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Dirty fingers counter ecophobia

Science, Technology and Sustainability Education Senior Lecturer Dr Caroline Smith likes children to get their fingers dirty.

A member of the advisory panel of the Victorian branch of the Resource Smart-Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative (AuSSI Vic), Dr Smith believes children are innately curious about the natural world.

“The processes of science are really important, and if science is taught properly, children can become extremely excited about it,” she said. “Science is about the world. It’s about nature and it’s about how things work.”

Conversely, children who were discouraged from exploring nature and getting their hands dirty could develop “ecophobia” meaning they can develop a fear of the natural world. “It is critical to give young children positive experiences in nature with sympathetic adults.”

Her primary education students learn about educating for sustainability through units on Science and Technology, Studies of society and environment, and an elective Educating for a sustainable future, where they visit a sustainable school in the Sandhurst Diocese, and carry out tree planting and ecology activities.

Dr Smith, who grows fruit, nuts, and vegetables on her organic farm in the Dandenongs, is also researching a book recording the experiences of Australians’ long-term experiences with permaculture, a design system for sustainable human settlement developed by Tasmanian Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in the 1970s.

“Holmgren and Mollison drew on traditional agricultural systems as well as new technologies and ways of thinking, to empower individuals and communities to grow their own food and learn to live sustainably. These are important skills as we continue to try to tackle climate change and learn to live within the planet’s means.”