My “Recycle Please” Thesis
I have posted my thesis (click here to download) on this page. It can help a teacher set up a student run recycling program at their school. I wrote this “Final Project Independent Study” for my Masters degree in Elementary Education at Bank Street College of Education from June 2006 to July 2007.
The Abstract reads:
This Independent Study offers one developmentally-appropriate way in which the elementary school teacher can help alleviate the current global warming crisis by leading students to organize a school-wide recycling program carried out in the spirit of service-learning. The reader will learn that this recycling work is two-pronged: the physical labor of recycling and the educational outreach to the school community through marketing, using posters, assemblies, videos, and more. A philosophy of education underlying this work is described in detail, as is the journey of the author in discovering this pedagogy that includes tapping into a personal environmental activism for the sake of future generations. Sources include scientific and mass media articles covering global climate change, Internet web pages, and texts covering a variety of subjects from philosophy of education to environmental story books. The ultimate goal of the curriculum described herein is to build authentic environmental awareness in a class of students and their school community through recycling and service-learning and to share this green, kid-energy with others to encourage smart, creative lifelong habits.
On January 9th, 2008 I was invited to talk to the Bank Street Graduate School faculty and the Bank Street School for Children faculty about the role of teachers and schools in responding to global warming. It was great to be back as an alum! It was my first “speech” and went pretty well. My notes from the talk can be downloaded by clicking here.