However, there are other, unusual, connections being made. The picking up of litter in the school playground has become equated with solving all environmental issues. While it is important for children to feel that they can make a difference, reducing environmental education to this area alone, disempowers children in the long term. Teaching programs can be thought of as teaching 'about', 'in', 'for' or 'with' the environment. Many people have programs that explain concepts about the environment.
Teachers often begin by educating about the environment.
However, they usually quickly progress to teaching in the environment. For example, they will take children on excursions and investigate the local frog population, and discuss the gradual decline in the numbers of frogs in Australia. In teaching for the environment, children need to be given many opportunities in which they can do more than talk about environmental issues. They need to be provided with the skills of knowing how to act in order to look after their environment, and to do this, children need to be able to recognise broad environmental issues not just littering but global issues affecting people now and in the future. Educating for the environment allows children to take responsibility for their actions and feel they too can make a difference in caring for the environment.