Ontario Schools Launch Environmental Curriculum

On June 22, Ontario Education Minister Kathleen Wynne announced that as of January 2008, all elementary and secondary schools in the Canadian province will provide environmental education.

• Release. Contact: Michelle Despault (416-212-3747) or Patricia MacNeil (416-325-2676).

The schools will implement these recommendations of the province's Curriculum Council (an advisory group of community leaders and education experts):
- Integrating environmental education into all subjects in all grades
- Developing a new optional grade 11 course focused on environmental education
- Increasing experiential environmental learning opportunities
- Creating and publishing an environmental education policy by Fall 2007
- Establishing environmental education standards to be applied to curriculum reviews
- Working more closely with community partners and other government ministries to enhance environmental education
- Providing training and resource guides to teachers

• Ontario Curriculum Council, working group on environmental education. Chair: Dr. Roberta Bondar (Canadian astronaut and neurologist), Trent University, 416-481-5847.
• More details on the environmental education initiative can be found in this June 2007 Curriculum Council report.