The eight student participants were proud to be part of the sustainability culture at Bunjil partly because of the reputation of the school amongst the sustainability community (via the awards won under the sustainability banner), and also because it gave them the opportunity to act for the environment. For example, Brian, a Year 9 student, stated:
I feel like getting involved and helping. I definitely feel good knowing that we’re working toward helping the environment or doing something sustainable for the school. The school has such a big sustainability reputation and getting to be involved is really a privilege. (Brian, 00:04:21)
Brian’s family supported his role in the club and his membership has had a positive influence on his immediate family: “Yeah. I’d say they agree and care for the environment. They have a mutual care for the environment” (Brian, 00:02:56).
Allison in Year 8 offered another perspective, stating that she was influenced by an older sibling to join the environment club:
I don’t really know, but I [have] always loved animals. And then one day I found out that some of my favourite animals were dying; I wanted to help them and make a difference to their habitat; and that’s how I started being more into sustainability and making sure we still look after them [the animals]. (Allison, 00:01:42)
The love of animals as motivation for joining the environment club was a theme shared with some other students in the study. Samantha from Year 9, for example, also had a love of animals but the circumstances behind her story were different. Samantha came to be in the
environmental club largely due to an unfortunate childhood experience (when she was aged seven) when a number of penguins were found dead on the beach due to entanglement with plastic rings:
It was quite scary because five or six of the penguins were dead on the beach and they had bottle or rubbish bags wrapped around their neck, and that made me think more about what I want to do for the environment and how I could help them. And by doing that, I think that I could help somehow, maybe create less situations like that for seven year-old girls.
(Samantha, 00:00:47)
Like Allison, Luke (Year 7) was encouraged to join the environment club by his sibling (older brother Brandon in Year 9). Luke’s parents supported him being in the club and attending the club working bees at the school. Luke provided more evidence that club membership was linked to facilitating environmental agency in students. Luke felt that he was different from regular students:
Well, I’ve always thought differently about the environment than normal people. I’ve always thought about how things work, and I’ve always wanted to interact with animals, and improve the world. (Luke, 00:02:28)
In standing up for the rights of the natural environment, Luke said, “because I feel strongly about it I probably wouldn’t care if I got beat up, because I’m trying to make a difference to the world” (Luke, 00:11:51). I did not anticipate Luke’s willingness to be physically harmed to protect the environment, but in hindsight his response fitted with a commitment to
environmental action contained within the deep ecology philosophy.
Lucas, a Year 12 student, explained that in his family, there was no explicit commitment to sustainability, but that was more an outcome of having four siblings and a busy household rather than apathy for the environment. When I asked Lucas how he felt about solving
environmental problems, his response indicated agency and empathy toward the environment:
I feel good that at least we’re doing something, rather than letting it slide and just waiting for something big to happen, where we have to do (my italics) something. But then when we solve an environmental problem, [I] think, “What about all the other problems in the world at the moment that no-one else seems to want to fix?” And so that’s a sad feeling, and it’s sort of like a depressed wish [that] everyone would want to do something; instead of not caring about it because it doesn’t directly affect them. (Lucas, 00:05:47)
Brandon was a Year 9 student with three siblings. His parents were supportive of him being in the environment club and the family grew vegetables, composted and kept chickens. Brandon described his family as environment friendly. Brandon provided more evidence for the idea that the environment club set up the conditions for agency in club students: “When I was in Year 7, if something came on the News it would’ve just gone straight over my head. But now I’m really, drawn into listening to it” (Brandon, 00:06:11).
Natalie in Year 12 was a member of the Student Representative Council and Deputy School Captain of the environment club. Born in the USA, she had lived in Israel, and had a younger brother. Her mother took on an environmental role at home by recycling,
composting and buying environmentally friendly products. Her mother also came to the tree plantings at the school. Natalie’s comment summed up the sentiment shared by some of the Bunjil environment club students: “I like it [the club] and it’s important to me”4.
Emma in Year 12 was the Captain of the environment club. She had an older brother and parents at home. She described her family as “avid recyclers” who take care not to “cross- contaminate” with her father taking the lead on recycling. Emma added to Natalie’s view: “It [the club] makes me feel really good, but more so I feel like I’m doing something to better
the planet, so that in the future there won’t be as many problems for people to overcome” (Natalie, 00:04:52).
Taken together, students in the club created a situated identity around the people and activities associated with the club, and for most students their parents underpinned this identity forming process. Students’ identities were also formed through their previous experiences with animals, which was associated with student wellbeing and a sense of achievement for some of the participants.