An ongoing project on environmental sustainability in Nigeria
By Bosede Oyeteju Amoo,
Educational Technology Centre, Lagos State University (LASU), Nigeria
The author completed the iEARN online course in Science in 2004 and was certified as iEARN Master Teacher.
Lagos State University Staff School and the Centre for Environment and Science Education
The school was established to provide nursery and primary education to
the children of Lagos State University staff. However, it also admits
some children outside the university community. The nursery section
provides pre-primary education for children of 3-6 years and the
primary school children are between 6 and 11 years.
The Staff School is located on the main campus of the University, which
is close to the industrial and commercial centres. Their activities
become the reasons of the environmental pollution. There is a lot of
environmental pollution and children need to be taught the ways of
reducing pollutants in air and soil to the minimum.
One of the missions of the Centre for Environment and Science Education
of the University (CESE-LASU), besides delivering courses in
Environmental Science and Education, is the popularization of
environmental and science education in the school community and beyond.
The Project
I facilitate an ongoing project entitled: Do We Have a Spare Planet?
The focus is to make Nigerian children aware of environmental
conservation and air pollution because it is them who can bring changes
in the situation in future.
I have collected over 100 pictures and short video clips about the
concepts of sustainability, conservation of natural resources, and air
pollution. We use them regularly to send environmental messages either
as documentary programmes or for illustrations during teaching
environmental issues with the children or postgraduate students of
CESE- LASU.
Children who participated in the iEARN project kept diaries to put down
observations on their immediate environment as it is related to some
activities of the residents who do not care about environmental
sustainability. The children found that pollution abounds in their
community like improper disposal of wastes, burning of refuse, bush
burning to trap animals. The next stage of action is to make the
children agents of change for environmental sustainability by making
them actors in the Conservation drama and Air Pollutants picketing.
Currently they are rehearsing for the production of the two plays - the
purpose being to create a video instructional package produced by
children to teach all the concepts on environments at the Nigerian
primary school level.
The online collaboration takes place once a week and we access the
discussion forum. We use the computer projector to project the forum
for the children and one of them would read aloud. Discussion about any
identified issue in the forum would take place. The children would make
their contributions ñ the summary of which would be typed by one of
them into the forum as reply. This is not regular though as the school
time-table is choked up.
Together with the Staff School children, I also participated in the
collaborative programme during the World Environmental Day. The
children had their own rally within their school compound on June 7,
2005 morning and was rounded up with tree planting.
The CESE-LASU celebrated the World Environment Day for two days ñ June
7-8, 2005. There was a rally on the university campus and trees were
planted. On the second day, there were lectures on the theme of the
year: Green Cities: Plan for the Planet.
|
|
|
| |
Planting trees on the
World Environment Day |
The Head teacher of the school is about to plant a tree to celebrate the day
| The environmental rally |
I also worked with my colleagues to integrate iEARN projects into
university teaching. I am involved in teaching a course titled Design
and Production of Environmental Messages for postgraduate students of
CESE-LASU. I registered them in the iEARN Teachersí forum with the goal
to give them a global view of environmental issues and relate it to the
local environment to be able to produce meaningful messages on current
issues.
Problems and Challenges
Currently, I have to work offline with the pupils of LASU staff school,
though I have registered them for online participation. This is because
children can collaborate online only during the 30-minute midday break.
The Internet facilities are available in the Educational Technology
Centre of the university and the time is not adequate for any
meaningful activities. After reading the discussion we have a secretary
among the children who will write down the comments and another one
will type it online to reply the discussant.
To improve on this, l am making an instructional video package for
children on the concepts of environmental conservation and air
pollution. The children from three different primary schools would be
the actors in this docudrama. This will be used to interact with more
Nigerian children. The main problem is funding. We are at the rehearsal
stage now after which there would be a pre-production seminar before
finally recording the plays.
Assessment
The staff school children involved in the iEARN project are required to
keep diaries on their observations on environmental pollution and waste
management within their home environments. These diaries become the
basis for the assessment.
The postgraduate students of CESE-LASU presented seminar papers on
global and local environmental policies as well as local environmental
problems. This formed the basis for the design of the environmental
messages. They would also produce posters, radio jingles, and banners
on environmental messages for sustainability. At the end of the course
there would be an exhibition of their productions at a poster session.
Recommendations
The common saying among the environmentalists is: Think Globally and Act Locally.
It might not be possible to take some actions at the local level
especially in developing countries without the global support from
developed countries. There should be global financial support to carry
out some local projects which will enhance the sustainability of the
environment for generations yet unborn.
|
