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Working in the South Valley:
Assessing Environmental Impacts

Judy Stewart Vidal

 The Academic Setting

Rio Grande High School: A School on Probation

Our school is a "failing school." Because of its high drop-out rate, poor attendance and low test scores, it is currently on probationary status. In an attempt to address these problems, a redesign effort was initiated two years ago. The first part of this redesign effort targeted freshmen, the class which suffers from the highest drop-out rate. The effort involved the creation of a 9th grade academy and of "casas" for the entire freshman class. In order to be in the Academy freshmen must apply, maintain a 2.5 average, participate in either sports or a club, and must fulfill a certain amount of community service. They share a team of teachers who monitor them closely and have extra preparation time to develop thematic units. All other freshmen are in "casas": families of students share the same teachers in certain core subjects and teachers have extra common planning time to develop thematic units and monitor students.

The second part of the redesign effort targets juniors who are the second most vulnerable class. This involves the creation of "Guilds" - career pathways on which juniors would select to focus. This last school year (2000-2001) I was assigned the responsibility of coordinating the preparation of the school's first Guild, "The Environment and Technology in the Community Guild" which will be implemented this coming school year. In the years to come other Guilds, as yet undefined, will be created.

Throughout this past year I worked with a self-selected team of ten teachers, developing the nuts and bolts of the program. We fleshed out our ends, means, assessments and norms while meeting our districts standards and benchmarks. Furthermore, the four teachers who will be teaching the Guild courses next year have been meeting separately to develop the interdisciplinary thematic units and align their course outlines. As part of their preparation for next year, several of these Guild teachers, myself included, participated in ATI's 2001 seminar, "The South Valley, the Environment and Future Development," for which this paper is intended.

The original concept for the Environment and Technology in the Community Guild originated four years ago with a teacher who shared it with several of us. Together we developed the concept and each implemented parts of it into our curriculum. The concept ultimately matured into the present Guild.

The Environment and Technology in the Community Guild

The mission of the RGHS Environment and Technology in the Community Guild is to provide students with the educational background to meet the environmental and technological challenges of the 21st century in their community and beyond. Students will participate in a practical in-depth curriculum that prepares them for leadership roles in the community, in business and in academia, where stewardship of the environment has a critical focus.

The "environment" is understood as the ecological, social, cultural and political aspects of the community. "Technology" is understood in a broad sense. The environment and technology are increasingly interdependent. Our technological society - construction, hydrology, power generation, transportation, communication, agriculture, genetic engineering, health care, etc - shapes our environment. The "community" is comprised of the people living within the boundaries of Rio Grande High School and the surrounding areas that impact the students' lives.

Dealing with their environment, and the environmental impacts of technology, will perhaps be the single most critical challenge our children will face in the course of their lives. In order to prepare our students to meet this challenge as successfully as possible, we have created this career pathway.

Students will acquire knowledge and skills in a small learning community environment by posing questions and attempting to solve problems which they have identified as critical to their community. The community will be their textbook, the point of departure from which all questions will be asked and to which all material will be related so that the curriculum has relevance for the student.

This year's inaugural class of juniors will pursue their studies in the Guild as seniors in 2002-2003, and are expected to graduate with an endorsement on their diplomas certifying their qualifications in the field of environmental studies. The science class which they will take as juniors is an AP environmental science class for which they will receive credit at TVI, our local community college, which offers an associate degree in Environmental Technology.

This coming school year, 30 students will study with four teachers to fulfill three credits required for graduation: English 11, American history and science, and one elective credit - (school-to-work). Students will move as a group from one teacher to the next, from 3rd period through 6th. Teachers will have 2nd period as a common preparation period and have committed themselves to meeting together twice a week.

Class for Which the Unit is Defined

This unit is designed for the 11th grade school-to-work component of the Guild program. The class is 50 minutes long and scheduled for two semesters every day during 6th period, the last period of the day. When students are engaged in their work experience they will be dismissed at the end of 5th period so that they can report to their work site. The course is divided into three parts : the pre- work, the work experience itself, the post-work. This unit is basically the outline of the entire course, with an emphasis on the pre and post-work component of the course.

Goals and Objectives of the Unit/Course

The goals of this course are threefold :
1.To prepare students for the world of work
2. For students to make a contribution to their community
3. For students to frame their work experience in environmental and technological terms, to assess the environmental impact of their work activity

The objectives of the first goal are:

Students will:

The objectives of the second goal are:

Students will:

The objectives of the third goal are:

Students will:

NarrativeGo to top of page.

Rationale for the Unit

Our society is infused with cynicism. Citizens don't vote; what difference does a vote make? After all, politicians are all corrupt. No? Individuals are increasingly isolated from each other. What a paradox! We have the illusion of togetherness: you can pick up the phone, get on e-mail, surf the web, listen to the news, watch the National Geographic and instantly communicate with others and access a wealth of information. People are also made to feel incompetent, less than worthy, somehow lacking: how many of us are ever going to be picture perfect slim? How are we ever going to afford to purchase all those goods which advertisements convince us we need?

Young people are particularly vulnerable to this culture of disempowerment which is threatening our democracy. Students in low- performing schools and low-income neighborhoods are especially at risk of learned helplessness. They need to feel, know and experience that they can make a difference, that they can be empowered, that they are capable and worthy of a meaningful contribution to their community and to society.

This school-to-work class will give students the opportunity to make a difference in their own community which is traditionally lower-income, minority and disenfranchised. By preparing students for a successful and productive work experience in their community, students will become aware of their abilities and effectiveness. Furthermore, in the context of a school which does not benefit from a lot of community involvement and support, as the students contribute tangibly and productively to the life of their community and invigorate it with their energy, hopefully the community will be inclined to reciprocate and participate in the school. A healthy, dynamic exchange between school and community will potentially be promoted.

How aware are people of the environmental impacts of their lives? We impact our environment in our homes, when we travel, when we work. Most people don't take the time or don't have the education to be aware of and, even less, measure the consequences of their lifestyles and work. And yet, awareness is the first step. In this class students will not only gain a meaningful work experience, they will engage in an environmental assessment of their work. Furthermore, they will develop a sense of alternative visions of how life and work can be conducted. Finally, they will be provided with role models who successfully effectuated change. Empowerment comes from doing and contributing effectively, but it can also come from the inspiration of role models. As much as possible students will have the opportunity to work with, shadow, and communicate with local role models individuals who have contributed to the well-being of the South Valley and its environment. Furthermore, students will engage in a research project and presentation of a national or international environmental hero. Students will be given the choice among a number of such heroes.

Considering the mission of the Guild which is to prepare students to be informed citizens equipped with the skills necessary to be stewards of the environment, this class will integrate the concepts students learn in their other three Guild classes and apply them to a work setting.

The philosophy and pedagogy underlining this course are based on four educational movements: School-to-Work, Environmental Education, Service Learning and Experiential Education. The first three have been formulated in legal terms, both nationally and internationally.

Subject Background

Environmental Education Movement

According to Environmental Education at a Glance, Environmental Education , as an education movement, seeks to "increase awareness and knowledge about environmental issues and to provide the public with the skills necessary to make informed decisions and the motivation to take responsible actions." Furthermore it "enhances critical-thinking, problem solving and decision-making skills and does not advocate a particular viewpoint or course of action." (5).

Environmental education was born in the 1960's in response to our growing awareness of environmental problems. It is rooted in three important education movements: nature study, conservation education and outdoor education. A series of laws institutionalized and funded the movement. In 1970, the first National Environmental Education Act was signed into law by President Nixon. In 1990, President Bush signed the new National Environmental Education Act.

At an international level, the Belgrade Charter was adopted by the United Nations conference in 1976, and provides a widely accepted goal statement for environmental education:

The goal of environmental education is to develop a world population that is aware of, and concerned about, the environment and its associated problems, and which has the knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivations. and commitment to work individually and collectively toward solutions of current problems and the prevention of new ones (N.A. Association for Environmental Ed. 1,2)

In 1978, the world's first intergovernmental conference on environmental education adopted the Tbilisi Declaration which built on the Belgrade Charter and specified that the first objective of environmental education is "to foster clear awareness of, and concern about, economic, social, political and ecological interdependence in urban and rural areas." (2).

Some of the important underpinnings of environmental education are: systems, interdependence, the importance of where one lives, integration and infusion, roots in the real world, and lifelong learning. Several general principles guide environmental education instruction: the learner is an active participant and the student's interests guide instruction, independent thinking and effective, responsible action are promoted, there is a strong emphasis on communication skills; and multiple opportunities for exploring students' environment are offered.

The North American Association for Environmental Education is a network of professionals and students working in the field of environmental education throughout North America and in over 50 countries. For more than 25 years the Association has promoted environmental education and supported the work of environmental educators through a variety of programs and activities : conferences, publications, trainings. It has namely published guidelines for environmental education: Excellence in Environmental Education - Guidelines for Learning (K-12) which we are using in our Guild to assure students meet standards.

School-to-Work Movement in Education

In 1994 the School to Work Opportunities Act (STWOA) was passed which mandates that schools provide a "yellow brick road" from the school house to the job site, a pathway including work-based learning, school-based learning and connecting activities. As defined in School-to-Work, ALL Students as Participants (module 2, page 3), the key requirements of STWOA are:

. integrate academic and career-related learning for all students.
. provide rigorous, core academics for ALL students.
. provide support to ensure success for ALL students.
. create a K-14 career guidance system.
. require senior projects to be related to a career path.
. provide work-based learning opportunities for ALL students.
. provide mentors for ALL students.
. maintain post-high school tracking of ALL students.
. develop and nurture real partnerships

Service Learning Movement in Education

Youth service, or service learning, has arisen in the past few decades as a nationwide movement that seeks to give young people, at each stage of their development, an opportunity to give and to learn through significant service to their communities. Educators and policy-makers have recognized that young people have much to offer and can greatly improve their own education as they render needed service.

As stated in the National and Community Service Act of 1990, the term "service-learning" means a method:

A)under which students learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service experience that meet actual community needs and that are coordinated in collaboration with the school and community.

B)that is integrated into the students' academic curriculum or provides structured time for a student to think, talk,or write about what the student did and saw during the actual service activity.

C)that provides students with opportunities to use newly acquired skills and knowledge in real-life situations in their own communities

D)that enhance what is taught in school by extending student learning beyond the classroom and into the community and helps to foster the development of a sense of caring for others (National Youth Leadership Council 17). Go to top of page.

The primary outcomes of service-learning are:

Learners:

. Capacity for action: makes a difference, meets real needs.
. Self-worth: identity, moral development, humane values.
. Citizenship: connection to and leadership for school and community.
. Academic skills: increased relevance, challenge to think critically.

Schools:

. Engaged learners: motivated, responsible for own learning.
. Collegiality: staff, students, community- all are partners.
. Educational excellence: enhanced climate, enriched curriculum, performance-based evaluation.

Community:

. Valuable service: unmet needs addressed, often uniquely.
. Citizenship: students become active stake holders, now and in the future.

Experiential Education Movement

We tend to remember 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of what we hear and see, 70% of what we say, and 90% of what we both say and do. In light of these facts it makes sense to base learning on "the real experience," on the "doing." According to Albuquerque Public Schools Experiential Education Program manual:

Experiential education invites students to actively explore questions and solve problems through direct hands on experience. Students are placed in a direct relationship with learning material and asked to reflect upon their experiences and formulate their own conclusions. In experiential education, students learn by doing rather than being told answers to questions. They acquire new knowledge through active involvement in the learning process. Examples of experiential activities include, but are not limited to, school-based activities, challenge course activities, hikes, urban adventure, artificial climbing walls and community service projects.

Implementation

The unit/course, which lasts two semesters will be divided each semester into three distinct parts : before the work experience, the work experience itself, and after the work experience. Students' learning in this class is aligned with the content of their other Guild classes: English, Social Studies and AP environmental science. A series of outings are scheduled throughout the year (approximately one a month). On those days Guild students and teachers will be released from class to participate in the outing.

Before the Work Experience

First Semester

These first five weeks are devoted to preparing students for the world of work. Self-knowledge, teamwork, cooperation, leadership, conflict resolution, job seeking and employability skills will be explored and acquired. In order to meet these objectives students will be involved in a number of self-discovery activities including taking the Briggs-Myers personality test, doing a ropes challenge course, and playing a number of experiential and role playing games. They will also write their resumes and cover letters. Parallel to these activities they will research an environmental leader of their choice and make a presentation about this person to the class at the end of the first nine weeks.

Second Semester

These first five weeks are devoted to practicing environmental assessment through the study of media literacy and to becoming aware of the scope of environmental careers, the education required and the commensurate pay scales.

The Work Experience

Students will perform 45 hours a semester of non-paid work in a business or organization located in the South Valley. The fact that the work is performed in the students' community is of particular importance because our goal is for the students to learn from their community and to contribute to their community.

Students will chose their placement and, during their work, will address a problem within the organization and work on a possible solution.

Students will be required to complete a daily log of their work experience and to report to class once a week. Their log entries will address different questions each week. Students will have a menu of ten different topics to chose from.

After the Work Experience

First semester, students will do an STS (science-technology-society) analysis of an issue pertinent to their work experience. Second semester students will produce an environmental impact assessment of their work. What were the ecological, psychological, economical, social and cultural impacts of the work they were involved with?

Sample Lesson PlansGo to top of page.

Lesson Plan 1 : Work, Success and Self-Knowledge. 1 week.

Standards met (New Mexico Content Standards for Career Readiness):

-Standard 1. Students identify their career interests and aptitudes to develop an educational plan which supports personal career goals. -Standard 5. Students will develop effective leadership, interpersonal, and team skills.

    1. Begin class with question: Why do people work?
    2. Do a free-write on the following quote: "We work to discover both who we are and why we are." People work for survival, to define themselves (a job title is often an identity), to have a sense of security, for self-respect or to feel competent and powerful, and to measure self-worth.

    3. Pose question: What is success ?

Ask students to look up the meaning of the word in the dictionary and then have them rate on a five point scale, from strongly agree to strongly disagree, a series of definitions of success by famous people. this list of quotations can be found in Career Choices (Bingham 18). Students then create their own definition of success.

3. Pose question: How would you describe yourself? Choose to describe two other people you know. Into which of the nine enneagram personality types do you fit? The perfectionist, the helper, the achiever, the romantic, the observer, the questioner, the adventurer, the asserter? Use personality inventories from The Enneagram Made Easy to help students define themselves.

4. In order to get what you want and to understand the differences between yourself and others and therefore manage those differences aptly, you need to know who you are, understand your personality type and those of others. Understand why you behave the way you do and why others behave the way they do.

5. Students take the Myers-Briggs personality Type Indicator which is far more detailed than the Enneagram types. It usually needs to be administered by a counselor. This indicator is based on Jung's distinction of four pairs of preference alternatives which in turn combine into 16 possible personality types. The four pairs of preference alternatives correspond to four personal strategies:

1.How do you interact with the world and prefer to receive stimulation and energy?
-I is for introvert, E is for extrovert.

2.How do you prefer to gather data ?
-N is for intuitive, S is for sensor

3.How do you prefer to make decisions?
-F is for feeler, T is for thinker

4.How do you like to orient your life? Do you prefer to gather data or make decisions?
-P is for perceiver, J is for judger. For more information on these eight preferences and their 16 combinations see Type Talk (Kroeger 23-48)

Students will discover their personality type and learn to identify those of others.

5. After taking the Indicator, students discuss their results and compare themselves to each other.

6. Ask question: What messages does the outside world send you about yourself? Your mother, father. siblings, teacher, best friend, society? Which messages are positive, which are negative? How have these messages contributed to your personality?

7. Introduce Maslow's hierarchy of human needs. Have students define where they are now in their lives. Inquire: How do you want to be remembered after your death? Write your epitaph! Does this tell you something about what you want to become?

Assessment is based on student participation and the following assignment: students invent a quiz covering the concepts taught this week.


Lesson 2: Science-Technology-Society. 1 day.

Standards met :

-Standard 3: Students will demonstrate the technological knowledge and skills required for future careers (namely: explain how technology is used in communications and the arts; engineering, industry, and science; health and human services; and business and marketing).

What is science? What is technology? What is society? How do they interact with each other?

  1. Have students brainstorm these concepts.
  2. Discuss with them the difference between science (a way of investigating the objects and events of the universe in a manner which provides empirical knowledge) and technology (applied science, the use of scientific knowledge to meet human wants or needs). Who are the scientists, who are the technologists? What are some examples of products and services that have made profound differences in how we live in society (television, telephone, automobiles, refrigerators, computers etc...)?

Assessment: the next day begin class with a pop quiz in which you ask students to define concepts taught in this lesson.Go to top of page.


Lesson 3: Analyzing STS Issues. 2-3 days.

Standards met :

-Standard 3: Students will demonstrate the technological knowledge and skills required for future careers (namely: explain how technology is used in communications and the arts; engineering, industry, and science; health and human services; and business and marketing).

-Standard 4: Students will develop and demonstrate responsible and ethical workplace behaviors (namely: investigate, analyze, and apply safety standards related to the school, community, and workplace).

An STS issue is a scientific and/ or technological problem about which there are differing beliefs and values. In order to analyze an STS issue, the event, the problem, and the issue need to be articulated. What happened? What problem is posed by the event? What issue is created? (An issue involves a problem over which two or more parties cannot agree).

  1. Give the example of the eruption of Mount St. Helens in the state of Washington in 1980. This event caused many problems: wildlife was killed, hundreds of acres of timber were leveled, human lives were lost and recreational areas were closed. These are problems because the status of something or someone is threatened or at risk. A disagreement arose between lumber companies and a group of citizens over what should be done with the trees that had been leveled down by the eruption. The lumber companies wanted to harvest them, and the citizens wanted them left on the ground to decay and provide nutrients to the soil. Citizens were also opposed to the road building required for the harvesting. Scientists agreed with the citizens because they wanted to study how nature restored itself after a devastating event. The issue was finally settled in the following fashion: land surrounding Mount Helens was set aside by the US Forest Service to remain as a natural, ecological site. The remaining downed timber was sold to lumber companies who agreed to remove it using helicopters! Other example of STS issues can be found in Science -Technology - Society: Investigating and Evaluating STS Issues and Solutions (Hungerford 41-51).
  2. Students practice articulating the sequence event: problem - issue - solutions - resolution.
  3. Students articulate an STS issue in their community, one that has been resolved or not.
  4. Expand the analysis of STS issues by articulating the concepts of belief (an idea which a person or group holds true) and value (the worth a person or group places on something) and apply them to the examples given and found).

Assessment is based on both the STS models students have generated themselves and on a quiz which focuses on: What is an event? What is a problem? What is an issue? What is an "STS issue"? Definition of "beliefs" and "values." How people's beliefs and values influence their position on an STS issue, and the difficulty of solving an STS issue when there are strong and differing positions surrounding it.


Lesson 4. STS Analysis of a Potential or Real Work Experience Issue. 1 week.

Standards met:

-Standard 3: Students will demonstrate the technological knowledge and skills required for future careers (namely: explain how technology is used in communications and the arts; engineering, industry, and science; health and human services; and business and marketing).

-Standard 4: Students will develop and demonstrate responsible and ethical workplace behaviors (namely: investigate, analyze, and apply safety standards related to the school, community, and workplace).

Now that students are comfortable with STS issue analysis, they are ready to apply the model to their work experience. They will have to review their journals, perhaps return to their work site and interview people, and do research in the community and library and on the internet. They will produce, individually or in pairs, a complete STS analysis from event to solution.

Assessment will be based on student's written and presented STS analysis. Students will have the choice of any format they wish: power point presentation, video, poster board, etc...

Documentation

Teacher Bibliography (* Indicates work cited).

Acosta, Angela. Planning in the South Valley: Previous Efforts, Obstacles & Plan Implementation Strategies. Albuquerque, NM:              Community & Regional Planning Program. School of Architecture & Planning. University of New Mexico, 1996.

Baron, Renee and Elizabeth Wagele. The Enneagram Made Easy. San Francisco: Harper, 1994.

Becher,Anne. American Environmental Leaders. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO Inc., 2000.

*Bingham, Mindy and Sandy Stryker. Career Choices. Santa Barbara: Academic Innovations, 1993.

*California Institute on Human Services. School-to-Work, All Students as Participants. California: Sonoma State University, 1997.

Danielson, Charlotte. Enhancing Professional Practice. Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1996.

Doyle, Kevin, Sam Heizmann and Tanya Stubbs. Environmental Careers in the 21st Century. Washington DC: Island Press, 1999.

Graham, Kevin and Gary Chandler. Environmental Heroes: Success Stories of People at Work for the Earth. Boulder, Colorado:              Pruett Publishing Company,1996.

*Hungerford, Harold R., Trudi L. Volk, John M. Ramsey. Science - Technology - Society : Investigating and Evaluating STS Issues              and Solutions. Champaign, Illinois: Stipes Publishing Company, 1990.

*Kroeger, Otto and Janet M. Thuesen. Type Talk. New York: Delta Book, 1989.

Mander, Jerry. In the Absence of the Sacred. San Fancisco: Sierra Book Club, 1991.

*National Association of Conservation Districts. Environmental Education at a Glance. League City, Texas: NACD, 1998.

*National Youth Leadership Council. Growing Hope: A Source book on Integrating Youth Service into the School Curriculum.              Roseville, Minnesota: NYLC, 1991.

Bernalillo County, Planning & Zoning Dept. Southwest Area Plan Draft. Bernalillo County, New Mexico: Planning & Zoning Dept,              2000.

*North American Association for Environmental Education. Excellence in Environmental Education- Guidelines for Learning              (K-12). Rock Spring, Georgia: NAAEE, 1999.

Project Adventure,Inc.Youth Leadership in Action. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 1995.

The Resource Center for Raza Planning. Community Impact Assessment of the Rio Grande Educational Lifelong Learning                    Facility on the Sanchez Farm Neighborhood in the South Valley. Albuquerque, NM: School of Architecture & Planning,                    2001.

Rueff, Kerry. The Private Eye:: A Guide to Developing the Interdisciplinary Mind. Seattle, Washington: 1996.

Volti, Rudi. Society and Technological Change. New York: Worth Publishers, 2001.Go to top of page.

Student Bibliography

Becher,Anne. American Environmental Leaders. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO Inc., 2000.

This is a dictionary of environmental heroes from A to Z. Hundreds of them!

Doyle, Kevin, Sam Heizmann, and Tanya Stubbs. Environmental Careers in the 21st Century. Washington DC: Island Press, 1999.

This is a very user friendly guide to environmental careers. You will find everything about these careers, including salary scales.

Gibbs, Lois. Love Canal: The Story Continues... Gabriola Island, BC, Canada: New Society Publishers,1998.

Lois Gibbs was a 27 year-old homemaker in Love Canal, New York, in 1978 when she learned that her home and her children's school were on top of a toxic-waste dump. She led a two-year battle to get the city's residents relocated and, in the process, taught the nation about the dangers of toxic waste. She now runs the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice in Falls Church, Virginia.

Graham, Kevin, Gary Chandler. Environmental Heroes: Success Stories of People at Work for the Earth. Boulder, Colorado: Pruett                      Publishing Company,1996.

Thirty stories of successful attempts by people of all walks of life to make a difference. Divided by themes : recycling, people power, natural resources, alternative energy, natural products, wildlife.Mendes, Chico.

Fight for the Forest. London, UK: Latin America Bureau, 1990.

Chico Mendes, the founder of the Brazilian rubber tapper's union, was murdered on December 22 1988. As a trade union leader, he won international acclaim for his role in the non violent campaign to protect the Amazon rain forest, on which the rubber tappers depended for their livelihood. He died because he was too successful, threatening the big landowners and business interests who profit from the forest's destruction.

Moody, Joan and Richard Wizansky, eds. Earth Work: The Student Resource Guide to Nationwide Green Jobs. Harper Collins                      West, 1994.

This is put together for students by the Student Conservation Association

Slater, Dashka." Moments of Truth: How 11 Eco-Heroes Found their Calling." Sierra. July/August 2001: 48-55.

Profiles of the 11 environmental heroes, including Mayor Jim Baca and Carole King...

 

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