Urban and place-based environmental education in the Ontario Secondary School curriculum

This study reviews the Ontario secondary school curriculum in light of recommendations made by the 2007 Bondar Report, “Shaping Our Schools, Shaping Our Future”. It analyzes curriculum expectations and enrollment data for the purpose of reporting upon and providing recommendations for urban and place-based environmental education (U&PBEE). The extent and prescriptiveness of U&PBEE coverage by subject, course, grade, and course progression or pathway are reported upon. These findings are contextualized through the perspectives of diverse stakeholder groups at the “Education Experts’ Workshop: Implementing 2007 Bondar Report’s Intended Outcomes in 2015” hosted by Ryerson University in April 2015. EE in Ontario does not have its own discrete compulsory courses and despite having been “embedded” in the curriculum, the important arenas of U&PBEE are being applied inconsistently across the mandatory curriculum. Poor enrolment in senior electives shows that the focus of students remains elsewhere, fracturing EE’s progression in secondary schools.