Thirteen Children in the Wilderness (CITW) staff, SAWC graduates, Eco-Club coordinators and Eco-Club teachers recently attended a Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) training course. The course, entitled Environmental Educators Course, focuses on approaches to environmental teaching and learning, as well as a wide variety of methods and approaches to environmental education.
This five day course involved four days of theory, where participants were introduced to all the ins and outs of Environmental Education practices. There were also many lessons and discussions on certain environmental issues which may be prevalent in the areas in which participants live and teach our Eco-Club programme. Climate change was a major topic for the week, and involved not only theoretical lessons on the issue, but also a very competitive game of Climate Change Cards! This saw participants diving for cards, and stubbornly refusing to lift hands off of cards in order to be declared winners 🙂
One day was spent on a field trip out to Rietvlei Nature Reserve in Pretoria. The idea of this field trip was to see and experience an environmental issue, and understand the possible implications on the environment. The focus was on the invasive plant species which are rife in the reserve. Participants were taken around the reserve by a very experienced guide, Lesley, who spoke about the spread of these invasives, and what Rietvlei is doing to deal with the spread of these invasives.
A huge thank you goes to Fayez Tembon from WESSA who was the facilitator for the week. And of course to our dedicated CITW staff, 2017 SAWC graduates Eco-Club coordinators and Eco-Club teachers who attended the course. They left excited and energised, and ready to implement all that they have learnt in their Eco-Clubs.
