environmental education philosophy

Environmental Education

Approaching the research on environment education strategies through Mitchell Thomashow's book, Ecological Identity: Becoming a Reflective Environmentalist, one learns that "...ecological identity work represents a process of personal and global healing" (Thomashow xvii). Those who work in the environment and for the environment, the author writes, "carry a profound dual burden: how can they at once convey a sense of wonder and appreciation about the natural world, and also be the harbingers of impending doom, warning the world about ecological catastrophes?"

Taking the "healing" concept a bit further, Thomashow provides some food for thought for those seeking to develop a personal philosophy of environmental education. The healing he speaks of occurs at a variety of kinds of situations; a) whenever an environmental technician "cleans a toxic waste site"; b) when an environmental educator "explains the causes and consequences of an oil spill"; c) and "when an environmental scientist restores a wetland" (Thomashow 143).

All of these examples - and many more - provide healing for the earth, for the community and for the person engaged in the environmental activity. The concept of healing the earth in a global sense is not wildly out of reach, when one realizes that putting fewer greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (something everyone can help with) has a global impact.

And all healing activities have a psychological impact, as well as a practical and healing impact. Thomashow writes (142) that "surprisingly few environmental practitioners" consider the "psychospiritual ramifications" of internalizing "global environmental change"; but in fact this dynamic is "crucial to ecological identity work," he explains. The reason these practitioners do not give consideration to the "psychospiritual" aspect of their work is that they are "busy attending to the practical work" of advocating for ecological reform, promoting "a worldview," or just getting the word out that certain social behaviors are good for the earth, and others are most certainly bad for the earth.

Meanwhile, in the book Environmental Education and Advocacy: Changing perspectives of ecology and education, the authors point out that among the major challenges facing environmental education today is "the growing public attention and concern that education has become blurred with advocacy" and that in fact, some of the environmental content in environmental education "is no longer based on sound frameworks of natural and social sciences" (Mappin, et al., 1).

The authors also point out, and this is very good information for those in the process of carving out a personal philosophy of environmental education, that the Independent Commission on Environmental Education (ICCEE) published an important white paper in 1997 ("Building Environmental Literacy for the Next Century") which pointed out, among other things, that "environmental education was needlessly controversial" and too many "factual errors" were commonplace in teacher resources (Mappin 6). Another research paper, "Facts, not fear," mentioned by the authors, "questioned environmental education resources for misuse of facts and for scaring children with misinformation" (Mappin 6).

There is an abundant amount of misinformation on the anti-environment side of the ledger, and so in creating a personal philosophy of education, it behooves all environmental-minded citizens, especially those in leadership positions, to present honest, believable facts.

Meanwhile, if a teacher used the book, Awareness to Citizenship: Environmental Literacy for the Elementary Child, and uses it fully in developing a philosophy of teaching, a child will never be scared because the information is down-to-earth, well-presented, and family-friendly. The authors insist that teachers need not "know everything or be able to identify everything," but on the other hand, they should explore environmental issues with their students, and "always be thinking about how they might encourage students...by introducing nature-related materials, nature-related themes and concepts, [and] student centered activities" (Basile, et al., 20).

A good philosophy to develop is that nature is always all around us; Basile encourages her students to observe and make journal entries about what they "see and hear in the schoolyard" (21). This engenders a sense that the environment isn't some vague place "out there," but rather, that conservation and ecology are right here in the school yard.

Indeed, not only is it important to bring students to a level of consciousness about the nearness of nature, but the goal of education - according to the book, Environmental Education: A Resource Handbook - should be inclusive of all students, even "challenged students" who have disabilities. And for all students, the authors go on, the teacher's greatest environmental task is "to foster the development of lifelong learners, capable decision makers, and problem solvers, who will make valuable contributions to our society and the world" (Ricker, et al., 34).