October’s professional development day entitled “Lhtakoh – Where People, Place, and Practice Flow Together” was hosted by Classrooms to Communities and was focused on place-based education. I had the chance to attend two sessions entitled “BC Tomorrow: Investigating watershed sustainability using interactive technology” that explored using environmental modelling software in a classroom setting and “A Path for the Future to Reduce Fossil Fuel Emissions” that explored moving our communities towards a cleaner tomorrow focusing on alternative energy sources.
The BC Tomorrow session used software to give students an idea of how certain “system inputs” in a watershed can affect each other over time, and how all values (economic, social, environmental, etc.) must be balanced to allow an area to flourish. The program uses a user interface that shows a land use map of a water shed and allows users to manually adjust the system inputs such and goals for the region. Through the process of using the program the student can be motivated to learn in many ways, they may be motivated by curiosity to learn more about the different factors that affect the outcomes of the simulation, or they may be motivated by a sense of purpose to balance the system and have a healthy environment while still having strong economic output. Exploring this model is also an excellent way to scaffold learning as it encourages students to delve into many subjects in one project, as it brings together biology, environmental science, social topics, and questions of values, as well as the possibility to explore other additional topics. The model can also help prepare students to make the difficult decisions in the future to balance prosperity and preservation.
October’s professional development day was also an opportunity to learn more about my own biases and potential strengths as a teacher candidate. In “A Path for the Future to Reduce Fossil Fuel Emissions” The presenter brought up many ways that society is working to reduce emissions, as well as ways that we as individuals can help, including moving to electric cars which will be the only new cars on sale by 2040 in British Columbia. Many of the session participants expressed surprise at this 2040 timeline which I had taken to be common knowledge, this led to the realization that I only knew this because of my background as an environmental scientist with an interest in the automotive industry. This governmental goal and the session reinforced the idea that climate change awareness is often lacking, and it is a passion and knowledge base that I can bring to my future practice. It also was a good reminder of the value of having a teaching staff with varied backgrounds and passions.