Seguridad frente al riesgo causado por la acción del rayo

The Eco-Schools pack suggests that active participation of learners in the Eco-Schools programme can develop knowledge, skills and values that are useful for managing home and school environments better, and that this will enable learners to develop the positive

orientation necessary for managing their lives and business activities responsibly and effectively in future.

As shown in the data-based discussions in sections 4.2-4.5 above, the Eco-Schools

programme and the teachers and principals involved are playing a role in encouraging the young by being exemplary in their deeds and actions, through encouraging ethics of care and concern for the environment in which they live. This was evident in the Eco-Schools that I visited, when you see how enthusiastic and positive the teachers are with regard to the Eco- Schools activities (see section 4.4.). From my observation, I could see that when the teachers are interested and appreciate the learners’ contributions to environmental activities the learners in return becomes excited and want to take on the activities. This section reports on how Eco-Schools activities inspire young children as well as teachers to take on new actions or behaviours, and through this develop positive learning environments, values and school improvements.

Node coordinator 1 explained how the learners have transformed barren land into beautiful and attractive school areas and how the outdoor activities and learning has contributed to good environmental areas within their communities.

…. Incredible transformation (has taken place) here in Cape Town where [there were] very, very sandy soils where the schools were like deserts and [where they have been] transformed into a green learning and outdoor learning environment and you can see that on the physical level there is definitive evidence that this happened through the Eco-Schools programme.

Teacher 8 also gave an account of how the Eco-Schools programme has changed the perceptions of the community in which they appreciate the efforts that are done at school in having such a clean and green school where their children are learning.

It has been a fantastic changeover; a great mind set change and attitude change… that involved not only learners or educators but also the community as such, because prior to being an Eco-School we had a massive litter problem, barren land, and wasteland. And now the parents actually remarked that it is such a wonderful feeling to walk into a clean and green school and they feel proud to send their children to what is now called an Eco-School and we are proudly flying our Eco-Schools green flag.

Teacher 8 gave her view of how she believed the Eco-Schools programme helped change the lives of some unruly learners into positive behaviours which were appreciated by the

community. She said that:

I have been working with a group of unruly learners and after 12 months, parents acknowledged a change in the learners’ behaviour towards environment. Learners have become more determined and [are now] spending their time actually doing positive projects in and around the school. The school has imparted skills to learners because they have started their own gardens at home and [they are] doing clean up activities at home by themselves. Eco-Schools have made tremendous inroads with respect to skill development in the children and community. It has been a great change in attitude, mindset and not only in children or educators alone but also in the

community in general.

Gardens have been one of the major success stories that have come out of the activities at the schools that I observed. Principal 3 explained how the learners have extended the garden project outside the school into the community in which learners have started their own gardens at their homes, and this has also encouraged their neighbours to become involved.

Mrs. X told me that some of the learners have started gardens at home and I suggested to her (Mrs. X) that we must arrange a visit to the children’s homes to see what they are doing and to appreciate and acknowledge what they are doing. I am still waiting for her to make an arrangement, so that at least 2 or 3 teachers can go there and pay a visit to their home and acknowledge the work done by the kids (Principal 3).

Teacher 8 explained how the school gardens have developed skills not only in learners but community members who have imparted these skills in becoming entrepreneurial in their own way. She talked about how

… Learners have become active in gardening and they speak about how they now started their own gardens at home, now their neighbours are now curious how they got gardens and it spread (teacher 8).

… Because we did not just invite our learners to participate in gardening but we extended this to the community and now parents jumped at this chance. Because we are coming from a low and middle income sector and many of them needed skills training and they needed space in which to grow vegetables and when they were able to plant some of the crops and sell the crops that they could use for their own personal benefit (teacher 8).

Teacher 4 elaborates on the positive values and ethos that learners are gaining in their daily activities in which they start developing ownership of the school and the general environment in which they live:

That sense of not just accepting your school if it is not a healthy learning environment, not accepting for what it is but to seeing that your action can make a positive change so that it ties to the learners self-esteem and can be positive about their school and if it is not what they want they can make it better. The learners feel the ownership of the entire environment and they also started to respect the environment. And unlike in the past when they showed no respect for the environment, nowadays they feel more

responsible to the environment.

Teacher 4 explained how she had noticed the change in the learners that she has been working with in terms of reminding her of the lights and the water leakages in the toilets and over time she has noticed that her class has become cleaner due to the positive approach that the

learners had towards the environment.

Amongst the ones whom I have been working with, I have seen a difference; for instance, now they don’t leave the light on in the class. They even remind me sometimes when I forget if it is break-time they tell me you must switch off your lights. ‘Before you leave your class you cannot leave lights like that if there is nobody

in the room.’ Even items of papers in my class [are no longer scattered around] because now … they know they can’t drop papers on the floor. We got a bin where they can drop litter and they even tell me when there are leaky taps in the toilets even around the school. So they are more aware of these activities and are involved (teacher 4).

Teacher 2 explained how the environmental learning that took place at her school has helped learners to love their environment and that they now go to the extent of not drinking water with their hands but with cups or empty bottles that the school provided for them:

As I mentioned earlier on that we did water saving system and learners really have developed the love for the environment, especially when it comes to the water saving. In the past learners would come and waste water so much. Everyone would come to the tap, turn it on and drink water with the hands as such. When we have asked them to use water with the cups or bottles we even gave them some bottles free of charge. I had to collect some from town. They will even come to me and report that so and so is drinking water with hands on the tap and is wasting water.

This section has described how Eco-Schools results have made a difference to the quality of learning environment (the clean and green school) which is appreciated by learners and parents alike. It has also resulted in increased learner participation in, and commitment to environmental issues in the cases reported on here, and more activation and commitment to the school. It has also shown that parents and learners both seem to have an interest in benefits and results of the activities. The scope and context of these results was not determined by this study.