Visuals in textbooks imparting Environmental Education in India, Japan, and Mexico

Abstract

all be taken of all the of the of Abstract Visuals are deployed in textbooks, including in those used for Environmental Education (EE) instruction in India, Japan, and Mexico, to perform various pedagogical functions that are not evident at first glance. Formal EE today engages with students in developing necessary skills, favourable attitudes, and capacities for participation, which are essential for Sustainable Development. The main question for this inquiry was, “What role do visuals play in achieving the objectives of EE?” We analysed Grade VI Science textbooks which revealed that all the five objectives of EE— 1. Awareness 2. Knowledge 3. Attitude 4. Skills and 5. Participation — were fulfilled by text-visual segments, variously in the three textbooks, with visuals serving one or more of the following functions, if not all— Evocation, Definition, Application, Description, and Interpretation . However, a more in-depth research and discussion are required to generate EE-specific functionalities. As environmental challenges range from local to global with a universal context, visuals in EE textbooks can serve as an efficient medium to add depth, complexity, and abstraction (of various environmental challenges) as well as support image-mediated learning processes in school educational contexts.