A Guide on Environmental Education: Current Pedagogical Problems and Recommendations for Its Implementation in the University English Classroom

Abstract

Education is a valuable tool for achieving a more sustainable world, especially when it comes to environmental protection. Still, teachers hardly address ecological aspects in their lessons, and the few times they do it, the environmental programmes applied often turn out to be ineffective. This is the case for University English courses, which rarely delve into environmentalism. In this paper, the author highlights the major reasons for such failure of environmental initiatives, which are related to (i) the nature of classroom pedagogy, (ii) the didactic methods used, (iii) the contents targeted, (iv) and the perspective from which those contents are tackled. Furthermore, the researcher compiles multiple recommendations based on the available academic production on this field which need to be considered when implementing this type of programmes in University education in general, and in particular, in the University English class, providing an informed guide on the application of environmental education.