Learning Opportunities

Core Offerings

Guidelines for Excellence

The Guidelines for Excellence is a series of materials that helps environmental educators hone their practice and programs to national standards for high-quality environmental education programming. Developed by the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), the Guidelines document the collective wisdom of hundreds of educators across our nation; these guides are updated periodically to reflect new research, changing best practices, and an increasing attention to equity and inclusion.

Workshops focus on one or more of the Guidelines publications:

K-12 Environmental Education
Professional Development of Environmental Educators
Environmental Education Materials
Nonformal Environmental Education Programs
Early Childhood Environmental Education Programs
Community Engagement

For those pursuing EE Certification in North Carolina managed by our partners at the NC Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs, these workshops qualify for Criteria I/continuing education credit. You make take multiple Guidelines workshops for credit, so long as each workshop focuses on a different Guidelines publication.

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Environmental Education

This online course is designed to provide a strong foundation in the language, concepts and principles of equity work for environmental educators and environmental professionals. It is meant to be an introductory course and spark interest in further learning around justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI).

The main topics for the course include:

Foundations of communication for sensitive topics, including group agreements and nonviolent communication.
Developing a common language for discussing JEDI topics
Understanding historical intersections of the environmental movement with social justice topics, how those historical events might still be causing impacts today.
Understanding bias, stereotypes, and oppression
Reflecting on power and privilege that different identities afford, how that power and privilege manifests as microaggressions and how to use the power and privilege you had to develop a personal action plan.

This course was developed through a partnership between Center for Diversity and the Environment, EcoInclusive, Justice Outside, Environmental Educators of North Carolina, Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education, and Kentucky Association for Environmental Education.

Each cohort will have 8 weeks to complete the 10-15 hour asynchronous course. Cohorts will begin quarterly. Course qualifies for Criteria I/continuing education credit for the NC Environmental Educator Certificate.

Universal Design for Learning in Environmental Education

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework to guide the design of learning environments that are accessible and challenging for all, rather than making modifications for individual students’ needs. This course will encourage you to reflect deeply on your practice to focus on how you plan and teach, not just the content you teach. Whether you’re a classroom teacher or outdoor nonformal educator, are an experienced professional or just getting started in the field, and are new to inclusion or have been leading inclusive programming for years, we hope this course will inspire you to strengthen your pedagogical practices so they are more welcoming, inclusive and accessible for all learners.

Focus areas include:

Understanding the principles of Universal Design for Learning
Describing terms, techniques, tools, and resources to promote inclusivity and access to better serve diverse populations, specifically those with learning differences, physical accessibility needs, and language barriers
Evaluating your current teaching practices/pedagogy and your setting to identify barriers to participation
Applying the principles of universal design for learning to your pedagogical practices to redesign a lesson, activity, or program

This course content was designed by Michelle Silvers of Silver’s Lining PLLC, Estrella Risinger with the Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education, Michelle Pearce and Lauren Pyle with the Environmental Educators of North Carolina, with contributions from Rebekah Jones and the Cooper Center for Environmental Learning.

Inquiry-Based Outdoor Learning: USING BEETLES IN NC

The BEETLES (Better Environmental Education, Teaching, Learning, and Expertise Sharing) learning sessions are active experiences crafted to encourage instructors to look at specific aspects of research-based science pedagogy and to inspire shifts in instructors’ thinking about their own teaching and learning. Developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science, these hands-on and interactive sessions promote a student-centered approach to help participants better engage with science and the natural world through inquiry. Learn more about BEETLES at http://beetlesproject.org/

Inquiry-Based Outdoor Learning workshops fully explore 2-4 of the eleven Professional Learning Sessions in their entirety during the 6-10 hours of the workshop:

Adaptation & Evolution
Assessing for Learning
Constructing Understanding
Evidence & Explanations
Field Journaling with Students
Making Observations
Matter & Energy in Ecosystems
Nature and Practices of Science
Promoting Discussion
Questioning Strategies
Teaching & Learning

For those pursuing EE Certification in North Carolina managed by our partners at the NC Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs, these workshops qualify for Criteria I/continuing education credit. You make take multiple Inquiry-Based Outdoor Learning workshops for credit, so long as each workshop focuses on different BEETLES.

Upcoming Courses & Workshops

Wed, May 01
Methods of Teaching Environmental Education Online Workshop (MOTEE)
Online Course
Membership Offer
Details
May 01, 2024, 8:00 AM – May 17, 2024, 5:00 PM
Online Course
Helps practitioners create inclusive and age-appropriate learning experiences, gain group management skills, practice teaching methods to promote inquiry, and gain skills in designing objectives, lessons, and assessments for EE programs using NC Essential Standards as a foundation.
Mon, Jun 03
Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Environmental Education – Online Course
Online Course
Membership Offer
Buy Tickets
Jun 03, 2024, 9:00 AM – Jul 29, 2024, 5:00 PM
Online Course
This course is designed to provide a strong foundation in the language, concepts and principles of equity work for environmental educators and environmental professionals.
Mon, Jun 17
Universal Design for Learning in Environmental Education
Online Course
Membership Offer
Buy Tickets
Jun 17, 2024, 9:00 AM – Jul 29, 2024, 5:00 PM
Online Course
We hope this course will inspire you to strengthen your pedagogical practices so they are more welcoming, inclusive and accessible for all learners.
Sat, Oct 05
Inquiry Based Outdoor Learning: Using BEETLES in NC Workshop: The NC Arboretum, Asheville
Asheville
Membership Offer
Details
Oct 05, 2024, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Asheville, 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville, NC 28806, USA
The BEETLES learning sessions are active experiences crafted to encourage instructors to look at specific aspects of research-based science pedagogy and to inspire shifts in instructors’ thinking about their own teaching and learning.

About our Events

SECTION EVENTS

Throughout the year, EENC offers regional section events across the state. These events vary greatly in length, topic, and format - but their goal is the same: to bring local environmental educators together! Some events might be more recreational in nature, like kayaking or a group hike. Others may be more social, like brewery/film screening meet-up or cookouts. Still others may be more content-driven, like a guided wildflower walk or teaching strategies seminar. We've also hosted book-clubs, behind-the-scenes tours, and family-friendly gatherings.

EENC Regional Section map, showing county breakdown of Western, Piedmont, Central, and Eastern sections.

WEBINARS

North Carolina is a large state. EENC provides virtual opportunities so that educators from Murphy to Manteo to gather together, to learn with and from one another. EENC currently hosts monthly webinars on the third Thursday of the month. We invite presenters to share their expertise and experience about hot topics impacting our EE community. If you are interested in presenting a webinar, contact the Program Coordinator. All webinars are free for participants. Recordings are sent to all participants afterward.

COMMUNITY CALLS

Community calls are a great chance to share what you're thinking, listen to what others are planning, ask questions of one another, and feel a sense of community. These drop-in interactive calls provide virtual opportunities to engage with your peers throughout the year. Some calls have specific themes for target audiences, while others are more general. We don't have the answers, but we're hoping that together, we can create solutions!

EVENTS FROM OUR PARTNERS

EENC is an Affiliate co-host of the NAAEE Monthly Webinar Series, an Outdoor Learning Store workshop partner, and a Green Teacher Webinar partner. You can find many of EENC's signature and partnered events listed on Facebook. Looking for additional professional development? There are a wide variety of environmental education organizations that offer professional development for North Carolina's EE community.

PROGRAM EVALUATION DASHBOARD

https://eenc-visualization.streamlit.app/~/+/#welcome-to-the-eenc-dashboard