Understanding student learning in environmental education in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

This paper seeks to provide a perspective on environmental education in Aotearoa New Zealand. To contextualise this perspective, it illustrates how environmental, socio-cultural and political imperatives have shaped the development of environmental education in this land. These imperatives illuminate the natural history of the country, the connectedness within the worldviews of the indigenous Maori people, the pioneering views of some enlightened European settlers, and tensions between development and conservation. We connect this context with an overview of research in Aotearoa New Zealand into one aspect of environmental education - student learning in schools. Examples from recent research in this area are provided to show how these approaches are contributing to the Aotearoa New Zealand-ness of environmental education.