UC Irvine

Preparing our preservice teachers to meaningfully engage their future students in environmental literacy is a critical task of our time. Issues of environmental justice impact us at local and global levels. Our youth should be engaged in an understanding of the causes, consequences, and potential solutions from K-12. This practice-oriented paper proposes an approach to supporting preservice teachers via the Equity Issues in K-9 Environmental and Science Education course, a course that centers students’ local knowledge and experiences by merging science education and environmental education through the theme of environmental justice for learning.