CHAPTER 8: Environmental Education

Ever since environmental education’s informal origins in the early twentieth century, the field has been plagued by what some scholars call a “continuing definitional dilemma” that shows few signs of resolution (Disinger, 1997, p. 29). One reason for the difficulty is that environmental education is, by nature, an interdisciplinary line of inquiry. As such, scholars tend to filter it through whatever “major” discipline in which they are personally grounded. A biologist with an interest in environmental education, for example, might prefer a definition that stresses the science of biophysical systems while a sociologist might stress the socio-cultural aspects of humanenvironment interaction. Where there is any sort of tentative consensus in the characterization of environmental education, it reflects elements of William Stapp’s 1969 definition. Stapp, a University of Michigan professor who is often nicknamed the Father of Environmental Education, defined environmental action in the following manner: “Environmental Education is aimed at producing a citizenry that is knowledgeable concerning the biophysical environment and its associated problems, aware of how to help solve these problems, and motivated to work towards their solution” (Stapp 1969, pp. 30–31). Significantly, Strap was one of the first to include an element of praxis in his characterization of environmental education.