Education - Integrated Learning Program

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Science and Environmental Education Concentration - Integrated Learning - Education - Antioch University New England

Science and Environmental Education Concentration

Antioch New England Integrated Learning Students As schools and other educational institutions move towards self-governance and sustainability, they need teachers who can serve as curriculum problem-solvers and environmental educators. Classroom teachers and curriculum developers need knowledge of the fields of science, environmental and place-based education, skills at implementing curriculum with students, and the ability to enhance the capacities of their colleagues. These specialists will help schools connect with their communities through implementing recycling programs, naturalizing schoolyards, and working with local businesses and historical societies to preserve local heritage.

The Science and Environmental Education concentration is for Integrated Learning students who wish to be classroom teachers with a specialization in science, environmental and place-based education. Students in this concentration take the same core courses leading towards elementary certification, as the students in the Arts and Humanities concentration. Additionally, they choose from a set of courses that focus on place-based education and ecological literacy. These students also have reserved seats in some of the courses in the Department of Environmental Studies.

Specialized courses include:

Place-based Education
Mysterious, Magical Mushrooms
New England Mammals: Lessons for Teachers
Backyard Weather Predicting
Food in Schools
Integrating Math and Science through Mapmaking
Setting up a Naturalist’s Journal
Star Search: A Survey of the Night Sky
Vernal Pools: A Field Study Model for Teachers
Ecology of Imagination in Childhood
Life Down Under: Soil Invertebrates in the Classroom
Place-based Social Studies
Cemetery Quest: Using Burial Grounds as Educational Resources

Science and Environmental Education students do one internship in a self-contained classroom and another internship with a science, environmental, or place-based education focus. These internships include middle school science teaching, coordinating the nature programs for a K-6 school, doing environmental curriculum design for a school district, program design for local history museums, and implementing school programs for conservation organizations. Students are encouraged to consider internships in schools participating in the Community-based School Environmental Education program (CO-SEED). Located in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and metropolitan Boston, these schools are moving towards a more thorough integration of community issues, environmental education, and school programs. Internships in these sites challenge students to participate in innovative change processes that help develop sustainable communities and schools.

Graduates who successfully complete this concentration are eligible for elementary teacher certification in the State of New Hampshire. Graduates are also well-suited to serve as educational directors in nature centers and environmental organizations, museum educators, curriculum developers, and science curriculum specialists in schools.

Last Updated: 4/21/08