Degree
Master of Education
Program
Education
Supervisor
Dr. Ronald Hansen
Abstract
This thesis explores the implementation of creative pedagogies to determine how creativity as a disposition and learning outcome is pursued in Ontario classrooms. Its focus falls within a broad context of growing interest in Environmental Education and increasing demand for problem-solving skills in the workforce and beyond. The study draws upon participant experiences to examine how creative problem-solving is realized. A case study approach was employed, using multiple data sources in two High School Environmental Leadership Programs. Findings from this research suggest that teachers prioritize the building, comprehension and application of facts and concepts over the use of instructional strategies that develop creative problem-solving and higher-order thinking skills such as synthesis, analysis and evaluation. Students preferred creative instructional strategies and wanted them more often. The study calls for renewed teacher commitment and additional professional development for instructional strategies that nurture student creativity and expand teachers’ pedagogy. Furthermore, policy recommendations call for environmental education to become a multidisciplinary subject of its own, considering the broad scope of content and skills from which it draws and the urgency to solve environmental problems.
Recommended Citation
Smith, Brian D., "The Learning of Human Ingenuity Within a Formal, Environmental Education Program: A Case Study of Two Secondary School Programs" (2015). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 3178.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/3178