Author: Martha Dehnow

“We must build administrators’ capacity and understanding of environmental literacy in order to put teachers in positions to make the necessary changes to the education system.” 

Andra Yeghoian 

This week we spoke with Andra Yeghoian, the Environmental Literacy and Sustainability Coordinator at San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE), about creating impact and driving change from the classroom to the site, county, and state levels through environmental literacy. Our goal in speaking with Andra was to better understand her journey in advancing environmental literacy in California so that others may identify their own pathways to becoming Green Leaders.  

Andra got her start in environmental literacy and sustainability when she decided to pursue a teaching credential upon graduation. She was introduced to environmental sustainability through a close friend who presented the book Ishamael, which helps “explore the mental models that are driving our unsustainable behaviors.” This exposure developed into a passion for sustainability. She began imparting her knowledge and passion to her students while teaching in the Netherlands. While students engaged enthusiastically with environmental sustainability, Yeghoian faced resistance from both parents and administration at the school. This inspired her to pursue an MBA to enhance her business acumen to “sell” her vision more effectively to adult stakeholders. She got the opportunity to do just that as Director of Sustainability at Bishop O’Dowd High School, a private Catholic school in Oakland, CA. After working at the classroom and site levels she then took her experience to the county level, where she is now, at SMCOE overseeing a broad environmental literacy and sustainability initiative that impacts 23 school districts, over 110,000 students, and heading state-wide initiatives. 

Andra believes that environmental literacy is an important component of K-12 education because of its ties to our cultural experience, “The education system is fundamental to our cultural narrative, so if we want to make a paradigm shift happen, to move from the status quo to sustainable lifestyles, we have to make sure the education system is on board.” She would love for schools to be models for sustainability that students can grow and learn with and for them to implement these practices in their daily lives outside of school. Kids who grow up learning about sustainability and experiencing sustainable behaviors and practices at school are more inclined to continue the work and question the practices around them when they move into college and career. 

For environmental education to improve across both county and state levels, we need more green leaders to champion the cause. A green leader can be described as someone who demonstrates awareness and knowledge of the interconnectedness between natural and human systems, as well as the environmental and social issues that exist within these systems. They identify solutions to environmental challenges and use their skills and tools to resolve issues within their communities. Green leaders look at the big picture, enhancing the awareness and knowledge of others. 

When we objectively examine the current state of environmental literacy and sustainability in the formal K-12 sector, we must acknowledge that there are areas for improvement. Higher education has tripled down on sustainability. The corporate world is prioritizing sustainability and demanding an environmentally literate workforce with skills to address 21^st-century challenges. Educators in K-12 need to look at how what they are teaching prepares students for higher ed and a career after high school. Many already overwhelmed teachers feel like environmental education is just one more thing to worry about. However, instead of being one more thing, Andra advocates for sustainability to become a platform that everything else connects to. This interdisciplinary approach is, “a hard mental model shift for educators.” 

Having a scalable foundation is imperative for aspiring green leaders, as can be seen in Andra’s shift from a private school serving roughly 1200 students, to the county level, serving more than 110,000 students. A green leader in her own right, Andra uses some of the same models she used at Bishop O’Dowd such as the Whole School Sustainability Integration Framework to scale across San Mateo County. Andra emphasizes her “4Cs” integration model, where “the idea of work happens across campus, curriculum, community, and culture.” Many of the initiatives she implemented at one school, she has now scaled to work in over 150 schools.  

One of the ways that schools are changing in a way that complements life beyond K-12, is through the creation of Green Campuses. A green campus is one that has a balanced ecological footprint, is climate-resilient, and inclusive. A campus that is carbon neutral and creates natural habitats to restore the footprint: catching and reusing rainwater, improving indoor air quality through natural ventilation. One that is climate-resilient: making sure schools can accommodate storms, wildfires, etc. An inclusive space: making sure everyone is comfortable and seen, and has gender-inclusive facilities. All of these aspects are “lumped into the green campus idea.” Green leaders can begin to implement these ideas by taking a look at the framework Andra has created and working with educational leaders to make sure the efforts are supported for long-term success.  

“The field of environmental education is not challenged with a dearth of ideas; it’s challenged by a capacity to deliver.”  

Judy Braus, Executive Director of NAAEE 

Making sure stakeholders have the capacity to deliver at scale is one of the first things Andra learned throughout her endeavors. Because of this she continues to develop and launch capacity building programs aimed at teachers and students: 

• – The Sustainable and Climate Resilient Teacher Fellowship is focused on integrating environmental sustainability into its curriculum through project-based learning. This is the 6^th  year of the program and the cohort recently shared its success in its case studies and capstone presentations.  

• – The Youth Climate Ambassadors Leadership Program brings 9-11th grade students from across San Mateo County together, to empower youth to take climate action into their own hands. Through the program, students develop projects designed to drive change within San Mateo County and gain a diverse set of skills related to sustainability and climate action. 

In order to better support these student and teacher leaders to drive transformative change, administrators also need capacity-building and tools for environmental literacy and sustainability. Andra notes that “We always talk about professional development for teachers and educators, but administrators are the ones pulling the strings, and they need the capacity and understanding in order to put educators in the position to make the necessary changes in our schools!” This is why Andra has also launched an Administrator Fellowship Program focused around the intersection of green facilities and curriculum and instruction.  

Having first-hand experience working at the county-level, Andra sees how County Offices of Education can be field catalysts for change within their communities. They offer the support and capacity-building tools needed for change in both the school and district levels. By bringing the Whole School Sustainability Integration Framework to San Mateo County, Andra has helped catalyze institutional change that impacts the entire school; making schools and campuses “a laboratory of learning for a sustainable paradigm shift.” 

As a green leader, Andra has taken what she has learned in the past decade’s success and failure to build out a model in San Mateo County that is sustainable and scalable for all counties. “I feel so lucky to have been able to stand on the shoulders of all those who have come before me. I am so lucky to have learned from so many people,” expressed Andra. She credits her success and ability to challenge environmental education to the support and previous foundations of other green leaders who came before her, and to the risk-taking of the Principals and Superintendents she has worked under that had the bold visionary leadership to bring on a director/coordinator focused around sustainability. Mentoring and working with others in the field of environmental education is imperative for change. Green leaders should continue to take action within their communities and look to others who have championed the way for a more sustainable and comprehensive structure for environmental education.  

Relevant Links 

Bishop O’Dowd Commitment to Sustainability  

Awarded the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School and a Bay Area Green Certified Business in 2016 under Andra’s leadership. Learn more about Bishop O’Dowd’s sustainable work on campus in energy, water, transportation, waste, food and dining, air quality, and construction and renovations. 

ELSI Environmental Justice Resources  

Developed by SMCOE Environmental Literacy Initiative, this repository contains environmental justice resources for teachers and students to customize and adapt to their classrooms. 

Institute for Humane Education

The Institute for Humane Education helps educators teach about human rights, environmental preservation, and animal protection to create a world where all can thrive.

National COVID-19 Outdoor Learning Initiative  

Hosted on the Green Schoolyards website, you’ll find the National COVID-19 Learning Initiative’s ever-growing body of work. SMCOE is one of the leaders driving this project. 

One Planet Living Framework  

Based on learning from the BedZED eco-village, Bioregional created the One Planet Living sustainability framework – comprising ten simple principles and detailed goals and guidance – and developed it together with WWF. 

SMCOE Environmental Literacy and Sustainability Initiative  

Explore Andra’s site for the San Mateo County Office of Education. You’ll find a seemingly endless amount of useful resources and information on the work SMCOE is doing. These paid fellowships build teacher and administrative capacity for driving sustainable and climate-resilient transformative change in their classroom and school communities.

Sustainable and Climate Resilient Schools Educator Fellowships 

These paid fellowships build teacher and administrative capacity for driving sustainable and climate resilient transformative change in their classroom and school communities.

Ten Strands 

Ten Strands is the leading field catalyst in the state of California and key partner of SMCOE Environmental Literacy and Sustainability Initiative.  

The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) sees itself as the backbone and champion of the environmental education field. It is a nationwide field catalyst that empowers community-based partners and educators in both the formal and non-formal sectors through its strong system of networks. 

This week we spoke with Judy Braus, Executive Director of the NAAEE, and has experience working to strengthen networks and build support to advance environmental education and conservation.

Green Guardians asked Judy about the state of environmental education in the US today and her response was one of both alarm and optimism. At the core of the issues, Judy states that environmental education is not as supported as it should be, and is severely under-funded. She points to the lack of a comprehensive national plan and the decentralized nature of the US as being one of the key hindrances to progress in the field.  

Judy is also concerned about the lack of civic education and the importance of helping people understand their roles and responsibilities with being part of a democracy. “Civic engagement is a core outcome of environmental education—and we need to help people gain the knowledge and skills to be an engaged and informed citizen and work individually and collectively to strengthen our communities. At the same time, she’s hopeful, “This is the most environmentally literate citizenry we’ve ever had. For example, most people know and care about climate change and so many other environmental threats.”  

Judy highlights some of the necessary components to build a strong environmental education ecosystem to be funding, policies, professional development, high-quality interdisciplinary curriculum, evaluation and metrics, equitable access to the outdoors, a focus on equity and inclusion in the field, and society-wide buy-in. Judy sees strong networks as the glue holding this ecosystem together and a bridge between state and local actors.  

NAAEE is a network of networks. Its goal is to advance environmental literacy and civic engagement to create a more equitable and sustainable future for everyone. In Judy’s words, “we are all about partnerships and building a more inclusive movement!” Building partnerships and creating a network of engaged and diverse stakeholders across sectors has been at the forefront of Judy’s work with NAAEE.

Through its Affiliate Network, NAAEE works with its partners to advocate at the state and local level to get funding, write proposals, apply for grants, and engage in fundraising with foundations and other philanthropic organizations. The Affiliate Network also works with individual states, provinces, and regions to develop and implement environmental literacy plans and strengthen environmental education in formal and non-formal settings. While Judy believes we need a more coherent national approach towards environmental education, she also acknowledges that some of the best education happens at the local level where relevant issues can be identified and properly addressed. And all our efforts, she says, need to be informed from effective practice around the world.

She believes that the interplay between the non-formal and formal sectors is crucial. Judy explains that “Schools are not isolated units in society. We have to look cross-sectoral and understand that we need to think about education throughout society, including early childhood, K-12, higher education, and all the places the people learn outside of our formal system. Judy points out that educators need more training on how to facilitate learning and work with others to support interdisciplinary instruction and community engagement. “Interdisciplinary education is the way the world works. The world is not segmented into disciplines. To solve the most pressing environmental issues of our day, we have to educate young people through an interdisciplinary approach, and this is what environmental education has been doing for years.” 

Through eePro, NAAEE’s online learning hub, educators can access resources, discussion groups, a research database, and more. In addition, more than a dozen states offer certification programs through its Affiliate Network and NAAEE accredits these programs to ensure that they meet the Guidelines for Excellence. In addition, NAAEE has worked with its partners to engage educators around the world in professional development initiatives, from webinars to workshops, and has focused on an experiential and interdisciplinary approach that reaches both the formal and non-formal sectors. 

Through the leadership of NAAEE’s team and partners and a number of innovative initiatives, the organization is working to bring together individuals and organizations from across disciplines to advance environmental education in all sectors. “The field of environmental education is not challenged with a dearth of ideas; it’s challenged by a capacity to deliver,” Judy states. Funding remains a critical barrier to advancement in the field. By drawing resources from the corporate and philanthropic worlds, advocating at all levels of government, and increasing its networks’ capacity to be heard and take action, NAAEE is making great strides. 

“We’re are thankful that there are so many incredible people and organizations and agencies in the environmental education and civic engagement fields. Our board is amazing, our staff is amazing, and our networks keep us all engaged and inspired!”

Judy Braus

Few other field catalysts are doing as much as NAAEE. You can find out more about them and see whether joining one of their networks can help advance your mission here. 

Relevant Links 

Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE)

The ACE Framework is a set of recommendations and tools to accelerate climate action and advance people-centered climate policies through increasing public awareness, building local capability, enhancing information sharing, encouraging innovation and beneficial behavioral norms, and promoting ongoing engagement. The objective of this framework is to guide the completion of a national strategic plan in time for delivery at the 26th UNFCCC Conference of the Parties in November 2021.

Disneynature

Disneynature has educational materials for curriculum, lesson plans, and fun activities that continue the viewing experience for families and students grades 2-6 while inspiring a desire to protect the planet through connections to nature. 

Ee360

An initiative led by NAAEE through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. EPA and seven partner organizations to support a nationwide effort to strengthen the field of environmental education and support professional development. 

Environmental Education in the Schools: Creating a Program that Works!

The 1993 publication by Judy Braus and David Wood from the U.S. Peace Corps on developing and implementing an environmental education program by helping practitioners identify goals and objectives for environmental education activities and curriculum and to develop formal and informal techniques to evaluate success. 

Global Environmental Education Partnership (GEEP)

GEEP’s mission is to create a vibrant and inclusive learning network designed to strengthen environmental education globally to create a more sustainable future for all. Its goal is a world where environmental and social responsibility drives individual, community, and institutional choices.

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

This site includes a list of resources, including resources developed by NAAEE, designed to help educators and learners of all ages center equity in their work in the field of environmental education.

National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI)

NNOCCI is a network of individuals and organizations in informal education, the social sciences, and climate sciences. We are currently working in 184 institutions in 38 states. 

Natural Start Alliance

The Natural Start Alliance is a network of people and organizations that believe that all young children need frequent opportunities to experience, learn from, and care for nature and the environment through high-quality education. The Alliance, a project of the North American Association for Environmental Education, serves as a backbone organization to focus and amplify the collective impact of the people and organizations that share this common vision.

Professional Development of Environmental Educators: Guidelines for Excellence

The National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education, initiated by NAAEE in 1994, has developed a series of guidelines that set the standards for high-quality environmental education. 

Project Learning Tree

Project Learning Tree is an award-winning environmental education program designed for teachers and other educators, parents, and community leaders working with youth from preschool through grade 12. 

In Erin Brockovich, Julia Roberts portrays a real-life activist who fights a legal battle against a utility on groundwater contamination in Hinkley, in the Mojave Desert. The movie brings alive a classic environmental justice problem: a powerful company contaminates the eco-resources of an underprivileged community that has little capacity to fight back.

Craig Strang, Associate Director of the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley, is one of the leaders of the environmental literacy movement in California. In 1985, he founded the award-winning Marine Activities, Resource & Education Program, and since 2002 he has co-led the nationwide Ocean Literacy Campaign. Craig was also the co-chair of the task force that wrote California’s Blueprint for Environmental Literacy, and since 2016 he has been the co-chair of the California Environmental Literacy Initiative—the public-private partnership that is implementing the ideas in the state’s Blueprint.

Craig wants to make sure that we place environmental justice at the heart of the emerging discipline of environmental literacy.

One objective is that all learners acquire a palpable understanding that environmental degradation typically also incubates a problem of social justice. Whether we consider the location of polluting industries, or the marketing of unhealthy foods, or the ravages of fires and floods, the fallout disproportionately impacts historically marginalized groups, particularly people of color and people from low-income families.

Another objective for Craig is that environmental literacy is rolled out across California and nationally in an equitable manner.

One dimension of this equity goal relates to access. In California and other leading states, environmental literacy is being developed as a multi-disciplinary, project-based learning domain, ideally linked to programs offered by a wide range of community-based partners. Craig notes: “Access includes making sure that underserved schools have access to teaching and curricular resources and subsidies that cover the cost of school projects, enrolling in community programs, and materials and transport.”

The second dimension of this equity goal relates to design. Craig observes that environmental literacy programs and projects are typically designed for a white, English-speaking, and middle-class audience, and then shoehorned to serve more marginalized groups. This approach is particularly inappropriate for environmental literacy, which is centered around addressing local challenges in ways both practical and academic.

To remedy this failure, Craig promotes design at the margins. He notes how California pioneered curb ramps in the 1970s that replaced curbs with perpendicular edges. Initially, people in wheelchairs in Berkeley started a protest to bring this about, but it turned out that curb ramps also helped deliverymen with trolleys, parents with strollers, people using canes and joggers. Craig observes: “The lesson is that when you design at the margins you can often address the needs of marginal populations while also serving the mainstream.”

To design at the margins, he suggests, we need to identify marginalized communities and work with their representatives to design locally relevant environmental literacy programs and projects.

For example, the East Bay Academy for Young Scientists, a Lawrence Hall of Science initiative, works with teachers and students in low-income communities in the Bay Area to develop critical thinking skills through scientific research and exploration. Students from these communities have researched and presented to city councils the data on air pollution and toxins in their neighborhoods.

Another challenge Craig has highlighted is that people often regard underfunded school districts as being populated by low-achieving students. “The solution is perceived as hiring more basic literacy coaches, not inspiring students to exercise higher-order skills involving research, analysis, presentation, and advocacy. But engaging students to address the environmental problems and opportunities in their neighborhoods helps students develop higher-order skills.”

The pandemic has fostered a dramatic rise in the appreciation of outdoor activities for students. But opportunities to develop outdoor school spaces are very limited in inner-city schools. Early-mover school districts are beginning to address this discrepancy. San Francisco USD has approved funding for the development of outdoor learning spaces in 25 underserved schools and Berkeley USD has funded such spaces in 4 elementary schools. Craig’s team at the Hall are founding partners of the recently launched National COVID-19 Outdoor Learning Initiative. This new initiative is creating resources that support district and school leaders in using the outdoors for learning during the pandemic and beyond.

Community-based partners involved in outdoor learning activities across the country have also been devastated by the pandemic through funding and job losses. Craig fears that many such organizations may disappear: “Years of efforts to increase access to the benefits of learning and thriving in the outdoors could be undone, even if environmental and outdoor science education programs manage to reopen. Resource-strapped organizations tell us they will need to forego initiatives to promote equitable and inclusive workplaces, and even perhaps to halt subsidized programming, scholarships, fee waivers, transportation grants, and community partnerships in favor of paying customers, which could lead, once again, to the exclusion of low-income students and students of color. There are things we can do now to prevent that.”

Despite the challenges, that have intensified during the pandemic, Craig is confident about the future: “Our task is to bring together partners with different expertise – local educators, curriculum designers, community-based partners, and even utilities and others that don’t self-identify as “environmental organizations” – establish environmental justice and literacy as shared values and unlock some funding. Wonderful things can happen when you make such connections.”

Relevant Links

California Environmental Literacy Initiative: Thinking through Environmental Justice in K-12 Education

A 2020 publication of the California History-Social Science Project, the California Global Education Project, the California Science Project, and the California Subject Matter Project that explores issues and opportunities to address environmental justice through professional learning for K-12 educators in California.

Racial Equity in Outdoor Science and Environmental Education

A note on practices to address racial equity in outdoor science and environmental education during the pandemic and beyond.

A Field at Risk: The Impact of COVID-19 on Environmental and Outdoor Science Education

In April 2020, the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley, conducted a survey to learn about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environmental and outdoor science education field nationwide. This policy brief describes the findings of the survey and makes recommendations for mitigating the potentially devastating threats facing this field.

Examining equitable and inclusive work environments in environmental education: Perspectives from the field and implications for organizations

An examination of equitable and inclusive work environments in environmental education with perspectives from the field and analysis of implications for organizations.

Connecting Environmental Justice and Environmental Literacy to Education

A report by Ten Strands on a workshop held in 2020 on linking environmental justice and environmental literacy.

School’s Out(side): Can California teach an understanding of the natural world to every K-12 schoolkid in the state?

 A 2019 Bay Nature Magazine report on scaling environmental literacy to all K-12 students in California.

The Environmental Justice Movement

A 2016 overview by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) on the environmental justice movement in the United States.

Social Justice Resources for Sustainability-Minded Educators

A selection of social justice resources compiled by Green Schools National Network that educators can apply to their sustainability curriculum, as well as their teaching practice.