In 2024, a cracked (and definitely not a commando) unit, was sent to Zambia and Zimbabwe by a brilliant wildlife charity for a trip they didn’t deserve. These men promptly escaped their responsibilities and into the African wilderness, visiting field partners throughout the region. Today, still wanted for crimes against professionalism they may have committed, they survive as those who’ve been incredibly fortunate. If you have a classroom, and if no one else can provide environmental insights, and if you can find them… maybe you can hire, the Education Team. Cue the music!

Apologies if you’re not familiar with The A-Team, but that’s how we think of our brilliant Education Team here at DSWF. Back in September 2024, our Head of Education was part of a visit to our Field Partners at GRI and Painted Dog Conservation in Zambia and Zimbabwe respectively. And as we look forward to the live final of our Global Canvas competition this week, it’s a good time to look at just some of the impact our education outreach has.

In this blog, Mark Ellis gives his thoughts on his time in Africa as well as providing a little insight into how these projects provide environmental education programmes, supported and funded by DSWF. But first, a little introduction into environmental education best practices.

Teaching and Learning in Environmental Education

Learning typically works best when information moves from the working to long term memory. Tasks must be carefully designed to ensure young people think hard about the specific learning objectives we want them to know. It is important that the work is challenging but does not cause cognitive overload. In short, novices can’t be expected to become experts having had something explained to them just once. Finally, learning should be sequenced. The order things are delivered can have a big impact on how well they are understood.

Remember even things which are:

• Highly engaging,
• based on students’ own interests,
• involve collaboration between peers,
• designed to allow student led discovery,

will not, on their own, allow mastery of complex ideas or lead to changes in behaviour. Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) research suggests that those that do not master core concepts in science are less likely to have any interest in environmental issues. So, our programmes need to provide these foundational basics to be at their most effective.

Wherever it happens, the process of learning is similar in any context and needs to be carefully managed. We must ensure it does not accidently focus on the fluent, confident students, whilst leaving some behind.

This is the lens through which we looked at how our field partners delivered the programmes we fund and support.

Game Rangers International (GRI).

In Lusaka, Zambia, GRI have a dedicated education complex which was built and funded through DSWF support. The Discovery Centre is a brilliant and wonderful building with a bright and engaging interior. There is a clear focus on wildlife content, and it is a huge, accommodating space for the large groups of school children that visit, often brought there by the bus also funded and provided by DSWF. Without it, over a thousand students a year might be denied access to this incredible place of learning.

However, even this built-for-purpose space must sometimes compromise on its function, acting as a museum gallery, art studio, lab, demonstration area and much more as required by the organisation. It also has limited resources – lacking many items we would consider standard in a UK school.

One of the things the visit revealed was that many African school children are accustomed to sitting on the floor – either directly or on thin cushions. This means they often use the floor to write and draw on, which we know is not conducive to optimised learning. DSWF may be able to steer future funding towards equipping the Discovery Centre more adequately. There is also no main display screen and as you may imagine, a stable and reliable Wi-Fi in the middle of a remote African National Park is more mythical than mainstay.

Even for the resources they depend on – such as paper and drawing materials, there is a very limited budget. All of this points to the fact that we can always do better. We’d love to be able to support GRI with branded workbooks that encapsulate what the children have learnt, for better embedding of key messages for instance. This is why your ongoing support is so crucial to our education operations.

Despite all we’ve achieved, who knows what the future holds with the right support – perhaps a centre of excellence in ESG ready to engage the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, and other agencies. We know these types of organisations are actively looking for partners in the Global South. If you or your organisation would like to be involved in sponsoring aspects of our education programme and outreach, contact us at education@davidshepherd.org

Education Outreach

Again, it was clear from our time in Africa that the education specialists, such as Billy and Christine from GRI, have a great rapport with the children. Whether children were visiting the Discovery Centre or outreach was being conducted in the schools, the visits were highly anticipated, and everyone looked forward to them.

However, like all the resources we encountered during our time there, it felt they were stretched, and it was clear to us that more support would always be both needed and welcome. DSWF is a small but mighty charity and we’re very proud that without huge overheads and administrative costs, we can channel most of the funds we raise to where its needed most. But visits like this one make it clear we can’t take anything for granted nor rest on our laurels.

We did make recommendations on the content of the curriculum, which we felt could be tailored to the audience. Most of the students we met were the sons and daughters of farmers, and the content needs to be sophisticated to change the hearts and minds of these children. And again, it was clear many of the schools were under equipped.

Painted Dog Conservation (PDC)

We spent several days and sessions visiting the Bush Camp run by PDC on the borders of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. It was clear in every moment that the Bush Camp was genuinely life changing for every child taking part. We saw it in their faces and excited glances at every turn. We were left in no doubt that they will remember this experience for the rest of their lives. The staff are hugely experienced and have a wonderful rapport with the children. The pure joy expressed by them when seeing an elephant for the first time is something that will stay with us forever.

You may be surprised to hear that for many, the wildlife on their doorstep was not something they encountered regularly, if at all. Many had an ingrained sense of fear of the animals as crop raiders or for simply being dangerous. But with the National Park needing to charge for entry, access simply isn’t available to many of them. That’s why the programme at PDC can be so life changing, especially with a day visit to the park included as part of their Bush Camp experience.

Overall, we were impressed with how mature and well thought out the programme was – only limited by the same challenges as we saw in Zambia, in terms of resources and capacity.

Thanks to You

During our short time there, we saw the difference DSWF support and funding, made possible by your generosity has changed the lives of hundreds of children in Southern Africa. We’ve been funding GRI since 2007 and were central to their founding and establishment. In that time, we’ve raised millions of pounds for their programmes and reached thousands of children. None of what we’ve achieved would be possible without you – but as this blog softly suggests, the need for our work continues.

Our association with Painted Dog Conservation goes back to 1995 and similarly, you’ve enabled us to transform the lives of children in Zimbabwe through the programmes we support and fund.

The trip has inspired us to try to do even more and continue to consult and provide support for our incredible Field Partners. If you’ve been inspired to help us do just that, you can donate via the link below.

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