ROLE OF ECOLOGICAL-PEDAGOGIC EDUCATION IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF
SOCIETY
Baltabaeva
ZH.K., professor, Kazakh National
Pedagogical University named after Abai (Kazakhstan),
Nyyazbekova K.S.,
Kazakh National Pedagogical University named after Abai
PO Box:
050010, Almaty city, Dostyk Avenue, 13
The relevance of the
environmental training of teachers at the present stage of modernization of the
post-Soviet educational systems is due to the terms of their integration into
the world educational area oriented to the preservation of the productive
environment for the sustainable development of society, the need to implement
the systematic approach to the environmental professional teacher training,
improvement of ecological culture of teachers, who form a new ecological
consciousness of the younger generation. The international documents on the
environmental issues show deep concern of the world community about the
problems of the environmental education. The education as a sphere most closely
associated with the formation of the ecological culture of a personality, is
able to overcome the negative tendencies in the process of development of the
society. The key figure in this area has always been and remains a teacher – a
competent professional teacher who has the entire arsenal of the environmental
education, the creative personality able to implement the ecological
educational process and improving his/her professional knowledge and skills.
The purpose of the environmental training of teachers should be the promotion
of further development of the environmental competence of a teacher, his/her
ability to deal efficiently with professional challenges conditioned by the
implementation of strategic directions into the practice of the environmental
education of students. The environmental education should form new knowledge,
new morals and values of humanity that in its consumer interests went beyond
the capacity of the biosphere. The new generation of all the states should join
the global movement towards the sustainable development, which includes
targeted "building" of the future, the harmonization of the
socio-economic processes taking into account the interests both the present and
the future generations of the planet.
One of the main conditions for transition of the modern society
towards the sustainable development is the reforming of the current aims and
the content of education as a social institution. The environmental education
should acquire the status of the leading one as the social nature of the
environmental education is realization of the fact that no knowledge of a
person, the society and the nature of humanity can substitute the knowledge of
the environment. The mostserious environmental crisis hit our planet has made
the significant changes in the relationships between a man and the nature,
forced to rethink all the achievements of the world civilization. We should
take a closer approach to the problem of the ecological crisis and counteract
it through education. In this regard the current teachers must be prepared to
implement the ecological education to schools. The most important platform for
the formation of the environmentally correct attitudes of pupils to the nature
- is a process of education and training, during which they acquire valuable
public relations and actions. Formation of the students‘ positive attitude
towards the environment is a task-oriented process that requires the systemic
approach. Planning and organization of the socially benefit activities on the
environmental protection largely depends on teachers. Therefore, universities
are to prepare future teachers for implementation of the environmental
education of children, teach them to create favorable conditions for the
formation of ecological culture of students through cognitive, experience, creative,
practice and research, local historical, sports and recreational activities. To
form the respect for nature is able the teacher who is himself/herself
fascinated by the noble task of the environmental protection and has a strong
interest in environmental work. In this regard, a specially organized
ecological training of teachers, as a part of their vocational and educational
training, contributes to the important task – developing an environmental
culture of teachers themselves, forms their beliefs in need for conservation.
This is an important prerequisite for the realization of continuous
environmental education as one of the priorities of our society, because the
modern school now needs a universal teacher, who knows deeply both his/her
subject and the pedagogical consistent patterns of training of future owners of
their native land, carefully relating to nature and people. The educational
system has not an easy task: implementing a systematic approach to the
environmental training of teachers at all levels of continuing teacher
education. Only under this condition - if there are teachers prepared for the
environmental education of schoolchildren, we shall be able to educate
generations who have a spiritual core - a new environmental culture, new environmental
mentality, that is one of the most important aspects of formation of the
personality of a man of the XXI century. However, the substantive and
methodological components of the modern teacher education can not yet provide a
positive growth of the environmental awareness on a personal level, we need new
methodological, theoretical and didactic design principles and techniques of
environmental content of teacher training. Ecological training of teachers –
is a purposeful process of mastering the teachers‘ system of scientific and
professional knowledge and skills about the relationships between the society
and the nature, its protection and improvement with the aim of implementation
of the ecological education and upbringing of the younger generation, that is,
the successful environmental and educational activities. The essence of the
environmental training of teachers is to establish their willingness to solve
the most important problems of the environmental education of students. In
recent years, the environmental education has created the legal framework, for example,
the "Strategy 2030", "The Concept of the Environmental Education
in Kazakhstan" and a number of other policy instruments. For the effective
implementation of the state program on the environmental education we need to
form the foundations of ecological knowledge, the feelings of moral and legal
responsibility to protect the environment, awareness of the achievements of
science, knowledge of legal documents. In addition to the above mentioned we
must apply adequate forms and methods of teaching, in particular, lessons,
seminars, conferences, discussions, debates, quizzes, researches. The important
requirements for organization of the environmental education are the use of
only scientifically proven facts, the use of learning aids, motion pictures,
collections, observations of the phenomena of nature, the fauna and flora,
consideration of the age of students in planning of learning of the basics of
the environmental science, the availability of the presentation of concepts,
laws and terms, the ability to independently evaluate the environmental
situations; consideration of the local traditions, etc. Taking into account
that the environmental education – is a process aimed at the conscious development
of responsibility and concern for the environment and related issues, the
education in the sphere of the environment involves the mastery of ecological
knowledge, skills for individual and collective solutions of the current
problems and preventing of new ones. To fulfill this mission there is the
largest army – subject teachers and teacher-educators, well-trained in the
field of conservation, preservation of the favorable environment and ecology in
general. Thus, the environmental training of teachers is one of the most
important aspects of training in the field of the environmental protection, so
it is necessary: first, in the process of the environmental training of
teachers to give them all the necessary knowledge of the environmental factors
and the foundations of the relationships of society and nature; secondly,
developing the critical awareness of the environmental issues, allowing
teachers to bring up the sense of responsibility for the condition of the
environment; thirdly, the issues related to the environmental protection, would
be included in the program for training of teachers at universities and further
training courses; fourthly, due to the need of using modern engineering tools
(computerized training) and other methods, to include the most effective
teaching methods into the programs of teachers‘ training. The public environmental
education programs, developed at this stage, indicate the following aspects:
future teachers need knowledge about the environment; they need to quickly grasp
the essence of the methods of the environmental education, particularly those
that encourage students to determine the basic parameters of the environment
and to clarify its immediate value. The programs of the environmental education
should pay much attention to the practical exercises for testing and improving
the acquired skills. The programs also note that the acquired knowledge can not
be limited only by the natural sciences. All teachers need to know the basic
facts and law, information about the environmental problems and opportunities
to improve conditions of the environment. This knowledge should be based on
ecological and economic foundation. It becomes clear that the environmental
training of future teachers must be organized so that teachers themselves
develop sensitivity to the issues of ecology and environment, i.e. exactly what
they need to pass to their students. The requirements of today are that the
modern teacher – is not only a spiritually advanced, creative personality, who
has the capacity for reflection, skills, the educational gift, and craving for
innovations, but who is also the environmentally trained teacher, possessing
the technology of ecologization of education. Ideally, the modern teacher must
clearly understand the intrinsic value of the environmental education, be a man
of high ecological culture, know the psychological and pedagogical principles
of the formation of ecological outlook of students, skillfully use the
student-oriented teaching methods and have the motivation to further growth and
improvement of his/her environmental training. The professional teacher should
be able to organize students‘ activities on mastering the environmental subject
knowledge and skills to anticipate the results of this activity and correct
possible deviations. To achieve this result it is necessary to build a
systematic environmental training of teachers, creating favorable conditions
for the formation of him/her as an environmentally-trained teacher.
References
1. Nazarbayev N. A. The Address of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the people of Kazakhstan. The strategy – 2030. – Astana, 2000. – 24 p.
2. The program of actions. Agenda for the
twenty-first century, and other documents of the Conference in Rio de Janeiro
in popular presentation. – Geneva, 2003. – 83 p.
3. The concept of the lifelong pedagogic
learning of a teacher of the new formation of the Republic of Kazakhstan. –
Astana, 2005.