Društvene i Humanističke Studije (Dec 2016)
The Didactical Introduction of Ecology Into School Curriculum
Abstract
The paper presents the results of the analysis of requirements of a more advanced and comprehensive introduction of environmental sciences into the school curriculum in the school of the future. Environmental education is a fundamental educational subject of a modern pedagogy. The school of the future requires a more advanced and comprehensive introduction of environmental sciences into the school curriculum in its educational work. The contents of environmental education should be developed through a number of subjects from the school curriculum.Development of environmental knowledge should be carried out in an interdisciplinary manner and through extracurricular activities (green classes), or environmental clubs and hobby groups and through cooperation with environmental organizations. Environmental education is based on several principles: cognition, emotion, will, values and action. Environmental education should be programmed on the principles of the greening of the entire teaching process, humanism, historicity, and the unity of theory and practice. Each principle is particularly expounded. Environmental pedagogy as a modern pedagogical discipline deals with environmental education in order to develop environmental awareness among young people and to form a personality with positive features with integrated environmental habits as a prerequisite for environmental behaviour. Environmental pedagogy contributes to strengthening of eco-pedagogical competence of teachers and students. The success of environmental education of students directly depends on preparedness of teachers for carrying out the tasks. It is important for environmental education that an ecological phenomenon becomes a didactic phenomenon, in order to encourage the creation of a teaching situation not only by including environmentally oriented information but also through qualitative transformation of a cognitive activity itself.Environmental knowledge develops ecological intelligence and ecological literacy of young people. In that manner, we contribute to development of environmental ethics and bioethics as modern disciplines in the development of human behaviour.
