School education on Green Issues

[Richard]

Hi,

I'm a bit out of touch with schooling.

Are kids of any age getting specific education on green and ethical issues or are these subjects just thrown in for good measure within other subjects?

Thanks, Richard

[ChrisG]

It seems to be integrated with the rest of the curriculum, which to my mind is the best way - life is not made up of different compartments, it is all one. Some schools are better than others and primary schools seem more on the ball than secondary schools where the emphasis is on exams and tests and school league tables!

[Orfy]

Do they get taught morals and ethics? We didn't.
It was left to parents.

[Totally Scrambled]

According to our girls, green/eco issues are included within other subjects. The Sciences for the technical stuff and to an extent in biology animal welfare, Geography for the environmental effects. They mentioned even in Languages.
What we used to have as Religious Education, RE, is now RPE, Religion, Philosophy and Ethics.
Dom

[Richard]

Hi,

Interesting replies. My Grandkids sometimes come out with quite good knowledge on certain things (8yrs and 10yrs).
Maybe the Primary age group have a bit more string to play with on some subjects.

There's is a Catholic School, don't know if that makes any difference.

Odd really that you could study, learn well to get a Degree in say Marine Biology and hardly have a chance of getting a job, yet if there were a separate learning for Green Issues and Ethics, they may be able to find work more suited - if you catch my drift.

Richard

[saint-spoon]

I would like to think that green issues are more at the fore of modern thinking than they were when I was a child; they are most certainly more talked about in general. As for getting jobs in the green sector, not sure if teaching it at school would help; there are obviously lots of jobs out there with green in the title but the ones I looked at to do with the environment were more about being an inspector and knowing the law than having an understanding of the concepts behind being green.

What we used to have as Religious Education, RE, is now RPE, Religion, Philosophy and Ethics.
Dom

I like the sound of that Dom, I feel that only learning one religion in a religious studies class is a bit short sighted and it all ties in very nicely with philosophy.

[manda]

The school my son goes from primary through to just before they start senior school (12 years old) and is fairly small and semi-rural (though that would be rural by UK standards) - they progressively introduce eco / green issues across all the subjects where it impacts them and in more complexity as they progress through the school so that they develop an understanding of cause and effect as they progress.

In addition to the academic side of things the children are also involved hands on...each class has a worm farm at the door and each class has it's own raised bed where they grow their own veggies...they maintain them and they bring what they've grown home when they harvest....that is across the school too not just the little ones.

[Stig]

In terms of renewable energy, I fear kids are taught a load of politically motivated cobblers at school.

My company often host school trips to show kids about electricity. A few weeks back a colleague spent 20 minutes trying to persuade a heated young lad that wind turbines produce more energy during their life than is used in their manufacture. His view was based on what his teacher told him and, of course, is utter nonsense.

10 years ago, when I first started working in renewables, kids loved wind power & seemed really clued up about green issues in general. These days I reckon at least 50% are wind-anti. It's such a shame, I think we failed to ride the wave. Maybe it's economic hard times. Who knows?

They don't understand the difference between efficiency and load factor. They know about the problems of intermittancy (wind) but not about inflexible generation (nuclear). Some are aware of the comparative costs of various technologies but few appreciate the enormous difficulties (& cost) of harnassing wave and tidal energy. They are taught that nuclear is a renewable source, and the problem of dealing with nuclear waste is merely inconvenient.

[Mo]

Trouble is teachers may teach what they have learnt from their teachers who......
So the knowledge may be several generations out of date.
I think the cost/benefit of wind generation was more questionable 45 yrs ago (when I was just married and reading up about such things). But with demand comes efficiency.