Bringing the Environment Home: Environment Education in Low-Income Urban Communities

This report will explore how environmental education programs are being implemented in low-income urban schools, specifically in Toronto, Ontario. Research suggests that it is essential that environmental education be founded on experiential hands on learning while also being taught in context of the local community. As a result, geographic, cultural, social and economic aspects of each community should be taken into consideration when developing and implementing environmental education in the classroom. This paper will attempt to identify how 1) environmental education programs are currently being implemented in low-income urban schools and 2) whether these programs account for the different aspects of the community; this will be attempted through the use of teacher interviews as well as a literature review