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Beyond Earth Day at YCIS: Green all year long
April 29, 2013, Monday
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ANNUAL "green" celebrations and weeklong eco-campaigns are great, but teaching environmental responsibility to the generation who will inherit the Earth should be a year-round commitment.
April, the month of new spring shoots and Earth Day, invariably brings with it a flurry of environmental initiatives. As environmental issues arising from pollution, food safety, and climate change impact our daily lives in ever-increasing ways, it is clear that we need to go beyond Earth Day: The environment needs our attention all year round.
In particular, it needs the attention of those who will inherit the Earth, which is why environmental responsibility is part of the educational philosophy at Yew Chung International School (YCIS).
"Our commitment to global education reflects the need to cultivate a new generation that will take care of the habitat, the environment, and work cooperatively with the whole human race to restore and sustain a healthy planet," says Dr Betty Chan, director of YCIS.
Daniel D'Andrea and Henricus Peters, teacher co-sponsors of the YCIS Shanghai Ecology Action Team, agree that environmental responsibility needs to be a year-round effort. The co-sponsors say that their efforts are driven by the idea that "it's important for children to be aware that activities and life choices all have a range of impacts. Students at YCIS learn about how precious our water and other resources are, and they learn ways to protect the environment."
The school also incorporates this green philosophy into their curriculum, beginning in the primary years. "At YCIS we take a close look at our curriculum to find meaningful and authentic ways to teach the concept of environmental responsibility," explains Mindy Willis, a Primary Curriculum Coordinator.
At each Primary year level, at least one unit of study on environmental stewardship is integrated into the curriculum. When learning about the science of electricity, for example, Year 2 students also consider how to use it responsibly. Year 4 students study endangered species as part of their study of habitats, and Year 1 students study of plants includes a unit on planting flowers.
"All children, across the school, are engaged in learning that helps them understand the important role they play in caring for the environment and the many ways that this is possible," Willis says.
As an extracurricular activity, the YCIS Ecology Action Team keeps the environment in focus, teaching children about incorporating sustainable elements into their lifestyle, and why this is so important. "We're very much about teaching and learning about the environment by experiencing it," explain D'Andrea and Peters. "By discussing, sharing, and experiencing the environment, students learn that, as individuals, and as a whole school community, we all have an impact on the natural world. Understanding that we are responsible for undertaking positive 'green' and 'eco-friendly' actions can reduce this impact."
But how do you get children growing up in Shanghai, so removed from the natural world, to care about it? The YCIS Ecology Action team is based on the concept of hands-on environmentally sustainable education. Projects include growing plants from seeds, composting, recycling, re-using and reducing waste, and raising silkworms. Students are taught about the scarcity of natural resources and the necessity of sharing resources globally. In addition, the Ecology Action Team partners with community organizations such as Roots and Shoots, and participates in programs like the Million Tree Project, which fights climate change by planting trees in Inner Mongolia.
There are also school-wide green activities, such as Tree Planting Day. In celebration of China's Arbor Day, the Ecology Action Team recently planted fir trees on the YCIS Century Park and Regency Park campuses. At the fifth annual tree-planting ceremony at Century Park, and the second for Regency Park, the event saw enthusiastic students holding up signs saying "Trees are terrific!" and "We love trees!" as they took turns planting the saplings. The activity offered an opportunity for students to think about the importance of nature, and a reminder that the responsibility for the environment rests with each individual.
YCIS' success in instilling an environmental mindset in its students is perhaps best showcased by the fact that students are proactively participating. Motivated by the knowledge that 40 percent of household waste comes from paper, the Secondary Student Council at YCIS Century Park campus initiated a "TREEcycling" competition between the school's Houses (teams), with the team collecting the greatest amount of recyclable paper waste as the winner.
Being green is a year-round commitment that manifests itself numerous ways at YCIS. Says Dr Chan, "Our students join global issue networks, debate in Model United Nations, plant trees and build compost areas, join service projects to build schools or houses. All these projects and programmes help build their capacity to have a positive, healthy relationship with nature, to appreciate, care for, conserve, and sustain all the resources of the environment and to learn to cooperate and work with others in order to achieve a healthy living environment for all people on Earth."
April, the month of new spring shoots and Earth Day, invariably brings with it a flurry of environmental initiatives. As environmental issues arising from pollution, food safety, and climate change impact our daily lives in ever-increasing ways, it is clear that we need to go beyond Earth Day: The environment needs our attention all year round.
In particular, it needs the attention of those who will inherit the Earth, which is why environmental responsibility is part of the educational philosophy at Yew Chung International School (YCIS).
"Our commitment to global education reflects the need to cultivate a new generation that will take care of the habitat, the environment, and work cooperatively with the whole human race to restore and sustain a healthy planet," says Dr Betty Chan, director of YCIS.
Daniel D'Andrea and Henricus Peters, teacher co-sponsors of the YCIS Shanghai Ecology Action Team, agree that environmental responsibility needs to be a year-round effort. The co-sponsors say that their efforts are driven by the idea that "it's important for children to be aware that activities and life choices all have a range of impacts. Students at YCIS learn about how precious our water and other resources are, and they learn ways to protect the environment."
The school also incorporates this green philosophy into their curriculum, beginning in the primary years. "At YCIS we take a close look at our curriculum to find meaningful and authentic ways to teach the concept of environmental responsibility," explains Mindy Willis, a Primary Curriculum Coordinator.
At each Primary year level, at least one unit of study on environmental stewardship is integrated into the curriculum. When learning about the science of electricity, for example, Year 2 students also consider how to use it responsibly. Year 4 students study endangered species as part of their study of habitats, and Year 1 students study of plants includes a unit on planting flowers.
"All children, across the school, are engaged in learning that helps them understand the important role they play in caring for the environment and the many ways that this is possible," Willis says.
As an extracurricular activity, the YCIS Ecology Action Team keeps the environment in focus, teaching children about incorporating sustainable elements into their lifestyle, and why this is so important. "We're very much about teaching and learning about the environment by experiencing it," explain D'Andrea and Peters. "By discussing, sharing, and experiencing the environment, students learn that, as individuals, and as a whole school community, we all have an impact on the natural world. Understanding that we are responsible for undertaking positive 'green' and 'eco-friendly' actions can reduce this impact."
But how do you get children growing up in Shanghai, so removed from the natural world, to care about it? The YCIS Ecology Action team is based on the concept of hands-on environmentally sustainable education. Projects include growing plants from seeds, composting, recycling, re-using and reducing waste, and raising silkworms. Students are taught about the scarcity of natural resources and the necessity of sharing resources globally. In addition, the Ecology Action Team partners with community organizations such as Roots and Shoots, and participates in programs like the Million Tree Project, which fights climate change by planting trees in Inner Mongolia.
There are also school-wide green activities, such as Tree Planting Day. In celebration of China's Arbor Day, the Ecology Action Team recently planted fir trees on the YCIS Century Park and Regency Park campuses. At the fifth annual tree-planting ceremony at Century Park, and the second for Regency Park, the event saw enthusiastic students holding up signs saying "Trees are terrific!" and "We love trees!" as they took turns planting the saplings. The activity offered an opportunity for students to think about the importance of nature, and a reminder that the responsibility for the environment rests with each individual.
YCIS' success in instilling an environmental mindset in its students is perhaps best showcased by the fact that students are proactively participating. Motivated by the knowledge that 40 percent of household waste comes from paper, the Secondary Student Council at YCIS Century Park campus initiated a "TREEcycling" competition between the school's Houses (teams), with the team collecting the greatest amount of recyclable paper waste as the winner.
Being green is a year-round commitment that manifests itself numerous ways at YCIS. Says Dr Chan, "Our students join global issue networks, debate in Model United Nations, plant trees and build compost areas, join service projects to build schools or houses. All these projects and programmes help build their capacity to have a positive, healthy relationship with nature, to appreciate, care for, conserve, and sustain all the resources of the environment and to learn to cooperate and work with others in order to achieve a healthy living environment for all people on Earth."
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