Environmental Education as a Key Element for Values Education

Resumen

Environmental degradation and destruction and the disappearance of natural habitats can createmany problems. Education, with the objective of achieving a comprehensive development of theindividual, plays an important role, without forgetting those values which result from the individuals’ interaction with their environment. In this sense, we can state that in the school context there is agreat concern about Environmental Education, which is considered as one of the most importantsource of values in the classroom: respect and care, protection and interest in all that surrounds us(natural environments). Environmental Education is of crucial importance in the school context, dueto the present progressive environmental degradation, since it promotes the development of basicskills related to the students’ active involvement and values development. Therefore, althoughlegislative and social changes should go hand in hand, in Spain Environmental Education camefrom cross-cutting approaches (what is called Education for…(Perrenoud, 2012), with theEducation System General Order (Ley de Ordenación General del Sistema Educativo Español(LOGSE, 1990). This order tried to promote educational practices which dealt with environmentalproblems in an interdisciplinary manner, promoting, in this sense, values education in students.Although it is an open approach, this paper aims at justifying the importance of the treatment ofEnvironmental Education, as an educational value, in values education.