Agents of change are those people, organisations or objects that influence pro-environmental change on land. Influence can be direct, through advice, or indirect, by shaping the relationship and values people have with regard to land. Farm advice has been studied a lot. In contrast our research looks at more indirect agents of change that inspire different relationships with and values relating to the land. We expect these types of agents of change may have the potential to make more profound changes to how people manage the land, but it will take longer to see the changes. This research looks at ways how those with a mandate to protect the environment can better understand and support less obvious agents of change.
Part of our research looked at three schools with strong and distinct relationships with the land. Schools are examples of indirect agents of change. We wanted to understand how schools may shape pro-environmental activity on land. We did not seek to compare the schools because they have different educational purposes. Rather, we sought to characterise the different ways they influence pro-environmental activity.
When we interviewed teachers and students we found that all teachers seek to prepare students for ‘the changing, challenging world ahead’. Yet teachers’ interpretation of what will be needed differs. For example, some seek to prepare students to best navigate and survive in the world of work or further study, while others seek to empower students to challenge the norms they will encounter, either in the workplace or in any future study.
Overview of the schools
Hauraki Plains College
(high school)
A state high school situated in an agricultural area, with many students coming from farming backgrounds.
As a state school, Hauraki Plains College caters for the widest range of potential careers that students may pursue. Teachers noted that one of the main challenges faced in developing skills related to land managment is online misinformation and division. To navigate this, teachers focused on building critical thinking skills so that students could recognise entrenched views, consider multiple perspectives, and identify credible information sources. These skills were considered valuable in students’ future working life, whether environmental or not.
Climate Action Campus
(satellite primary and high school)
A satelite school that students visit a few hours per week. It was started because of insufficient time in school curriculums for students to take practical action in response to climate change. Students spend time to be outdoors, building confidence to take tangible actions in the face of climate change.
Climate Action Campus teachers talked about their reason for working at the school, which was its proactive approach to pro-environmental learning and action. Rather than focusing on developing technical skills for vocational or career pathways, they focus on activities that engage students with the environment to develop foundational skills for pro-environmental activity in everyday life. They consider this to be a critical life skill. A key focus is building students’ connection with the natural world to better appreciate and understand it (e.g. through art, gardening, planting, or looking after animals). Teachers expect this approach will help develop and build confidence and positive attitudes and skills that will later be transferred to future pro-environmental actions.
Pūhoro Science, Technology, Engeneering, Math, and Mātauranga (STEMM) Academy
(high school, tertiary education and vocational training)
A virtual academy that seeks to enable and inspire rangatahi Māori to pursue STEMM careers. They connect cohorts of students in other institutions around the country with mentors, and the cohorts meet in person several times a year.
The Pūhoro mentors and students highlighted the benefit of being involved in a kaupapa (activity) to (re)connect rangatahi (young) Māori with their culture and help complement Western science with mātauranga (traditional Māori knowledge). For mentors, respecting and caring for the natural world (e.g. through kaitiakitanga and whakapapa) is central to Māori world views, and this is assumed to influence pro-environmental attitudes. Pūhoro seeks to connect and/or support rangatahi with STEMM vocational or training opportunities in existing institutional structures. In the longer term they hope this will help shape attitudes within those institutions to be more inclusive of Māori knowledge. It was notable how engaged and motivated the students from Pūhoro were in their study or work. Students felt validated in their identity and potential career paths by drawing on both Western and Māori knowledge systems.
Key findings
Schools are agents of change, and each school has different ways to instill pro-environmental attitudes early in life. Our research suggests the following.
- Schools are enabled by the communities they are embedded within, and these communities may be geographical or virtual. The more supportive a school’s wider community is of pro-environmental attitudes and action, the more likely such attitudes and skills will be developed in the school. This influence works both ways: communities influence schools and schools influence communities. So any efforts or support given to schools to help them develop pro-environmental attitudes also needs to consider their wider community.
- Critical thinking skills are important foundational skills and are nurtured in schools. Yet this has been equated to taking a ‘balanced view’ of issues and considering both sides. This may in some ways inadvertently justify environmentally damaging behaviours, by framing them as just one of two equal sides of an argument.
- Schools with a more focused mission or value set that aligns with pro-environmental action find it easier to nurture the development of pro-environmental attitudes and action in their students. Where such schools exist (or seek to exist) they should be encouraged or supported to succeed (e.g. funded). It would be worth considering how these schools could work better with mainstream state schools to amplify their impact; for example, through funding support; logistical support (e.g. getting to and from school); creating room in the curriculum for what is currently seen as extra-curricular activity; identifying champions of the initiatives within state schools.
- All schools are dealing with youth or young adults, so there will be significant delays before these students progress into the workforce and the impact of school initiatives is seen. Such delays need to be considered, as do the other competing influences on the students that may negate pro-environmental attitudes. In other words, while the potential impact of such initiatives is high, they may not come to fruition for some years. Therefore other interventions (outside of schools) that have a more immediate impact are also needed to achieve pro-environmental impacts on land.
