Interpretive Blog #2: Embracing Environmental Education: A Passionate Journey Toward Teaching and Sustainability
After much consideration of the variety of different environmental interpreter job opportunities to select from, I would choose to become an environmental educator. Since the young age of four years old, I have looked up to my mother and dreamed of filling her shoes of being an elementary school teacher, which is why I believe that being an educator of the environment would be a very interesting and providing opportunity. This job would entail a variety of smaller jobs and tasks within itself. Some may include formulating and delivering a wide variety of different educational programs, classes and outdoor learning opportunities surrounding the topic of nature and sustainability to large groups of students either in schools, summer camps, or community groups. I would aim to create videos and online content for the public to access if they are not able to physically attend but still wish to learn more about the natural world, and to offer training courses for those hoping to also become an environmental educator.
Last summer at my cottage. People who chose to do the online courses I would offer could learn from the comfort of a location including their cottage!
This job would provide me with the opportunity to educate others which I have always wanted to do at the same time as spending ample time focusing and taking care of nature- one of my favourite “locations”. This could take place at an outdoor education centre, community centre, or in school classrooms, depending on the members who have signed up. I can vividly remember our class visiting for class trips growing up, whether it was ziplining, tapping trees for sap, learning about how to make maple syrup, learning about different types of leaves and plants, but more importantly, steps we can take to save our planet and make it a more environmentally friendly place, cutting back on the harsh emissions that are speeding up global warming and climate change. A variety of skills would be required in order to thrive in this position. Some include excellent communication skills, a high level of knowledge about the environment or maybe even environmental science, initiative to create and present these classes, responsibility and organization to keep dates, names, topics and information orderly, creativity to cultivate and brainstorm the learning materials, problem-solving skills, teamwork or collaboration, and most importantly, a strong passion for the environment itself. It is crucial to ensure you select a profession that you are passionate about and enjoy doing as if you do not, it will make for a long lifetime of doing a job you despise and speaking from experience, it is harder to learn from someone who is not passionate and caring about the information they are teaching, as they do not truly care about what they are providing. I use my mother as an example every time- a school teacher who loves her job is passionate about it and has never complained. She finds ways to look forward to working by making her job interesting and fun for herself. She has a love for children and helping others as do I, which is why I hope to only be a portion of my mother when I am older. Since I am passionate about the environment and teaching others, I feel that being an environmental educator would be a profession I would thrive in. In this week’s unit, we learned about the different types of learners- auditory, visual, and tactile. I believe the environment and being within nature, where these courses would be offered, provides an opportunity for all kinds of learners. Auditory learners can listen to the breeze, the crunch of the leaves, and the sound of birds chirping. Visual learners could see all that nature has to offer while also following instructions that instructors would be offering, and lastly- tactile learners could learn by doing the activities themselves and seeing and experiencing all that is being done. We learned of the importance of considering who we are as an interpreter, who our audience is, and how we can make these experiences meaningful for all involved. While preparing the content for these courses, I would take all of these important factors into consideration.
My walk back home to my student house in Guelph, ON
