Educating the Educators. Primary Teacher Education

In this chapter, by drawing on our experience of educating future teachers and educators, we intend to cast light on the links and synergies between the new needs of children and new approaches to scientific knowledge within a scenario of sustainability. There can be little argument about the need to educate children towards a new vision of sustainability – even the youngest who are just beginning to explore their world. But while attention to environmental problems has grown considerably in the primary school (more than any other level of schooling), very little has been done, at least in Italy, in the realm of teacher education, and particularly the education of primary teachers. Some courses and laboratories on environmental education have been introduced within the University curricula, but this cannot be considered sufficient within the perspective of a change of paradigm that should lead to a rethinking of the entire educational experience. Luckily, the primary school curriculum in Italy is - at least from an institutional point of view – less fragmented into disciplines than the secondary and higher education curricula. It is thus an ideal place for developing new ways of educating and looking at the world, which are in contact with all the other realms of knowledge. Systemic thinking, autonomy and critical thinking, sense of responsibility, solidarity, and ecological identity are fundamental educational dimensions in a sustainable society. At the primary level more than in any other level of schooling, this kind of education needs to be pursued with awareness of the needs of a population of children that have profoundly changed in recent years. The disappearance of natural spaces and the growing separation of human beings from nature, the experience of a reality which is progressively of a more virtual and artificial nature than a real one, the predetermined and structured activities of play and movement, the scarce moments of real socialization with adults and children other than the parents, school fellows and teachers. These are but a few examples of what our society imposes on our children’s childhood, making them increasingly less autonomous and able to deal with situations, assessing and engaging with real risks and opportunities. If society – and thus the primary school – is called to respond to such a need, then science education can certainly make a precious contribution to bring forward a vision of sustainability. The education of the educators should, first of all, develop an awareness of the meaning of sustainability in future teachers and this could be achieved through particular educational paths, which: - Connect the knowledge of the natural sciences with the everyday experiences of oneself and the world; - Draw upon the educational potential of field-work and the direct relationship with the natural environment. The Life and Earth Sciences in fact can offer the opportunity to perceive oneself in a relationship of profound interdependency with Nature, by creating awareness of the use of resources and the natural systems’ capabilities of self-regulation in spite of the over-exploitation made by our species. In addition, experiences in nature can increase the efficacy of the educational interventions as they allow for a connection between the cognitive and the emotional, social and neuro-physiological spheres. So conceived, scientific knowledge can be more easily connected with all other realms of knowledge, in an attempt at preserving - at least the primary level – the widest possible interdisciplinarity.