Teacher's Toolbox: Connecting the Dots

KEY LEARNING STRATEGIES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION, CITIZENSHIP AND SUSTAINABILITY

Connecting the Dots focuses on learning strategies and the ways of organizing learning experiences; the “how to” of learning. These learning strategies involve students as engaged learners, learning within the context of their communities and addressing relevant, local issues.
The learning strategies advanced in this document are not new. They are common to environmental education and many other fields of educational research and practice. What is new is the means by which these strategies when used together, connect the many dots that are necessary to achieve an interconnected world view. These “dots” include:

  • Linking environmental, economic and social issues within subjects and across subjects
  • Linking students to each other, their home life, their schools, their environment and their community
  • Linking knowledge, skills, and perspectives through student engagement and action
  • Providing a meaningful context for the implementation of numeracy, literacy, character and other educational objectives.

The Dots

  1. Learning Locally
  2. Integrated Learning 
  3. Acting on Learning
  4. Real-World Connections
  5. Considering Alternative Perspectives 
  6. Inquiry