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Promoting Learning for Sustainability: Principals' Perceptions of the Role of Outdoor and Environmental Education Centres

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2015

Roy Ballantyne  and
Jan Packer
Roy Ballantyne*
Affiliation:
University of Queensland
Jan Packer
Affiliation:
University of Queensland
*
†School of Tourism, University of Queensland, 11 Salisbury Road, Ipswich, QLD 4305, Australia. Email: r.ballantyne@uq.edu.au
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Abstract

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Outdoor and Environmental Education Centres provide programs that are designed to address a range of environmental education aims, and contribute broadly to student learning for sustainability. This paper examines the roles such Centres can play, and how they might contribute to the Australian Government's initiative in relation to sustainable schools. Interviews with the principals of 23 such Centres in Queensland revealed three roles or models under which they operate: the destination model; the expert/advisor model; and the partnership model. Principals' understandings of these roles are discussed and the factors that support or hinder their implementation are identified. It is concluded that while the provision of programs in the environment is still a vital role of outdoor and environmental education centres, these can also be seen as a point of entry to long-term partnerships with whole school communities.

Keywords

Learning for sustainabilityEnvironmental education centresEnvironmental partnershipsSustainable schoolsEnvironmental sustainability
Type
Research Article
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , 2006 , pp. 15 - 29
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006 

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