The Awesomeness of Ecopedagogy

Kirsten Skaret ID: 306510 410 Integration; Sharon Pelech

Every child is born a naturalist. His eyes are, by nature, open to the glories of the stars, the beauty of the flowers, and the mystery of life.
- R. Search

There is a Native American proverb that says, we do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow from our children. With this in mind I would like to introduce the concept of ecopedagogy, a philosophy and way of life that acknowledges our connection to the Earth - something 21st century society has seemed to have lost. In this paper I will attempt to explain what ecopedagogy is as well as why I think it is important to formal education.

Ecopeda-what?!

Defining ecopedagogy is no easy task and surely I could write an entire book on it, but alas I must reign myself in. When one attempts to define ecopedagogy it is impossible not to consider several other important terms which are often used synonymously. These include: critical pedagogy; ecocriticism; ecological literacy (or ecoliteracy); environmental education; sustainable education. I will attempt to define some of these terms with a focus on creating a better understanding of ecopedagogy. Gadotti regards the term sustainable as implying a balance between the human being with himself, the planet and the entire universe. (2010, p.205).

Richard Kahn defines ecopedagogy in the following excerpt from his book, Critical Pedagogy, Ecoliteracy and Planetary crisis:

Ecopedagogy as an attempt to interpolate quintessentially Freirian aims of the humanization of experience and the achievement of a just and free world with a future-oriented ecological politics that militantly opposes the globalization of neoliberalism and imperialism, on the one hand, and attempts to foment collective ecoliteracy and realize culturally relevant forms
2

of knowledge grounded in normative concepts such as sustainability, planetarity, and biophilia, on the other. -Kahn, 2010, p. 18

Gadotti defines ecopedagogy as a pedagogy that overcomes the anthrocentrism of traditional pedagogies and establishes as its underlying assumption a symbiosis between people and nature (2003, p 205). In 1999 the Paulo Freire Institute sponsored the First International Symposium of the Earth Charter on the Perspective of Education in Sao Paolo, Brazil. During this symposium the EcoPedagogy Charter was created which established some of the following principles of Ecopedagogy:
Tenderness towards our home, planet Earth The planet as a single community Earth is the mother, a living organism in evolution A biophile pedagogy (promoter of life) Re-educating the way we look at things, the heart, the feelings A new conscience that knows what it sustainable, appropriate and that makes sense for our existence -Gadotti, 2003, p 213.

For the remainder of my paper I will use these terms synonymously although I recognize there are vast differences between some of them, that is for another paper and another time.

Why Do We Need Ecopedagogy in Formal Education?

In todays society you would be hard-pressed to say there is not an environmental crisis going on. One cannot go anywhere without seeing the words, green, or environmentally-friendly or hearing about bizarre temperatures and storms across the globe. As a society we are slowly starting to understand the brevity of the situation but we are a far way off from serious action. I believe that the best way I can help is to educate my students about the damage that we are inflicting on our planet as well as the consequences of our explosive development and consumption.

There is no question that drastic steps need to be made to save our planet and everything on it, including mankind and the students I teach in elementary are going to be the ones to do it. As many researchers and philosophers have said education is the key to saving the Earth from our current eco-crisis. Gadotti has remarked that the concept of sustainability has an excellent educational component because the preservation of the environment depends on ecological awareness, which depends on education (2010, p. 205). I agree with the words of Gadotti and feel education is the only way we can prevent our children from making the same mistakes we have made as a society. By incorporating ecopedagogy into schools we are simply preparing our students for the kind of future they are likely to inherit as current society continues to ignore the works that needs to be done.

The Earth Charter document originated in 1992 following the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and was finally completed in 2000. The Charter serves as a declaration of responsibility to one another, to greater community of life and to future generations; it is a vision and a call to action for those who support it (Earth Charter, 2000). Under the heading, Democracy, Nonviolence and Peace one of the principles reads,
4

14. Integrate into formal education and life-long learning the knowledge, values, skills needed for a sustainable way of life. a. Provide all, especially children and youth, with educational opportunities that empower them to contribute actively to sustainable development. b. Promote the contribution of the arts and humanities as well as the sciences in sustainability education. c. Enhance the role of the mass media in raising awareness of ecological and social challenges. d. Recognize the importance of moral and spiritual education for sustainable living.

- The Earth Charter, www.earthcharterinaction.org

Meaningful Learning Piaget, a major philosopher in education has remarked in many of his writings that teachers must teach children content that is meaningful. Ecopedagogy is extremely meaningful as the environment (and its struggles) are becoming increasingly more dire and it plays on young childrens natural proclivity towards nature. embraces everything that is meaningful and what else is as meaningful as the environment/earth. As noted by Gadotti, curriculum should be meaningful to the student and can only be so if the content is also meaningful to the health of the planet (2010, p. 205). There is no doubt that the state of the environment has begun to take center stage in our society and proof is in the growing number of green products. But as Kahn informs us this is simply green consumerism which serves to make us feel better while still ignoring the big problems (2009, p. 49).

Lets not forget that our current education system is based on a model that came out of Europe during the height of the Industrial Revolution. Its an understatement to say that times have changed and it goes without saying that our educational practices should as well. We need to educate students for the world they are living in, not one that existed hundreds of years ago. Gadotti captured it perfectly when he wrote, simply improving the current model of education is to continue to follow the educational model that has been destroying the planet since the nineteenth century (2010, p. 210).

Power & Role of Education

In 2009 UNESCO held the World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development in Bonn, Germany. The Bonn Declaration was published as a summary of their findings as well as a call to action for all nations as well as the UN. In the declaration they state the following (among many others)

We recognize that education is a significant factor in improving human well-being. We now have the knowledge and experience available to significantly improve the contents, methods and purposes of education. -Bonn Declaration, 2009 (UNESCO)

Gadotti describes sustainable education as having a broader meaning than environmental education which focuses not just on having a healthy relationship with the environment but also a more in-depth meaning of what we make out of our existence (2003, p 209). Many nations have begun to successfully incorporate sustainable education into their
6

curriculum including China, Australia, Brazil & Germany - just to name a few. In an article on how China is incorporating education for sustainable development (ESD) into their basic education author Qiaoling wrote, ESD can enrich curriculum content and strengthen the link between curriculum and society. More importantly, ESD plays an important role in enhancing students overall values, scientific knowledge, learning ability and healthy lifestyles (2011, p. 218). What teacher would not want to do that for his or her students?! Ecopedagogy is not simply about recycling and being green; it goes much deeper than that. It has the power to teach students about the earth, the environment, global citizenship, and instill in them an inherent care for the planet and all its inhabitants and resources. According to Kahn, education for sustainable development - if utilized strategically to advance ecopedagogy - has the capability to boost social movements that are trying desperately to respond to the cataclysmic challenges posed by unprecedented planetary ecocrisis (2010, p. 17). How will I incorporate this into my teaching?

When I do become a teacher and am responsible for my own class I really want to make a sincere attempt to incorporate ecopedagogy into my teaching practice. I want my students to understand why the Earth is so very important to our well-being and continued existence. I want them to know about the irreparable damage our society has done over the past 20 or 30 years and show them how they can break that cycle. One aspect of ecopedagogy I really want to focus on in my classroom is the spiritual aspect; our inherent connectedness with the Earth which most of lose by the time we reach high school. Young children have a unique advantage in this scope as they have not yet lost their sense of wonder and awe towards nature. I want to play on that and use critical inquiry to delve deeper into the current
7

disaster that is our earth. In an article entitled, The Why and What of ESD, Preston says the goal of education for sustainable development must be to touch both heart and mind... developing an ecocentric self-understanding and an enhanced understanding of connectedness leading to a sense of global citizenship (p. 191).

In her article, Childrens environmental literature: from ecocritism to ecopedagogy, Greta Gaard discusses how childrens books can be used to educate young children about environmental issues. She refers to several childrens books that were written with the express purpose of bringing specific issues to the forefront, just a few of those that she mentions are: Lena and the Whale, Abigail the Happy Whale, The Harvest Birds, and Mojos Story of Clara and the Chicken (2009, p.330-331). Gaard goes on to say that research has shown that children who learn about nature from an intellectual standpoint do not change their behavior whereas childrens environmental literature has the capacity to address childrens emotions and make lasting impacts on them (p 332). As a pre-service elementary teacher I absolutely plan on experimenting with some of these books (and others) to encourage my students to think about the Earth in a much more holistic way. Books such as the ones Gaard mentions would also be a perfect way to incorporate ecopedagogy into my students English/Language Arts studies.

The website EarthCharterInAction.org provides numerous resources for integrating the principles of the charter into your life whether you are an individuals, business or teachers. They have also published a guidebook for teachers which provides easy to understand methods for adapting the principles to use in various subject areas as well as a 5step approach to using the Earth Charter in your classroom (See appendix A). I plan to make this a big part of my teaching philosophy and use the guidebook whenever I can and would
8

encourage others to do so as well. The Little Earth Charter is another website that could be a great resource as it breaks down the Earth Charter into eight easy to understand principles for children.

There are countless resources available for teachers who want to engage in environmental education, one just needs to look (or Google, for that matter). In 2005, UNESCO launched the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development or DESD in an attempt to focus educational resources on creating a more sustainable future. Many nations including China have supported and embraced the DESD and seen amazing results in the attitudes of their students. Although the DESD is next to non-existent in North America they offer exceptional resources and insight into teaching with ecopedagogy or environmentalism in mind.

Conclusion I believe ecopedagogy is the future of meaningful education and as a relatively new concept we are only just beginning to realize its full teaching potential. Ecopedagogy has the ability to reach across all disciplines to create a curriculum that is both prevalent and useful. As a (future) educator of tomorrows citizens I feel I have a moral obligation to educate my students about the Earth and help them understand/discover their connection with it. My hope is that bringing ecopedagogy into the classroom will establish a lifelong love and respect for the Earth that is lacking in todays society. Not only that but my students will one day be responsible for trying to reverse or fix the massive environmental damage of the last 20 or 30 years. To conclude I leave you with the words of Maocir Gadotti, for now we only have one planet that is without a doubt our friends. We have to learn to love it. (2003, p 209).
9

Appendix A: Earth Charter Initiative, Guidebook for Teachers

10

- Earth Charter International Secretariat , 2005, p. 10

References
11

 Earth Charter International Secretariat. (2005). An Earth charter guidebook for teachers. Retrieved from The Earth Charter Initiative web site: http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/invent/index.php?cat=55&sub=60

Federal Ministry of Education and Research. (2009). Bonn declaration: UNESCO world conference on education for sustainable development. Retrieved from http://www.esd-worldconference-2009.org/fileadmin/download/ESD2009_BonnDeclaration080409.pdf

Gaard, G. (2009). Childrens environmental literature: from ecocriticism to ecopedagogy. Neohelicon, 36(2), pp. 321-334. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11059-009-0003-7

Gadotti, M. (Speaker). (October 18, 2003). Pedagogy of the Earth and Culture of Sustainability [transcript]. Transformative Learning Centre Conference on "Lifelong citizenship learning, participatory democracy and social change: local and global perspectives. Retrieved from TLC Conference web site: http://legacy.oise.utoronto.ca/research/tlcentre/conference2003/Proceedings/proceedings.ht m

Gadotti, M. (2010). Reorienting education practices towards sustainability. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 4(2), pp. 203-211. Retrieved from http://jsd.sagepub.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/content/4/2/203

12

 Kahn, R. (2009). Producing crisis: green consumerism as an ecopedagogical issue. In Sandlin, J & McLaren, P(Eds.), Critical pedagogies of consumption (pp. 47-57). Retrieved from http://antiochla.academia.edu/RichardKahn/Papers/84865/Producing_Crisis_Green_Consu merism_as_an_Ecopedagogical_Issue

Kahn, R. (2010). Critical Pedagogy, Ecoliteracy, & Planetary Crisis: the ecopedagogy movement. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing.

Preston, N (2010). The why and what of ESD: a rationale for Earth charter education (and naming some of its difficulties). Journal of Education for Sustainable Development. 4(2) pp. 187 - 192. Retrieved from http://jsd.sagepub.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/content/4/2.toc

Qialong, W. (2011). Characteristics of ESD-promoting strategies in Chinas basic education. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development. 5(2). pp 215-223. Retrieved from http://jsd.sagepub.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/content/5/2.toc

13