Environmental Training Possibilities
Environmental Training as an Interdisciplinary Task of
the Education System
These days environmental protection is a training
concept which is receiving increasing attention in all
fields of the education system. This is particularly
noticeable in general education schools: in primary
schools, the general theme, “Mankind shapes and
influences the environment”, provides various starting
points for tackling environmental issues which are dealt
with in a broader and more differentiated manner at
secondary level. The objective of education related to the
environment is not only to impart knowledge on the
subject but also to sharpen pupils’ awareness of
environmental problems; give young people ethical
standards as an orientation for their future lives; and to
encourage them to think, evaluate and act in a way that
does justice to the environment[1].
Environmental Vocational Training
In vocational training, irrespective of whether it is
training in the dual system or at institutions of higher
education, this educational task is taken further. It has the
additional objective of qualifying young people to act in
an environmentally-aware manner when pursuing their
occupation.
Ecological education and qualification in initial and
continuing training should create the subjective con-
ditions for managing and working in all occupational
fields in a manner which does justice to the
environment[2]. This requirement, i.e. competence to act
in an environmentally-related manner in one’s occupation,
is much more complex than the ability to perform the
technical requirements of one’s job. In addition to
specialized technical qualifications, it includes
environmental awareness as an ethical orientation aimed
at the future and as motivation in the contents of one’s
work. It further implies the willingness to implement
knowledge and abilities related to the environment in
one’s occupational activities. This requirement assumes
both a general competence to act as well as the ability to
cope with, and master, conflicts and contradictions.
The demand for environment-related qualifications for
the gainfully employed does not apply only to selected
occupations which are obviously related to the
environment or are potentially hazardous, e.g.
agricultural and chemical occupations. Today all
occupations are directly or indirectly related to
environmental protection or, in other words, in every
occupational field there are alternative ways of acting. We
have the options of endangering the environment or
reducing or preventing environmental damage as a result
of acting out our occupation. Accordingly, environmental
education is a cross-sectional task which is relevant in all
occupational fields.
Initial education. To describe all the various types of
vocational schools with regard to their relevance for
occupational environmental training would go beyond
the scope of this article, all the more since an exhaustive
description would have to take into account the federal
structure of the school system and thus, the different
regulations in the 16 Laender (states). For the sake of
clarity, these aspects are omitted here in order to give a
deeper insight into the specific subject the report is
dealing with. With regard to initial vocational training,
the examples from the secondary level are restricted to
the most common form – vocational training in the dual
system; at the tertiary level, the examples are drawn from
environment-oriented courses of study at a “Fachschule”,
at specialized colleges of higher education
(Fachhochschulen) and at universities.
Secondary education. The dual system of vocational
training is characterized by the two learning sites, an
enterprise and a vocational school. This form of
vocational training is in principle open to all young people
after they have completed their general education
schooling (primary school and secondary training stage 1).
In vocational training in the dual system, leaving aside
the course of training to become a “water supply and
waste disposal officer”, environmental issues are dealt
with in accordance with the integrated approach[3]. The
central starting point for anchoring environmental
themes into vocational training are the ordinances:
10 JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL TRAINING 18,3
Environmental protection is becoming
increasingly important in vocational training.
Environmental
Training in
Germany
Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 18 No. 3, 1994, pp. 10-16
MCB University Press Limited, 0309-0590
Hilde Biehler-Baudisch