
William SmithRMIT University | RMIT · School of Education
William Smith
B Agr Sc, B Ed, Dip Ed, M Agr Sc, PhD
Retired from academic research & teaching—still interested in environmental philosophy/psychology, science/mathematics.
About
15
Publications
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204
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Introduction
Additional affiliations
June 2017 - August 2017
Publications
Publications (15)
Previous environmental education [EE] research investigations in sustainable recycling practices have focused on the effect of teacher-or adult-driven programs on student pro-environmental behaviour (PEB). The study in this paper uses the theoretical frameworks of environmental-social psychology and connectedness to nature, to investigate EE. The s...
Curriculum implications and social power around a new idiom. Social psychology of the "common person" and "pass the pub test". William Smith Media discourse may be used to manipulate groups and create inequalities of power, sometimes toppling Australian politicians from power-forces central to the English and Media curriculum. Critical discourse an...
This study of Naessian ecocentrism and anthropocentrism in three environment club coordinators/science teachers, their colleagues and some parents at three secondary schools uses deep ecology and relational fields as primary frameworks for open-ended interviews. The findings reveal new insights into the affective, cognitive and behavioural characte...
This qualitative study used a deep ecology lens and the New Environmental Paradigm to investigate anthropocentrism and ecocentrism in 30 secondary school environment club students from three schools in Victoria, Australia. The work repositions the deep ecology philosophy as a posthumanist/relational ideology, providing novel perspectives based on k...
Animal use and dissection in schools may soon be regulated, as is currently the case for experimentation on animals. Dissection in junior science is losing popularity in schools and questions are being raised over the the validity of dissections in senior classes. Alternatives to animals are described, but it may be difficult to replace the skills...
Critical discourse analysis is a powerful linguistic tool that can be applied to environmental policy and curriculum documents (discourse/text) to unveil the underlying social goods and power relationships embedded in text. It provides teachers, curriculum coordinators, principals and others (readers) with the means to investigate the agenda of the...
This study explores the social forces operating within the school-family sustainability milieu, in the context of a family that lives sustainably, and participates in school sustainability projects. We conducted open-ended interviews with two students who attend a state secondary school, their parents, the sustainability coordinator, and the princi...
Deep ecology is an ecological philosophy that promotes an ecocentric lifestyle to remedy the problems of depleting resources and planetary degradation. An integral part of this ecosophy is the process of forming a metaphysical connection to the earth, referred to as self-realisation; an unfolding of the self out into nature to attain a transcendent...
This study investigates ecocentrism in secondary schools and challenges the anthropocentric view of conserving natural resources for future humans. It aims to reveal whether sustainability education in schools is driven by a narrow science focus or whether there are deep ecology perspectives also operating to solve environmental problems. This stud...
This study was undertaken to establish patterns of use of animals in selected schools, and teachers' attitudes to such use. Statistics on live animal studies and dissections were received from 34 of the 106 schools approached. It was notable that 16 species of animal were used for dissection, and that cost was the major factor which limited dissect...
Our results showed more rapid falls in pulse rate and blood pressure in rats euthanized in a chamber precharged with carbon dioxide (CO2), when compared with rats euthanized more slowly, but death still took over 5 min in the former group. There was no behavioural evidence of pain or distress in either group during euthanasia. Initial ataxia and dy...
Xylazine, ketamine, methohexitone and alphadalone/alphaxalone, were administered intraperitoneally, intramuscularly or intravenously to mice, rats, guinea pigs and rabbits. Times for disappearance and reappearance of reflexes were recorded, and duration of loss of reflex. Delivering a predetermined dose gave a varying individual response, ranging f...