Shihwa marine environmental education course for school teachers and youth groups in the Shihwa Lake region
Shihwa Lake Saver, Korea
The purpose of this project was to help the youth and general citizens have correct understanding of Lake Shihwa, to enable them to make right decisions and actions about Lake Shihwa problems, and further to strengthen the watershed management capability of the region by utilizing and reprocessing the database about Lake Shihwa that has been accumulated as a result of Lake Shihwa marine improvement projects.
This project with the support for the trained teachers' field study on Lake Shihwa and the operation of teachers' study group, consisted of:
1. Operation of Teachers' Study Group on Lake Shihwa
2. Marine Environmental Education for Teachers
3. Support for the Trained Teachers' Field Study on Lake Shihwa
4. Teachers' Workshop for Evaluating the Environmental Education at Schools
5. Production and Distribution of Teaching Materials
1. Operation of the Teachers' Study Group on Lake Shihwa
Lake Shihwa Lifekeepers prepared "A Plan for Environmental Education on Lake Shihwa" in 2004 and then performed the teachers' training during the summer vacation in July 2006 using this plan. A study group with teachers from the Shihwa coastal area was organized to educated them so that long term education can be provided at the school place. The participants were 10 teachers including Keumjae Park, a teacher from Sung-an High School and a lecturer on Lake Shihwa from Lake Shihwa Lifekeepers.
2. Marine Environmental Education for Teachers
With the aim of establishment ¡°Sustainable Marine Environmental Education Programs for the Youth through Teachers¡±, a Training program with 5 schools that have participated in the teachers' training for the marine environmental education was developed. The program of environmental education about Lake Shihwa involved middle- and high-school teachers from the Shihwa Watershed (Shiheung, Ansan and Hwaseong).
3. Support for Education on Lake Shihwa for the Youth
Shihwa Lake Lifekeepers intended to support the teachers, who completed the environmental education course on Lake Shihwa for teachers, to lead the environmental education course on Lake Shihwa for the youth at their schools. We provided the in-class lectures and the tour to Lake Shihwa to the students. A workbook for the Youth theme ¡°7 Years of Mystery" was circulated to participating schools.
In total 4 schools participated: Bugok Middle School (Teachers and 35 students), Wongok Middle School (Teachers and 33 students), Bonwon Elementary School (Teachers and 45 students), Dongsan High School (Class Lecture with 30 students from the environmental club of Dongsan High School), Dongsan High School (Field Trip to Lake Shihwa with 26 students and one teacher).
4. Teachers' Workshop for Evaluating the Environmental Education at Schools
Teachers who participated in the environmental education on Lake Shihwa, environmental advocacy experts, and environmental organization staffs in charge had a debate to share and evaluate the results of the environmental education on Lake Shihwa, and to propose more positive alternatives for future development.
The teachers, who completed the marine environmental education on Lake Shihwa, supported the environmental education at the local schools in the Lake Shihwa area. They organized the Teachers' Study Group on Lake Shihwa, to enable sustainable field education through the school trip and developed a new curriculum and instruction materials about the environmental education. The theme of the instruction material was ¡°Sustainable Development for Shihwa Lake¡±.
5. Production and Distribution of Teaching Materials
A database has been prepared with the instruction materials for teachers at the Shihwa Watershed developed by Lake Shihwa Lifekeepers between 2004 and 2005.
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Fig 1. Teacher¡¯s training on Lake Shihwa Fig 2. Student¡¯s participants of the environmental youth programme
Fig 3. ¡°Destiny of Shihwalake¡± game