Participation and Learning Perspectives on Education and the Environment, Health and Sustainability

FROM THE REVIEWS

"This is a welcome addition to the literature related to the development of effective
learning in non-traditional contexts, and is put together by an impressive range of
contributors from four continents. And whilst it does offer a wide range of perspectives
on participatory learning in a variety of curriculum areas, these perspectives are
predominantly theoretical and research-based. They testify to an effective and ongoing
collaboration between academics from different backgrounds and disciplines,
which makes for a comprehensive survey of the concepts from different perspectives.", Alan Peacock, University of Exeter, UK. Environmental Education Research, Vol. 16, No. 2, Month 2010, 1-2 ---------

"This book is of true relevance to teachers, non-governmental organizations and researchers interested in knowing what participation can look like in various contexts where the voices’ of the young are favored. " Cecilia Lundholm, Stockholm University. Children, Youth and Environments, Vol. 19 No. 1, 2009 ----------

"The book is masterfully organised in a way that scaffolds the reader through a tangle of sometimes conflicting and competing debates played out in different settings with diverse players engaged in attaining a variaty of goals. For some readers the book will be a starting point toward understanding participation learning. For others, the book will serve as a tool for debate and reflection on a crowded playing field with players representing different agendas, some of them hidden. Although the editors ask readers to step outside of their individual bias, some will choose not to. Perhaps some will even us it as a way to sell their particular viewpoints. Others, however, will be compelled to reflect on themselves as participants in learning, and through their experience with this book they will develop an open-mindedness toward honest and careful consideration of what effective participation learning should encompass." Marie Cheak, Western Illinois University, The Journal of Environmental Education, Vol. 39, No. 4, 2008 ----------

Alan Reid is a Senior Lecturer in Education and member of the Centre for Research in Education and the Environment, University of Bath. He is the editor of Environmental Education Research, and co-ordinates doctoral programmes in research methods in education and management, and teaches on Masters programmes in environmental education, technologies and learning, and qualitative research approaches. His research interests focus on teachers' thinking and practice in environmental education, and policy-related and philosophical issues in environmental education theory and practice. Bjarne Bruun Jensen is Professor in the Department of Curriculum Research at the Danish University of Education and directs the Research Programme on Environmental and Health Education. His research interests are in action-oriented health and environmental education; pupils' concepts of health, inequality in health and action for health, and children as catalysts of social change. He is member of the editorial board of Environmental Education Research and Health Promotion International, and National Coordinator for the Danish network of health promoting schools. He also works as a consultant for WHO within the fields of Health Education and Health Promoting Schools. Jutta Nikel is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Research in Education and the Environment, at the University of Bath. Her research interests focus on empirical and theoretical research regarding environmental education and education for sustainable development, and teachers' thinking and practice in these areas. Her recent work for the Royal Academy of Engineering focused on how sustainability issues are integrated into undergraduate engineering education. Her current work examines the contribution of Education for Sustainable Development for improving quality in education in low income countries Venka Simovska, PhD, is Assistant Professor in Health Education and Health Promotion at the Department of Curriculum Research at the Danish University of Education, and a member of the Research Programme for Environmental and Health Education. She is an academic coordinator of one of the modules of the Masters programme in health education and health promotion, and she teaches and supervises masters and doctoral students. Venka has extensive experience in research related to school-based projects, including the European Network of Health Promoting Schools. Her research interests revolve around issues relating to health, young people and teaching/learning processes in the area of health education and promotion. In particular, her research focuses on student participation and empowerment in learning.