Environmental Literacy and Distance Learning

It is claimed that formal education fails to provide for the current or future needs of our society and, because of this, the field of education is at a crossroads. During the last two centuries, it has evolved into a knot of specialized and compartmentalized pedagogies that maintain a respectful distance from one another, often competing for significance in a world of economic globalization. It has been argued that education reinforces unsustainability and that the missing components in today’s curricula can be addressed through a focus on and inclusion of sustainability education principles. Providing opportunities for learners to engage in critical thinking, self-reflection, open discourse and real world problem solving reinforces the necessity of an interdisciplinary approach. It is necessary to problematize the compartmentalization created by years of specialization. This thesis reports on the environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of Ontarians and affirms the importance that Ontarians place on their environment. Simultaneously, it identifies the need for changes within our system of education if we are to produce ecologically literate citizens.