Urban ecojustice education: Transformative learning outcomes with high school service learners

Abstract

This case study investigated the outcomes of an environmental service learning program that incorporated pedagogical components taught within the transformative learning and environmental justice frameworks at an urban ecoliteracy and environmental justice center in Albany, New York. Authors conducted participant observation and gathered data from surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and journaling with high school, college student, and community stakeholders in an Ecojustice Summer Youth Employment Program. In the short-term, service learners adopted enhanced pro-environmental behaviors, an heightened awareness of community environmental issues, and an increased interest in civic engagement, with multiple participants returning for consecutive service periods. Transformative learning outcomes were documented in relation to affirming/changes in longer-term academic, life, and career paths. This research contributes to the field of experiential environmental education that advocates for a better understanding of the outcomes of pedagogies that emphasize social justice youth development, issues of power and justice, and the enhancement of social action and critical consciousness.

Keywords:

• transformative learning
• service learning
• environmental justice
• experiential environmental education
• civic engagement
• urban agriculture

Notes

1 Albany’s incinerator/gas fired power plant portion of the exhibit, The Empire’s Backyard: Power and Pollution in Sheridan Hollow is part of the Humanities Action Lab – Climates of Inequality: Stories of Environmental Justice (2021).

2 This student is now pursuing a college degree in Environmental Law, with two more studying Biology, and one in Marine Ecology.

3 The City of Albany has 289 buildings designated as abandoned and unsafe for habitation or first responders to respond to fires (Fries, 2017).