MODELLING PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOUR AT SCHOOL, will be conducted at all schools of Gokarna and Kumta.
Teachers are going to lead the way for raising awareness on this topic.
MODELLING PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOUR FROM/AT SCHOOL
Input – printed and audio-video material, training of the students
Output – Gokarna and Kumta students will become waste aware and empowered for pro-environmentally act on waste generated issues
Outcome – an important psycho-social alteration to drive the change in waste practices allowing the new system defined by the S&PWM Rules to come into place
Follow up is to be done by CRP, Eco-Clubs and KP
OPENING: WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT WASTE (what is waste)?
Why to care about waste and its prevention, management or mismanagement (burning, dumping, littering)?
What do we get if we care?
The presentation of the program, highlighting the need to raise effective tuition assistance for modelling new behavioural patterns, will convey teacher’s better grip to spread the understanding of environmental waste management implications, only capable to stimulate action on individual and collective levels.
- AIMS OF THE PROGRAM “Modelling pro-environmental behaviour at school”
The program is not restricted to students, as it aims to extend to their families and neighbourhood, producing the needed inclusive mindfulness for a behavioural change towards waste. And teachers will perform a key role in that modelling behaviour.
We will try to offer resources to increase awareness on waste issues, inspire waste-reducing behaviours and motivate participation in environmental outreach activities.
The modules will comprise directed workshops, distribution of educational sets, “field trips” for sharing knowledge with neighbours, fixing warns, or charts of good practices and other devices in the surrounding community, etc.
An active engagement will be triggered involving teachers, school workers and authorities for implementing the devised activities in the school and surrounding community through student’s leadership – as much as possible – aiming at to:
- create understanding on the importance of waste prevention & management
- educate, train and incite students to initiate individual and group strong steps towards waste prevention, management and recycling
- motivate students to perform ecologically sensible actions in their homes, school and community
- Create a network of strong young green citizens committed to preserve and improve the environment
At the end of the different modules, among other skills, students will be knowing:
- how to make waste audits (at school, at students & teachers home, at random surrounding homes)
- how to fix warning boards at their place
- how to organize awareness and anti-littering campaigns
- how to become waste supervisors/monitors/curators
- TYPES OF APPROACHES
1. Cognitive approach:
a) Work around locally used vocabulary for waste to identify its diverse perception
b) “recycle” local knowledge – create teams to “recycle” and elaborate old traditional knowledge of different communities (based on practices, concepts, stories, proverbs, dharmashastra, pancatantra, etc) around cleanliness and waste
- Cognitive/behavioural approach:
a) Tackle waste pollution from a pro-active positive angle, introducing hands-on means to improve the environmental conditions
b) Provide tools for students to become environmental stewards & models for a change in waste practices
c) Serve as model (always the best way to teach students) namely through good trashing, reusing and recycling practices – within & without the classroom
d) Explain factually the difference of disposed materials and their streams
e) Explore further
relation between waste and pollution (dosha, pradushan, malinya)
levels/types of pollution – physical, moral, karmic
karmic paradigm as an explanatory device for waste: “everything comes back to us”
- Emotional approach:
Display and distribute images of landfills with children working there, of sordid dumping corners, of children damaged by some waste, animals, etc.
Display movies of people and animals, of environment impacted by waste
Tell stories of dramatic impacts of waste
IMPORTANCE OF LAWS & REGULATIONS
Start by discussing the authority’s inaction paired with the litterers inaction
Then, identify and make a chart of:
- Streams of waste and colours of bins
- Responsibilities and their sharing
- Bad practices
- Good practices
WHAT IS EXPECTED FROM THE TEACHER?
- understand locally waste-environmental issues and their ethical concerns
- demonstrate a sense of personal responsibility toward others and environment
- model environmentally responsible actions
- foster clear awareness and concern about economic, social, political and ecological interdependence in what concerns waste knowledge and practices
- facilitate the creation of new patterns of behaviour on students towards waste-environmental threats.
- model appropriate behaviours (such as recycling, turning lights off, respecting living beings, etc)
- Provide, at the end of the program, extended waste literacy
Note: Teachers, students, peons, cooks, CRPs will all be assessed and students best performers will be further trained as stewards, auditors, advocates and pro-environmental activists.
SUGGESTIONS TO WORK OUT
For modelling behaviour
Very young children cannot grasp the concepts of limited natural resources or energy conservation; they can follow teachers or parents example and learn comportments that will reduce their environmental footprint and influence their decisions for years to come.
Teachers can model environmentally friendly waste prevention behaviour.
For example, a teacher may say to children, “I am going to use the other side of this paper because I don’t want to waste it. Paper is made from trees, and if we use less paper, we won’t have to buy much paper and then less trees will be cut down.”
It is important to deliberately use words such as “waste” “too much” and “not enough” to help children think about how much glue, paper, paint, soap, water, and food they need.
For involvement at a primary level
To develop affection and concern for the environment in children, ecology needs to be encouraged with emotions because mainly emotions can bring a change of attitudes. One of the best ways to induce them and instil ecological values is to tell stories and show images that impart pro-environmental feelings.
For involvement at a Secondary level
Assortment of traditional knowledge with modern science knowledge learned in school may be an accurate blend or a burden. In every situation, available varied knowledge sources shall be put into perspective to sustainably empower the understanding process itself.
The students will elaborate better their understanding if they put together traditional and scientific knowledge. Sometimes there is little interaction between them, sometimes there is a troubling amount of conflict between them. It is here that the teacher plays a key role because, being fine versed with both he can help disentangling them namely by the cognitive, behavioural and emotional approaches.