Best Practices for Recent Bachelor Degree Recipients to Obtain a Full Time Position as an Educator with an Environmental Education Organization

The North American Association of Environmental Education (NAAEE) has been the leader in defining the career of environmental education. In the publication, Guidelines for the Preparation and Professional Development of Environmental Educators (2010), the organization recommends what a quality environmental educator should be striving towards in the education in which they provide. The literature is lacking any recommendations or data which infers the basic knowledge, skills and abilities that a prospective employee needs in order to obtain an initial full time educator position with an environmental education organization. This study uses content analysis, a quantitative research method, to analyze the advertised full time environmental education positions on NAAEE’s EEJobs website, to infer the core knowledge, skills and abilities that employers are seeking in a full time environmental educator. Through the analysis of the collected data, recommendations have been suggested to assist potential environmental educators in obtaining the knowledge, skills, abilities and experience employers are seeking, to improve their chances of obtaining gainful employment. Lacking discovery of any existing employment manuals or guides in the environmental education field, a short brochure was developed for potential distribution to recent college students studying environmental education