This is the double page spread we have created to be published in Grocott's Mail next Tuesday.
We based the design around our 'tree' theme, which corresponds to the 3D sculpture that will be part of our exhibition. This 3D tree is to be used to showcase the work done in our papermaking project with the pupils from Mary Waters High School. It was thus similarly used as the core structural design element in this spread. As our project at Mary Waters sought to engage learners creatively with environmental education, so too do we hope to engage readers through our creative layout. In this design we sought to visually incorporate our 3D sculpture and create a link between our various WEPD outputs.

Prof Green Thumb Designers: Layla and Zethu.

The Need to Teach Green

By Simone Peinke and Remy Raitt

Grahamstown schools are doing nothing to alleviate the crisis everyone on Earth agrees will soon overwhelm us. National environmental policies have been skipping school, leaving a number of Grahamstown teachers concerned. “Schools have a responsibility to teach environmental education,” said Les Mitchell, a science teacher at Nombulelo Secondary School, “It’s a lifestyle. It’s needed for democracy. Learners know that the environment is not the way it should be.”

The few environmental projects operating at some local schools have been initiated by motivated individuals. “If you have a positive attitude you are halfway there,” said Mario Agnew, a geography teacher at Mary Waters High School. Agnew organises weekly environmental talks and activities. The environmental club - named Eden - was initiated by a former Rhodes student, Helen Fox. Agnew has found it challenging convincing learners to stay after school for club meetings, although he believes that the few keen learners who attend will share their knowledge and influence peers and families.

Environmental education should not begin and end in the classroom, said Piet Snyders, principal at PJ Olivier high school. His school takes water from Grey Dam water daily for irrigation and toilet systems when the town experiences water shortages. This has taught learners the importance of keeping the dam clean. Grade 6 and 7 learners regularly clear up litter strewn on its banks.

The new curriculum incorporates environmental education, but according to Mitchell this will take a while to be properly implemented. “Teachers cannot merely preach to students on environmental issues,” Mitchell said, “we need to see practical changes taking place. We need to see recycling projects, clean ups and other things that practically teach learners the importance of the environment.” According to Mitchell, practical involvement by learners will help them to realise the immediate concerns they should have for their local environment.

Polluted pavements, burst water pipes and spoilt scenery are all over Grahamstown. Education could alleviate problems like these by instilling environmental awareness and respect among learners. “We must teach our children to look after the environment now,” said Agnew, “The environment is crucial for our survival. If we don’t start teaching about how it is threatened now, there will be nothing to look after in the future.”

Teaching for Tomorrow's World

By Simone Peinke and Remy Raitt

Wind dials made from recycled goods sit cramped on the book laden tables of Ms Rejoice Batyi’s office. Her elbow rests on a pile of dog-eared geography textbooks. “Sorry I am late,” she apologises “I have so much work to do and so little time.”

Ms Batyi is one of the two geography teachers at Nathaniel Nyaluza Public Secondary School. Despite the time constraints of her daily job, she managed to complete her honours degree in Environmental Education at Rhodes University last year. During her studies she conducted a survey which revealed how teachers struggle to integrate environmental education into their subject.

“There is no justice here, teachers need to be properly trained about the environment. They need to know how to include it in subjects like maths,” she says. “There is a lack of awareness and training, people still think it is the baby of geography.” Ms Batyi hopes to re-start the eco-club at her school, which wilted two years ago. The aim of the club is to promote environmental awareness and action. Food gardens and litter clean-ups will be the main features of this endeavour. “The success of the club depends on participation from all learners and teachers” she says.

Ms Batyi believes that environmental education is no longer a question of choice. This eco-warrior is armed with knowledge and a self confessed “passion” for the environment, artillery she hopes to pass on to her colleagues and learners.

The research she completed last year proved there is a general lack of public awareness, especially in the townships, about the desecration of our local surroundings. “Everyone should try in their own capacity to lessen the impact of the buzz words ’global warming’,” she says, “It’s imperative to know about the environment, we have to be aware and involved in conservation.”

Nathaniel Nyaluza was the proud recipient of a floating trophy for the cleanest school – until last year. Ms Batyi hopes to bring this award back, but learners will have to realise they are a part of nature. “We only have one planet,” she says, “it’s our only home and if we destroy it we will be extinct. Sustainable development has to stick in the minds of learners so that they do not exhaust resources. Today they are learners, tomorrow they will be mothers and fathers and grandfathers. What we teach them today will save our future.”

Going By the Book

By Simone Peinke and Remy Raitt

Resource books produced for schools by Professor Rob O’Donoghue and Helen Fox from the Environmental Education and Sustainability Unit aim to promote sustainable living. The books will address two of the main problems in education: low literacy rates and lack of knowledge.

“We need to re-imagine the way we are living,” said Fox, “Students need to be literate, and they need to learn. The resource books are really directed toward underprivileged schools where most learners are second language English speakers. Environmental education can’t only be about action.”

The resource books will provide teachers with authentic stories for change-orientated learning. These stories will clarify misunderstandings surrounding the environmental sciences. “We need to make knowledge more transparent,” said O’Donoghue, “The public is often left in a confused space due to the complexity and contestation surrounding environmental sciences.”

The national curriculum now requires that all subjects include environmental education. These resource books will aid teachers on how to do this. The material will be pilot tested next year in Grahamstown.

Eco-school Drop Outs

By Simone Peinke and Remy Raitt

The number of local schools in the international Eco-School programme has halved – while participation elsewhere in South Africa grows.

The Eco-School program was launched in South Africa in 2003. Ten schools joined the pilot programme in 2002 but now only five remain. These areSamuel Ntsiko, Kingswood College, Fikizolo, Kuyasa Special School, Ntaba Maria and The Seventh Day Adventist.

“Some teachers said they were too busy,” said Gladys Tyatya, responsible for community engagement in the Environmental Education and Sustainability Unit, “Some said that they did not get support from other teachers. Some said that the learners were too busy with studying. Also many teachers cannot attend the monthly workshop because of timetable clashes.”

The programme aims to encourage curriculum-based action for a healthier environment. Its objectives are to improve school environments, increase environmental awareness, involve local communities, reduce litter and waste, and reduce costs by saving water and electricity. Teachers and learners need to be committed to developing lesson plans and environmental activities to incorporate into the national curriculum.

The five schools that remain in the program have benefited hugely. “I could take you to any of the five schools and you would see huge improvements,” said Tyatya, “There are food gardens, cleaner grounds and more trees.” Tyatya is confident that the project is sustainable if schools continue to work hard.