For my community field experience I spent three weeks at Be the Change Earth Alliance in Vancouver developing a inquiry-based curriculum package for an intermediate level. Coming into this community field experience I had some reservations. This was based on the fact that I knew very little about environmental issues and sustainability in general and was unsure of how much I could contribute to an organization such as this one. I was honest with the organization about my lack of knowledge but assured them that I was willing to learn and help wherever I was needed and mostly importantly was coming in with an open mind.
But funny enough the thing I was most nervous about ended up being one of the positives of the experience. I have gained knowledge about topics I knew very little (or in some cases nothing) about and it has sparked a curiosity in me for knowing more about these important issues. I was often embarrassed by my ignorance regarding sustainability but would not be negligent like that again now that I have been required to learn about why it is important to be responsible for the environment.
I would have to say the major way this work experience has affected my practice in the future would have to do with the content I choose to teach students. I am really starting to see the benefits of teaching sustainability and providing students with the resources to understanding important topics like these. I’ve also seen how doable this is. I would have thought coming into this that some of the topics were unteachable for some intermediate grades, however after extensive internet research I have been exposed to a variety of extremely useful websites and resources that do an excellent job of explaining many of the complex ideas in a child friendly manner. As encouraging as this is I have also been exposed to many extremely bias and potentially untrustworthy websites and it has shown me that this subject must be taught with an intent to provide multiple perspectives regarding some of these controversial issues.
For more information on Be the Change Earth Alliance visit http://www.bethechangeearthalliance.org/