INSTITUTE OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING (IRDP) - DODOMA

MASTERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT (MEPM)

MODULE NAME: ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION

MODULE CODE: ESG 09214

NATURE: GROUP ASSIGNENT

LECTURER NAME: B. NAMWATA

PARTICIPANTS: DENNIS BEATUS

MSAFIRI W. MZINGA

QUESTION 2:
Write a proposal on how to integrate environmental education into formal education systems
of Tanzania
Contents
1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 4
2.0 PROPOSAL OF INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION INTO FORMAL EDUCATION
SYSTEMS OF TANZANIA .......................................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Environmental Education ..................................................................................................................... 5
2.2 Environmental education and the school curriculum ............................................................................. 5
2.3 Environmental education as an independent subject ............................................................................. 6
2.4 Integration of environmental education into other subjects ................................................................... 6
2.5 Organization of the curriculum around significant issues and problems ................................................ 7
2.6 Teaching and learning environmental education as an integrated component in subject content ............ 7
2.7 Pedagogical thinking guiding the teaching of environmental education................................................. 8
2.8 Methods for teaching environmental education..................................................................................... 8
2.9 Critical teaching in environmental education ........................................................................................ 9
2.10 Teachers' knowledge base in environmental education ....................................................................... 9
2.11 Subject matter knowledge, Pedagogical knowledge and knowledge of context ................................. 10
2.12 Coordination at different level of education ...................................................................................... 11
3.0 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................... 11
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................................ 11

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ABSRACT

This paper proposes the integration of environmental education into formal education system of
Tanzania. Environmental education is a central aspect of the process of change towards sustainable
development. It is time we realized that the environment is not just a factor in this game, but a game
in itself; a game in which we are all players and on which our future existence depends.
Environmental problems such as climate change jeopardize our prosperity and our economic
development. We all contribute to environmental problems and, as a result, we can only solve them
on the basis of cooperative action. Formal environmental education, like education for sustainable
development, is based on building awareness and identification with personal living environments. It
is therefore not merely the conveyance of knowledge, but a process of learning about the concept of
political action.
As a result, education policy, curricular, subjects, syllabus and contents should involve formal
environmental education. This paper will critically propose contemporary integration of
environmental education into formal education system of Tanzania.

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1.0 INTRODUCTION
Although the problem of formal environmental education is a worldwide phenomenon, it is more
pronounced in third world countries. In Tanzania formal environmental education is increasingly a
prominent problem part of primary, secondary and tertiary education. (UNESCO-PROAP 1996) The
problem of formal environmental education is experienced in education policy, curricular, subjects,
syllabus, contents, and environmental education trained experts.
In trying to deal with the problem of not integrating environmental education into formal education
system in Tanzania, Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) of Tanzania have
carried out various efforts to address the problem, but have not been successful. The problem
persists because authorities concerned with education have failed to build up approaches and
strategies that would help environmental education to be integrated into formal education system.
The initiative by the Tanzanian government to integrate environmental education into the school
curriculum is commendable. This is due to the fact that Tanzania’s economy is largely dependent on
the country’s environment and natural resources (URT, 2004). But natural and human-made
environmental issues and problems, like drought, floods, poor sanitation, lack of clean and safe
water, land degradation due to poor agricultural practices, unsustainable ways of harvesting natural
resources like mining, forests and fishing, environmental pollution, loss of biodiversity are
threatening the life support system of the environment (MoEVT, 2005; MoEVT, 2007; URT, 2004).
These problems are a result of various factors like population pressure, poor agricultural practices
and high rate of urbanization (Johnson-Pynn & Johnson, 2005; Sheridan, 2004; URT, 1997).
Therefore, education for awareness-raising and finding solutions for these issues and problems is
considered necessary. To effect this, the Environmental Management Act no. 20 (URT, 2004), spells
out explicitly that environmental education is a statutory requirement for bringing about sound
environmental and natural resources utilization in Tanzania. Also to attain quality life we need to
live in a healthy and well conserved environment

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2.0 PROPOSAL OF INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION INTO FORMAL
EDUCATION SYSTEMS OF TANZANIA
Formation education is classroom based education provided by the trained teacher. The integration
of environmental education into formal education system can be considered as a new innovation in
education. The introduction and application of new innovations in education require appropriate
design and implementation of teacher training programs and in conceptual changes (Rauch &
Steiner, 2005). In integrating environmental education into formal education systems the following
should be considered

2.1 Environmental Education

Environmental education as the key concept in this study is defined as education that helps
individuals to become more knowledgeable about their environment and to develop responsible
environmental behaviour and skills so that they can improve the quality of the environment
(UNESCO, 1978)
Scholars of the environment like Fien (1993), Gough (1992), Tilbury (1995), Palmer (1998) and
Palmer and Neal (1994) have suggested that, if environmental education is to be accepted as
meaningful education, it needs to include three dimensions, which are education about, in/through
and for the environment. This implies that environmental education has to assume the role of helping
the individual develop knowledge about his/her environment, which he/she can get through
interacting with the environment, and finally he/she can use the knowledge and skills to conserve or
take care of the environment.

2.2 Environmental education and the school curriculum

In environmental education, the curriculum can be referred to as the sum total of all the experiences
that learners undertake to help them develop environmental literacy, skills in solving problems,
decision making, and active participation in taking action towards the environment while taking into
consideration the ecological, political, economic aspects (Palmer, 1998). Reflection on the definition
reveals that it entails the aspects of planning for instruction which shows what learners need to know
in environmental education, how learners are to achieve the intended goals, what teachers need to do

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to help students develop the required knowledge, and the context in which teaching and learning
occurs.
In this section the focus will be on the components of environmental education in the curriculum and
the inclusion of environmental education in the school curriculum. Since the curriculum can in short
be seen as a plan for learning, the main curriculum components according to Akker (2003) are the
rationale, the aims and objectives to be achieved, the content, learning activities, the teachers’ role,
teaching and learning resources, time and assessment. This is just one way of looking at what
constitutes the curriculum.
Therefore we propose that in designing the curriculum for environmental education, holistic
approach should be used, meaning that it should be integrated through the whole school curriculum

2.3 Environmental education as an independent subject

One of the approaches of implementing environmental education in the school curriculum is to
include it as a separate subject. The single subject pattern of organizing the curriculum treats each
subject as a separate component of the curriculum (Jackson, 1992). This has been the traditional way
of organizing the curriculum in many countries, Tanzania included. When environmental education
is accorded the status of a subject, it will have its own syllabus, time allocated on the timetable and it
will be taught like other subjects e.g., English, science and geography. Although there have been
arguments against establishing environmental education as a separate subject but we propose that it
is possible to include environmental education as an independent subject in the school curriculum, so
as to integrate it into formal education system in Tanzania.

2.4 Integration of environmental education into other subjects

In this case we propose that environmental education should be included into the school curriculum
so as to integrate environmental content into all the school subjects as a cross-curricular issue. The
notion of integration here refers to the making of connections across disciplines. Through integrating
environmental education into existing subjects will help learners develop understanding, skills and
attitudes, which will enable them take an active and responsible role in the conservation of the
environment.

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2.5 Organization of the curriculum around significant issues and problems
This approach is a very powerful in the integration of environmental education into the school
curriculum (Flaws & Meredith, 2007). In this teachers and learners identify significant issues and
problems without taking into consideration the boundaries between subject areas. The core of the
unit is based on issues of concern rather than on topics, for instance issue like climate change,
pollution, and loss of biodiversity. Therefore the role of the teacher is to provide the students with
guidance and learning resources. The learners in groups follow a problem-solving process and reach
consensus on the issues to be investigated and the steps to be followed. This integrative approach
shows the close relationship of the metacurriculum with curriculum or subject content.
“Metacurriculum” is a term encompassing the skills to think, and learn independently and to solve
problems in contrast to top down teaching (Flaws & Meredith, 2007).

2.6 Teaching and learning environmental education as an integrated component in subject

content
In Tanzania, the approach which has been adopted to include environmental education into the
formal education systems is integrating it into other subjects because it is not offered as a discrete
subject (Mtaita, 2007; URT, 2004). Since environmental education content is not stated clearly in the
syllabi for different subjects, when it comes to the actual teaching in the classroom, teachers have to
search for environmental content from different sources like books, magazines, newspapers, and
other sources, and find relevant environmental education content to be included in the different
topics and individual lessons. For example, in the syllabus for science in the primary school
(MoEVT, 2005), on the topic about air, there is nothing mentioned about air pollution. But the
teacher is expected to integrate environmental education by linking the subject content with different
causes of air pollution, and the environmental impact of air pollution on the environment.
In order to attain proper teaching and learning environmental education as an integrated component
in subject content, there should be clear stated content with its objectives in the syllabi. In addition,
environmental education should go beyond the classroom into society, into our daily activities and
into nature. For example, if in the classroom the pupils learn about waste management, to integrate
what they learn with society, they can discuss the impact of poor waste management on the
environment then decide to carry out a clean-up activity of their school, the area around the school
and at home.

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2.7 Pedagogical thinking guiding the teaching of environmental education
Pedagogy is the art, science, or profession of teaching. The traditional approach to the teaching and
learning of environmental education focused on learning about the environment and environmental
problems. As a result teaching was mainly based on the transmission of factual knowledge. It was
assumed that when people got such knowledge, they would be able to take action in solving the
various problems in their environment and therefore change their behavior. Currently, there has been
a shift from the provision of knowledge about the environment and environmental issues to carrying
out investigations and taking action in the environment. Various models have been developed as
tools for environmental learning. Some of the models include one developed by Hungerford and
Volk (1990), which is based on traditional thinking which assumes that the behaviour of individuals
can be changed if they are made more knowledgeable about the environment and its associated
issues. It is assumed that the more knowledge one gets, the more aware of the environment one
becomes, hence more motivated to act towards the environment more responsibly.
In this case we suggests that if the pedagogical thinking guiding the teaching of environmental
education then the learners will become environmentally literate, develop concern for the
environment and will develop action competence.

2.8 Methods for teaching environmental education

It is argued that there are no standardized methods for the teaching of environmental education. But
for effective implementation of environmental education, appropriate teaching and learning methods
need to be used to address all the three components of environmental education (education about, in
and for the environment). The interdisciplinary nature of environmental education emphasizes
holistic and interdisciplinary teaching and learning. This can be done by engaging pupils in critical
inquiries into real issues of the environment, and development and in actions addressing those issues
(Stevenson, 2007).
The proposal here is that participatory teaching and learning method should be used by teachers at
all levels in teaching formal environmental education, which encourages critical thinking among
learners and encourages learners to take responsibility for their own learning. Pedagogical activities

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which engage learners help them develop higher order or critical thinking skills, which are needed in
analyzing environmental issues.

2.9 Critical teaching in environmental education

According to Dewey (1859–1952) and Kant (1724–1804) Research evidence has shown that
environmental education, and education for sustainable development, needs to adopt critical teaching
based on critical theory developed by because they are both concerned with individuals and the
society (Wolff, 2006). Critical teaching in this context refers to the kind of teaching where teachers
help learners to find alternative ways of solving problems and to look at issues from different
perspectives. Teachers therefore have to expose learners to contradictions, encourage them to ask
questions that would stimulate and extend learners’ thinking, and also to deconstruct and reconstruct
knowledge. Critical teaching creates an environment for critical thinking. It facilitates the
development of higher order thinking skills, which include interpretation, analysis, synthesis,
evaluation, making conclusions and self-regulation.
Therefore, we propose that critical teaching in formal environmental education should be done
effectively theoretically and practically as the same thinking of Mwalimu Nyerere, the first president
of Tanzania, when initiating education for self reliance in 1967, pointed out that education should
liberate individual learners in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes so as to make them able to
think for themselves and to make decisions concerning different issues in their lives (Nyerere,
1967a). Linking education for self-reliance with the lives of the people, he said that since agriculture
is the basis for our development, each school should have a farm as an integral part of the school
(Nyerere, 1967c). This could be considered as environmental education because pupils learnt good
agricultural practices.

2.10 Teachers' knowledge base in environmental education

The importance of teachers’ knowledge base in teaching cannot be underestimated. When
emphasizing the importance of teachers in the effective implementation of environmental education,
it is suggested that teachers have to be committed with a good knowledge base in environmental
education.
The proposal here is that in order for teachers to be able to implement formal environmental
education in schools they need to have a good knowledge base in environmental education. Always

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good teachers should possess the following characteristics; a good knowledge base, which consists
of knowledge, skills, understanding and disposition of collective responsibility and also should
possess means for representing and communicating the knowledge and skills to the learners.
Moreover the teaching of different subjects requires different pedagogical content knowledge
because different subjects have subject specific ways of teaching them. Teacher’s knowledge of
instructional strategies is another important component of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge.
The teacher has to have knowledge of strategies for the specific subject and also appropriate
strategies for the different topics in the subject. Each subject has specific teaching strategies and
even different topics in a subject can have specific teaching strategies. In environmental education,
some of the strategies include outdoor experiences, investigation, exploration, problem-solving,
simulations, inquiry, field excursions, and many others.

2.11 Subject matter knowledge, Pedagogical knowledge and knowledge of context

This is the teacher’s knowledge base which influences pedagogical content knowledge. Knowledge
that the teacher needs to have to be able to organize the concepts, facts principles and theories of a
given discipline, and also the knowledge of the rules of evidence and proof which are used to
generate and to justify knowledge claims in the discipline . This principle is evident in Tanzania,
where primary school teachers must have a minimum qualification of secondary school education,
while in secondary schools Diploma and degree level are required. Knowledge of context includes
knowledge about the community, school, the learners’ backgrounds, and the larger context like the
district and also of the physical environment.
It can be argued that the application and use of knowledge in the classroom is the most important
aspect of the work of the teacher. Therefore, pedagogical, subject matter and context knowledge is of
great importance because it blends content and pedagogy, hence distinguishes between teachers and
content specialists. It can be said that teachers’ pedagogical knowledge lies at the heart of teaching
because it represents the ways in which teachers merge the academic content with teaching methods,
organize instruction and bring all these elements together with the learners’ interests and abilities
(Shulman, 1987) to facilitate learning.

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2.12 Coordination at different level of education
There should be coordination at different levels of education in the national framework.
Coordination is a conscious and rational process of pulling together the different parts of an
organization and unifying them into a team to achieve predetermined goals in an effective manner.
(Gupta, 2006). For formal education system of Tanzania achievement coordination is inevitable in
all levels of education from primary to university levels. The coordination should involve all
stakeholders includes teachers, students and the community in general.

3.0 CONCLUSION
Integrating environmental education into the formal education system of Tanzania could make
learning more meaningful and relevant to learners; this is due to the fact that most of them will go
back into society after finishing different levels of education. The majority of them will engage in
various activities like farming, mining, business, forestry work and fishing, to mention just a few.
These activities may have an impact on the environment if not performed appropriately. Therefore, it
is important to ensure that environmental education is taught efficiently at all levels of education. Its
content needs to be integrated into the curriculum in a manner that teachers can understand it.
Also the way formal environmental education is implemented in schools and taught to the learners is
very important. As was noted in the study, most teachers admit that it is important to teach
environmental education in primary education. Therefore, teachers need to be trained and oriented
on how to implement the integrated curriculum into their teaching and sensitized to create
opportunities to meet and share ideas in teaching in general and on the teaching of formal
environmental education in particular. To overcome this, there is need to develop and disseminate
environmental education materials for schools, not only at primary level but for all levels of
education. Alternatively, there are environmental education books which were prepared by WWF
which can be reproduced and distributed to schools. Also teachers can be sensitized to develop a
culture of writing and write books that can be used in teaching environmental education. Finally, in
order to make sure that environmental education is taught efficiently in all levels of education, the
curriculum needs to be adjusted. It is important that the curriculum spells out clearly what and how
environmental education is to be taught in Schools and Colleges

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REFERENCES
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Ministry of Education and culture (MoEC). (2005). Muhtasari wa Sayansi kwa Shule za Msingi.
Dar-es- Salaam

Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) (2007). Environmental Education Strategy
for Schools and Colleges in Tanzania (2008 – 2012). Dar-es-Salaam.

Jackson, P. (1992). Conceptions of Curriculum and Curriculum Specialists. In P. Jackson, (Ed.).

Handbook of Research on Curriculum: A project of the American Research Association (pp. 3 – 40).
New York: Macmillan.

Nyerere, J. K., (1967a). Education for Self-Reliance. In J. K. Nyerere Freedom and Socialism.
Uhuru na Ujamaa. A selection from writings and speeches 1965-1967 pp. 267 – 290. Dar-es-
Salaam: Oxford University Press.

Johnson-Pynn, J. S & Johnson, L. R. (2005). Success and Challenges in East African Conservation
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Rauch, F., & Steiner, R. (2005). University course: education for Sustainable Development–
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Sheridan M. (2004). The Environmental Consequences of Independence and Socialism in North
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Stevenson, R. B. (2007). Schooling and environmental/sustainability education: from discourses of
policy and practice to discourses of professional learning. Environmental Education Research, 13
(2), 265 – 283.

URT, (2004). National Environmental Education and Communication Strategy (2005 –2009). Dar-
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