The problem of will in environmental education and its implications for curriculum.

Abstract

This thesis explores the problem of will in environmental education through an examination of 11 key references, and it identifies some implications for curriculum by applying a framework of curriculum questions derived from Tyler and Kliebard. The research question is: "How is the will to act in environmentally responsible ways affected by the human relationship to nature?" The tendency in environmental education is to focus on how human beings can affect the human-nature relationship. This study explores the neglected area of how the human-nature relationship affects people, and, ultimately, their will to act in environmentally responsible ways. This research builds on earlier environmental education models of how to achieve responsible environmental behavior. The two earlier models which seem to represent the best of environmental education understanding of how to achieve responsible environmental behavior are the Behavior Flow Chart: Major and Minor Variables Involved in Environmental Citizenship Behavior, by Hungerford and Volk, and the Hines Model of Responsible Environmental Behavior, by Hines and colleagues. These two models are integrated into the Eco-Will Model, which summarizes the thesis argument, creating a Refined Eco-Will Model. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)