Abstract:

The limited effectiveness of Environmental Education (EE) in promoting conceptual and behavioral change preoccupies scholars and activists alike. A central process in this field is that of privatization, which takes place through integrating external programs in school curricula. The presentation will discuss the implications of this process on the effectiveness of EE in accomplishing its goals, in particular the promotion of environmental justice agenda, which is considered a major target of EE. This question is examined from the viewpoint of educational workers who are in charge of EE at elementary public schools in Israel. Taking these workers as active social agents, we proceed from the view that the way they understand their field of action and their own place in it does not only reflect the situation in this field but actually plays a role in shaping it. Research is based on in-depth interviews with three groups of educational staff: EE teachers, SPNI (The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel) external instructors, and school principals. Analysis points at impaired occupational self-images, struggles over symbolic resources and weak esprit de corps. All this reflect – and accelerate – the field’s severe structural ambiguity and devaluation, to the point that it works against its own basic moral principles.