Environmental Education in a Climate of Reform

"India is grappling with serious environmental issues that have been largely sparked by its galloping economy. As a measure of its seriousness to reduce the environmental impacts it has spearheaded numerous policy initiatives. One of the major thrusts of the proposed initiatives to curb environmental degradation has been to create an informed and well-educated citizenry. The federal mandates have triggered new curriculum policies and the compulsory teaching of environmental and sustainability education at all levels in all education institutions. This volume examines the policy practice conundrum. It looks at how national and international policy reforms reach practitioners in this case teacher educators. Furthermore, it unravels how teacher educators understand environmental education, the ways in which they negotiate its demands on their busy schedules, what helps them in determining relevant issues within this and finally how they implement these policies in their everyday practices. It is evident from this book that while there have been some really well meaning development of policies, their impact on teacher educators practice, and therefore student teachers learning about Environmental Education is limited. The study showed that while these teacher educators had a clear understanding of the environment and saw the need/importance of incorporating Environmental Education in their daily practices they had very little scope to do so. There were numerous factors that constrained implementation. The book provides inputs on global policy practice gaps. It offers valuable insights to a global audience grappling with understanding the ways in which environmental education policies are put into practice in emerging economies like India. The final argument is thesis that while policy reforms are a step in the right direction they need to be backed up with strong implementation systems in order to be successful.".