Environment education

Sarah Watts talks about her experiences as a Field Studies Instructor on the Isle of Wight and how she feels she’s made a positive impact

I was shocked to find that one student didn't know what a horse was and it was amazing to see how much groups took from their experience

When I graduated from Hull University, I wasn't sure about how best to use the skills I'd just gained. I took a seasonal job on a nature reserve and it was there that I began to become interested in environment education.

I went on to work for PGL as a field studies instructor on the Isle of Wight. My job was to work with groups of children, leading activities and field trips. Sessions varied a lot, we conducted human impact assessments, went rock pooling, studied coastal formations and walked up rivers. The pay was pretty awful and it was really hard work, but when things went well and I saw the children really uplifted and engaged with the environment, it gave me a fantastic buzz.

I found the most rewarding groups to work with were those from built up areas who had seen very little of the British countryside. I remember leading an inner city group on a local hike, when a boy pointed to a field and asked what the animal was which was grazing in it. I was shocked by the fact that not only had this boy never seen a horse before, but that he wasn't even aware what one looked like. It was amazing to see how much groups like that took from their experience, finding everything they saw fascinating and new; spotting crabs on the beach or finding newts when pond dipping.

I think it is now more important than ever that children engage with their environment, enjoy it and ask questions about it. In order to educate children about the world they live in, I strongly believe that they need to be actively involved so that they are inspired to learn for themselves. It was my job to catch their curiosity in the right way and it was great to see some children becoming enthusiastic about ecology and their environment and actively start to look for information themselves. Teaching children about the environment around them is a positive step forward. It can give them the tools for a greater insight into the world and can spark a future interest in the environment.

If children grow up learning to appreciate the environment they will have a better chance of taking the idea of environmental preservation seriously. If I've inspired just a few groups to take an interest in the environment and start caring about how it's treated, then all my cold, muddy, hard work maybe has been worth it.