Ecojustice Education

Kendall Horowitz

"It is our collective and individual responsibility, to preserve and tend to the world in which we all live"

-Dalai Lama

Our Climate Crisis Is an Education Crisis

Overall, this article explains that we, as educators, need to start treating the climate crisis with the urgency and importance that it most certainly deserves, as a significant threat to life on earth. Every single educator, at every grade and subject area, has a major role to play especially throughout the developmental years. In early childhood, teachers have the capability to nurture an "ecological disposition", which can allow for a child to be given a sense that they have an important purpose. Teachers can do this by bringing their attention to their surroundings. The topic of establishing a foundation of scientific literacy is also brought to light in this article. By nurturing a basis of scientific literacy, teachers can try to get children to protect themselves against the constant misinformation regarding scientific concepts that are being pushed by large energy corporations, which pollutes our culture. An important section of this article expresses that, "confronting the climate emergency requires us immediately to begin constructing a fossil fuel–free society built on principles of ecology and justice, rather than profit and endless growth. This endeavor demands that young people exercise their utopian imaginations to consider alternatives of all kinds. And it invites them to talk back to those interests that promote and benefit from endless consumption—including the publishers of their own textbooks." So, across the curriculum, teachers need to be able to work together in an effort to develop students as the scientist-activists they need to be in today's world.
Some examples of teaching strategies from this resource would be allowing for different sides of a scientific argument to be confronted and talked about. Additionally, offering for some assignments to be done with the involvement of discovering nature in their communities, or researching various biases that many scientific sources may have would be great ways to encourage students to think critically about the importance of observing one's surroundings and identifying misinformation.
To incorporate some of these ideas into my classroom, I would try to offer open class discussions on a few scientific concepts, so we would be able to address differing sides and confront any biases. Also, If I would be able to, I want to try to assign projects that involve going outside and observing one's surroundings, and identifying effects of natural events or pollution. This way, my students can hopefully develop a sense of place in this world.

Developing Teachers' Capacity for Ecojustice Education

This article starts off by explaining the importance of teaching how to appreciate differences instead of devaluing them, in the face of intense ecological and social problems that are occurring in today's world. Then, it dives deeper into the confrontation of environmental issues that plague minority communities disproportionately. It is known that there is an increasing gap in the international control of resources, yet the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Canada contain 83% of the world's wealth, most of which is made from human labor. In the U.S, younger children from Black and Latino families are more likely "to suffer from high rates of asthma, lead poisoning, obesity, and nutrition-related issues". This is because their families have no choice but to move into poorer conditions that are closer highly polluted urban areas as a result of institutional racism. Later on, the concept of ecojustice education is described as "an emerging framework for analyzing the deep cultural roots of and intersections within social and ecological violence". EcoJustice Education essentially analyzes the damaging effects of a worldview that is organized by a "logic of domination". It also offers students and teachers different ways of responding in their own respective communities. If we, as teachers, become dedicated to ecojustice, we can have the ability to teach the next generations to protect living systems and community well-beings, just by asking our students to observe and speak out about the concerns in their community. By doing this, students can develop the skill of being able to recognize the importance of biological and cultural diversity, and the need to make decisions that take into account all who will be most affected. Educators who incorporate ecojustice education in the classroom can see students begin to learn how to examine social and ecological problems they may see, and how these problems are connected with and affected by cultural, political, and economic forces.
Some examples of teaching strategies from this resource would be using an EcoJustice Education framework in the context of local community, and incorporating discussions of connecting institutional racism and environmental issues.
To include some of these ideas into my classroom, I would try to have conversations about historically accurate events regarding minorites, leading into this community living disproportionately in poorer, more polluted areas.

Teaching Environmental Social Justice

Overall, this article explains how biases have affected the way educators teach science, and science-related subjects. It expresses that there was a time when science was seen as objective, and without a bias. However, now our society has realized just how biased every side to an argument is. Even the science community has been known for scientists bringing their life experiences and beliefs with them into their field of work. The fundamental reporting, designing, and funding, of research are all based off societal influences and are put into place by those who have been privileged to serve in these roles. So then it comes down to us, as educators, for our curriculum to help students understand the context in which science is conducted and for them to be able to ask questions. We want for students to think outside the box, and ask themselves who makes the decisions about ecological and environmental issues in this country, and which communities are silenced in the decision-making. Essentially, a central part of our teaching should focus on social justice, but also support students to understand other aspects of the nature of science. We want for students to have the right to be taught that there are numerous social inequities that have to do with science.
Some examples of teaching strategies from this resource would be to develop lessons that emphasize the need for diverse perspectives and incorporate news articles and discussions into existing units of study.
To incorporate some of these ideas into my classroom, I would have my students watch videos of young climate activist, Greta Thunberg, and other news clips of environmental protests (which one of my high school teachers did for our class!)

Ecojustice for Teacher Education Policy and Practice

Overall, this article discusses how EcoJustice Education is both a political and socio-ecological movement, as well as a framework for thinking about our ethical responsibilities as educators and members of a community. It can also be thought of as a way of educating teachers, by analyzing the cultural roots of educational, social, and ecological issues. "EcoJustice teaching insists that humans are dependent upon a larger set of living relationships and systems, and yet we are taught to believe in the normalcy and naturalness of our human superiority, which gets translated, using intersecting metaphors, into the superiority of White people of European descent over all people of color, men over women, perceived able bodies over disabled, and on and on." Once we, as educators, can recognize that issues like racism, sexism, and poverty are based on the same logic of domination that degrades life itself, we can then start to visualize the problem with identifying as environmentalists or social justice activists.
Some examples of teaching strategies from this resource would be acknowledging in the classroom that racism, sexism, and poverty are all problems that run rampant, especially in the science community.
To incorporate some of these ideas into my classroom, I would try to create a separate lesson for one or two class periods that would cover the effects of racism, sexism, and poverty on the environment. I would also try to have an open discussion with the class, so that students that voice themselves about any issues they've seen in their communities that correlate to the concepts being taught.

Understanding Ecojustice Education as a Praxis of Environmental Reconciliation

Overall, this article explains how applying this concept of Ecojustice Education to environmental education (EE) can help students and administration explore the ways that nature and the environment in general has shaped different cultures and religions. This article explores the principles through which "EE scholars, both in Canada and internationally, can take up EE as a praxis of environmental reconciliation". In particular, it analyzes the literature on Ecojustice Education, discussing possibilities and limitations of it, in relation to Indigenous education in the majority of Canadian schools. There is a lot of significance that the concepts of nature and the environment have on religion and culture, and it is extremely important that these topics are taught to our students. For example, nature plays a big role in Buddhism, and in many of its teachings. Most of them involve people to become one with their surroundings, which, if translated to today's society, would constitute ensuring that our communities are kept free of pollution so that people can genuinely enjoy nature without having to be cautious about air quality and endangered species.
Some examples of teaching strategies from this resource would be educating students about local indigenous groups so that they can learn how to respect these cultural differences, and apply them to their environmental education.
To incorporate some of these ideas into my classroom, I would spend a day in class discussing the environmental beliefs that different religions harbor in their idea systems. I would also want for students to share anything from their religions that might have to do with this lesson, so that an open discussion is had and the classroom becomes a safe space for all students to use their voice in.

Sources:

Schools, the editors of Rethinking. “Our Climate Crisis Is an Education Crisis.” Rethinking Schools, 27 Aug. 2020, https://rethinkingschools.org/articles/editorial-our-climate-crisis-is-an-education-crisis/.

Lowenstein, Ethan, et al. “Developing Teachers’ Capacity for EcoJustice Education and Community-Based Learning.” Teacher Education Quarterly, vol. 37, no. 4, 2010, pp. 99–118. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23479462.

Ross, Donna L, et al. “Teaching Environmental Social Justice.” NSTA, 2022, https://www.nsta.org/science-teacher/science-teacher-novemberdecember-2022/teaching-environmental-social-justice.

Martusewicz, Rebecca. “Ecojustice for Teacher Education Policy and Practice.” Issues in Teacher Education, vol. 27, no. 2, 2018. Summer 2018.

Butler, Jesse & Ng-A-Fook, Nicholas & Forte, Rita & McFadden, Ferne & Reis, Giuliano. (2018). Understanding Ecojustice Education as a Praxis of Environmental Reconciliation: Teacher Education, Indigenous Knowledges, and Relationality. 10.1007/978-3-319-67732-3_2.

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