at more than 60 sites. A summer workshop is being planned for high school educators involving several districts. Programs have been developed for early childhood audiences in Cincinnati and Akron that will reach more than 20 sites. In each of these initiatives, the key has been for our regional directors to work within the existing infrastructure of our partners in ways that made sense to them. California:
Broadening the
EE Circle Following outreach efforts at state and regional California Association for Bilingual Educators (CABE) conferences, the California EETAP project provided cultural competency training at the California Regional Environmental Education Community (CREEC) conference. CREEC coordinators received CABE information, extensive background information regarding California�s language and ethnic diversity issues and materials demonstrating the similarities of EE and English Language Development strategies. Coordinators were encouraged to develop an outreach strategy to CABE leaders and English Language Learner (ELL) audiences in their region. California�s EETAP project broadened its circle of EE leaders by convening a meeting of environmental educators serving preservice teachers and multicultural populations. At this meeting, two task forces were created to pursue elements of the California EETAP plan. The Preservice Task Force will tackle planning for a spring EE preservice conference as well as other key initiatives. The Diversity Task Force began its work by examining the themes of access, authenticity and vision. Illinois: Capacity Building Takes Time Through the EETAP grant, Illinois is working to build a system of five regions called Centers of Regional Environmental Education (CORE2 ) to promote cooperation and partnerships between EE agencies within the same region. In addition, we are creating a statewide EE electronic communication web site. Both aspects of the project have been moving forward, but we have run into a few roadblocks. Our biggest challenge has been in recruiting people to the CORE2 teams. Our intention is to build the teams, and then have each one develop a work plan for its region; therefore, we did not assign tasks for each team to accomplish. This, however, made pulling the CORE2 teams together very challenging, because people wanted to know ahead of time what was expected of them before making a commitment to join the team. It was a bit like the �chicken or egg� dilemma. Should we decide what the regions should do so that everyone understands what is expected of them, or should we form the teams and let them determine what is best in their own regions? We have learned (and continue to learn) that capacity building takes time and patience - and that even though we are anxious to see a final product, we must allow time for the process to come together. Utah:
Jump Starting the Certification Program The Utah Certification Program continues to make strides forward. A rough draft of a certification packet has been completed. It includes general background information regarding certification, the forms needed to apply for certification and the rubrics outlining the competencies needed to be completed. We are currently undergoing pilot testing of the program, and by early Fall the certification development team will meet again to further discuss the certification process. We are still exploring the administration and costs of the program, as well as some of the process details. A second round of pilot testing is slated for later this Fall. In early Spring, we are looking to �jump start� the Utah Certification Program by holding a Certification Summit to develop our first round of mentors needed in the process. Oklahoma: Diverse Stakeholders at Work This year has been one of growth through meeting challenges. Time was our biggest challenge. It took us longer than anticipated to design and disseminate our state needs assessment survey. The reason it took longer than anticipated is because of the time needed for our Steering Committee to get to know and trust one another. A driving goal of our project is to truly increase the diversity of partners involved with environmental education in our state. That process takes time. Time well spent because we now have an evolving and diverse steering committee which actively participates in the networking process and has buy-in because of each member�s involvement in the design and distribution of the survey. The survey was key in revealing what Oklahoman�s believe they need in reference to EE in the state. We are now ready to design regional leadership clinics and move toward creating a master plan for EE in the state. Missouri:
Partnering for Communities With the Environmental
Education Certification Program successfully launched, the Missouri Modeled after the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education site (www.caee.org), this resource database will allow people to search by region for anything from grade specific programs about caves, to organizations working with recycling and events ranging from eagle watches to stream clean-ups. The Missouri EE Association Programs Committee is working closely with EE Link, a project of NAAEE, on the development of the Missouri specific program. Partnering with the University of Missouri Outreach and Extension, Bridging the Gap and the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Community-Based Leadership Clinic planned for Spring 2003 is starting to take form. Modeled after the extremely successful national Leadership Clinic model, this Clinic will provide 8-10 selected community teams of 6-8 individuals the leadership training and resource expertise needed to develop an action plan for an environmental project to be carried out in their community. Resource experts will be selected based on communities� environmental issues. Some of the planners for this Community-Based Leadership Clinic recently attended the NEEAP Leadership Clinic Design Workshop to brush up on their knowledge of and learn new skills about participant-driven design, as well as network with others across the country planning similar events. Washington:
Integrating EE in Higher Ed EETAP Washington is pleased to report that we have recruited more Faculty from Colleges of Education than anticipated. At our EETAP Summer Institute we recruited 15 Colleges of Teacher Preparation - that�s 68%! The EETAP Summer Institute was held July 10-12, 2002 for Faculty of Colleges of Teacher Preparation. Nine Schools of Education represented by 11 Faculty participated in the EETAP workshop. The national perspective provided by EETAP and NEEAP, and the on-going work to bring Environmental Education to the table through the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) impressed our faculty. The faculty agreed to work with our integrated benchmarks and standards and asked for another gathering this fall. All resources will now be framed by the Integrated EE benchmarks/standards. What�s
New With EETAP? by
Dr. Augusto Medina Project Director, EETAP In developing the Year 2-3 work plan, EETAP partners incorporated diversity within many activities. Following are updates of activities with a focus on diversity. EETAP States Program NEEAP is assisting States that identified diversity as one of their primary goals. California is developing capacity for diverse environmental education (EE) stakeholders in collaboration with the California Alliance for Bilingual Education (CABE). They are launching a state wide EE plan and coordinating state government outreach strategies. Oklahoma has created a consortium of diverse stakeholders within the state and is undertaking a survey of state EE needs. Read more about these and other EETAP States on pages 4-5. Demonstration Communities Program NEEAP is working with the Opportunities Industrialization Center to develop a community EE vision and goals. The Demonstration Communities met at the NAAEE conference for a symposium on evaluation of needs and program development. Read ��Building Community� at NAAEE� on page 1 and �Spotlight on the Demonstration Communities on page 8 for more information. Provide EE Training to Urban-based Organizations Project Learning Tree (PLT), Project Water Education for Teachers (WET), and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) are building urban partnerships in Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Richmond. WET is heading the effort in Atlanta by choosing educators from three schools for training in EETAP partner programs as well as the concept �Environment as an Integrating Context� from the State Education and Environment Roundtable. WWF is working with the Cincinnati Zoo, which is leading the effort with the Greater Cincinnati Environmental Educators. PLT is heading up the effort in Richmond and partnering with the Urban League in VA. Relationships with Professional Education Associations PLT is providing
professional development in EE at the next National Alliance for Black
School Educators annual meeting. For more information about these diversity related activities, contact EETAP. Also read � EETAP Cases Workshop: EE and Cultural Diversity� in this issue for another diversity-related activity. EETAP
Resources
& Opportunities In
order to assist states and communities who are building capacity for
environmental education and developing sustainable grassroots
organizations, NEEAP offers Resources and Opportunities.
In this section, you will find information and contacts geared
towards networking, partnering and funding opportunities, new initiatives,
and relevant Internet links and listserves. Here are three sample resources recently published or brought to our attention related to diversity and environmental education. NEEAP is developing a comprehensive listing of capacity building resources for the field including those related to diversity, and invite any suggestions you may have for this listing (neeap@uwsp.edu). Toolkit for Cross-Cultural Collaboration This web resource was created as a result of a study of collaboration styles of African American, Asian American, Native American, Hispanic American, and Anglo American communities. The Toolkit is designed to help administrators and community leaders become more culturally aware and therefore more effective at collaborating successfully. www.awesomelibrary.org/multiculturaltoolkit.html Culturing Environmental Education The latest issue (vol 7, #1) of the Canadian Journal of Environmental Education coins this new term which the editor claims, �although not perfect, speaks to the need for a paradigm shift in our approach; to a root and branch re-conceptualization of the relationship between issues of culture, environment and education...we wanted to investigate the potential for reframing environmental education around the the loosely defined notion of �culture��. This issue brings international perspectives to this challenge and can be ordered from the Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, Arts and Sciences Division, Yukon College, P.O. Box 2799, Whitehorse, Yukon, Y1A 5K4 ($25 Canadian including S&H). World Caf� World Caf� Conversations
are an intentional way to create a living network of conversation around
questions that matter. A Caf� Conversation is a creative process for
leading collaborative dialogue, sharing knowledge and creating
possibilities for action in groups of all sizes. For a facilitated
approach conducive to �Culturing EE� and �Cross-Cultural
Collaboration� visit World Caf� at www.theworldcafe.com/worldcafe.html Caf� Principles �
Create Hospitable Space
Finally, Capacity Building Described in a Nutshell!! Have you found yourself tongue-tied or talking all over the map when asked �what IS EE capacity building?� Have you been in the middle of preparing a presentation and needed a definition or example? The moment you�ve been waiting for is here! NEEAP and NAAEE staff finally took the proverbial �bull by the horns� and have provided the field with a 6-page information-packed Capacity Building feature in the fall 2002 issue of the EE Communicator. If you�re an NAAEE member, you�ll be receiving your copy in the mail in November...if not take yourself to www.naaee.org and download the EE Communicator for free (along with an NAAEE membership form-wink, wink). This feature brought to you by....you guessed it....EETAP with funding from the U.S. EPA.
Leadership
Clinic Design Workshop: Modeling the Process Taking �participant-driven� from a vague concept to a concrete way to do business was my biggest gain from this workshop. � Carolyn Watkins (Ohio) Five state teams (Arizona, California, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma) and one regional team (Columbia River Basin) came together in late September at the Lied Conference Center in Nebraska City, NE for the prototype workshop for planners of environmental education Leadership Clinics. The workshop itself was designed from the newly published handbook The Leadership Clinic Manual: Tools for Transforming Conference Design. Using the processes and tools from past national, regional and state Leadership Clinics, this prototype workshop provided each team with the opportunity to practice new agenda development skills and to craft plans for participant-driven events. Participants were all very pleased with the outcome of this workshop and urged NEEAP to offer future workshops. For more information contact Abby Ruskey at amruskey@earthlink.net. EETAP
States Discuss Diversity
By NEEAP StaffDuring a half-day meeting at the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) annual conference in Boston, MA this August, representatives from the eight states (AZ, CA, IL, MO, OH, OK, UT and WA) of the Environmental Education and Training Partnership�s (EETAP) States Program shared experiences from their first nine months of activity. EETAP States presentations reported involvement with professional EE certification programs, correlating EE materials to education standards, developing statewide networks of communication and diversity outreach. This last topic, diversity outreach, prompted questions and discussion regarding what is meant by diversity and how to best communicate with non-traditional audiences about environmental education. National partners from Project WET, Project Learning Tree, World Wildlife Fund, and National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education joined EETAP management to interact with EETAP State teams around various state initiatives. Hyder Houston, a diversity consultant with the National Environmental Education Advancement Project (NEEAP) helped facilitate that discussion and has also been working with four of the EETAP States to enhance their diversity outreach efforts. If you would like to learn more about the EETAP States Program see pages 4-5 of this issue, visit the NEEAP website at www.uwsp.edu/cnr/neeap or email us at neeap@uwsp.edu. To find out more about EETAP visit www.eetap.org. |
National
Environmental Education Advancement Project, Fall 2002