Mr Scott Mc Kim
Reflections from the 2009 Toyota International Teacher Program to Costa Rica
McKim takes a moment to reflect at the University of Peace in San José.
Check out Scott's Blog from the trip here
My perspective on environmental conservation and sustainability prior to my trip to Costa Rica was fashioned by American culture, the international and national travel that I’d done, as well as books that I read. Much of my post-secondary education was shaped around my interest in the environment and our societal need to better conserve the natural world and work towards sustainability. So, going into the Costa Rican travel experience I felt pretty well versed in conservation issues. However, even given my schooling in this area, I walked away from this Costa Rican experienced with two profound insights.
A large emphasis and on-going theme of the trip was on the topic of sustainability. Like I mentioned above, I was familiar with the concept before traveling to Costa Rica but I didn’t realize or have it crystallize in my psyche yet that sustainability is really the end goal to the issues of environmental importance: conservation, energy crisis, endangered species, etc. Once sustainability is attained, true sustainability, many of these other environmental issues will be solved. This was a big “ah ha” moment for me.
A second learning point that tweaked my perspective came from seeing firsthand all the efforts in Costa Rica to achieve an environmentally-friendly social conscience. We were witness to methods ranging from dirt-poor farmers practicing sustainable agriculture techniques to hearing the Ministry of Environment speak of the country’s initiative to be 100% relying on renewable energy. My perspective is that here in the U.S. we do a lot of talking about being more environmentally friendly but often time little action accompanies such words. I feel that in Costa Rica they are actually taking quite a bit of action in this regard. In these two ways my perspectives have really changed.
I am now a much more informed teacher than I was before the trip to Costa Rica. I am now armed with better knowledge to impart to my students. In addition to this, I will begin to put a greater emphasis on the concept of sustainability in my classroom.