Introduction
Environmental education in Poland By 1999, formal environmental education was conducted chiefly in biology lessons, and extra-curriculum and club activities. As in many other countries, this was the responsibility of biology teachers (Mongensen, 2003). Initially, environmental education was, in practice, limited to providing pupils with knowledge about environmental protection. A reform of the education system introduced changes to the structure of the education system and to the Core Curriculum. Integrated, multifaceted education focused on practical knowledge was to be the tool in implementing the reform (Buchcic, 2002; Cichy, 2003). From the viewpoint of environmental education, the most essential change was the introduction of the subject of ‘nature’ in primary schools and a new method of teaching about the environment and ecology – the environmental interdisciplinary track – at all stages of education (beginning in 4th grade of primary school).
