Foreword

Environmental Education is an investment in our future. If New Zealand is to have a sustainable future, increased understanding of the environment and environmental decisions is essential. The New Zealand Government has recognised this through the development of a national strategy for Environmental Education entitled Learning to Care for Our Environment: Me Ako ki te Tiaki Taiao: A National Strategy for Environmental Education. To support this strategy in schools, the Ministry of Education has produced Guidelines for Environmental Education in New Zealand Schools.

The New Zealand Curriculum Framework details the essential learning areas, skills, and attitudes and values that will enable students to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to succeed in a modern, changing world. It provides a framework that links learning experiences within the total school curriculum in a coherent and balanced way. Guidelines for Environmental Education in New Zealand Schools links with Learning to Care for Our Environment to show how the environment is a theme in all seven learning areas that make up the New Zealand Curriculum. The requirements of Guidelines for Environmental Education in New Zealand Schools do not add to the curriculum requirements of schools. Instead, they will assist teachers to identify opportunities within existing national curriculum statements to plan and provide education about, for, and within the environment. The extent to which Environmental Education is incorporated within the curriculum will continue to be determined by the board of trustees of each school.

I would like to thank the many individuals and organisations who gave their time and advice in the development of this publication. In particular, I would like to record my appreciation of the efforts of the writers of the initial draft, Robyn Baker and Barry Law, and also those of Barbara Collins and Pauline Waiti, who revised the draft after extensive consultation. The advice and support of the Ministry for the Environment, the Department of Conservation, and Te Puni Kokiri throughout the project are also gratefully acknowledged.

Howard Fancy
Secretary for Education

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