<P> In the United States some of the antecedents of Environmental Education were Nature Studies, Conservation Education and School Camping . Nature studies integrated academic approach with outdoor exploration (Roth, 1978). Conservation Education brought awareness to the misuse of natural resources . George Perkins Marsh discoursed on humanity's integral part of the natural world . The governmental agencies like the U.S. Forest Service and the EPA were also pushing a conservation agenda . Conservation ideals still guide environmental education today . School Camping was exposure to the environment and use of resources outside of the classroom for educational purposes . The legacies of these antecedents are still present in the evolving arena of environmental education . </P> <P> A study of Ontario teachers explored obstacles to environmental education . Through an internet - based survey questionnaire, 300 K - 12 teachers from Ontario, Canada responded . Based on the results of the survey, the most significant challenges identified by the sample of Ontario teachers include over-crowded curriculum, lack of resources, low priority of environmental education in schools, limited access to the outdoors, student apathy to environmental issues, and the controversial nature of sociopolitical action . </P> <P> An influential article by Stevenson (2007) outlines conflicting goals of environmental education and traditional schooling . According to Stevenson (2007), the recent critical and action orientation of environmental education creates a challenging task for schools . Contemporary environmental education strives to transform values that underlie decision making from ones that aid environmental (and human) degradation to those that support a sustainable planet . This contrasts with the traditional purpose of schools of conserving the existing social order by reproducing the norms and values that currently dominate environmental decision making . Confronting this contradiction is a major challenge to environmental education teachers . </P> <P> Additionally, the dominant narrative that all environmental educators have an agenda can present difficulties in expanding reach . It is said that an environmental educator is one "who uses information and educational processes to help people analyze the merits of the many and varied points of view usually present on a given environmental issues ." Greater efforts must be taken to train educators on the importance of staying within the profession's substantive structure, and in informing the general public on the profession's intention to empower fully informed decision making . </P>

Aspects that define the emphasis of environmental education