Ecological Mindedness Across the Curriculum

Abstract

This article suggests a framework for evaluating and implementing environmental education (EE) curricula in hopes of furthering EE as a mode of living to be embodied, rather than as a subject to be learned. We argue that the current iterations of EE in K–12 schools stand to benefit by attending to Dewey’s criteria for educative experience: continuity and interaction. Through an analysis of current literature on EE with a comparative analysis of a study of ecologically minded teachers, we discerned three hallmark qualities of ecological mindedness: ecological care, interconnectedness, and ecological integrity. These qualities are both characteristics of the experience as well as sensibilities developed by those engaged in the experience. We argue that ecological mindedness provides the possibility for educative experiences in K–12 curriculum, and we include vignettes and interviews that illustrate such possibilities.

Notes

Notes

1. For a history of EE, see Palmer ().

2. Further, one recent study of a charter school dedicated to sustainability suggests there are myriad and difficult roadblocks for ecologically focused schools, even in a supportive community (see Hodgkinson, ).

3. According to Cajete (), “the very word ‘indigenous’ is derived from the Latin root indu or endo, which in turn is related to the Greek word endina, which means ‘entrails.’ ‘Indigenous’ means being so completely identified with a place that you reflect its very entrails, its insides, its soul” (p. 6).

4. We should point out that we recognize the discourse surrounding Dewey and Progressive education as it relates to EE (see, e.g., Hutchison, ). However, we are not suggesting a child‐centered view of EE, but instead are focused upon Dewey’s definition of educative experience.

5. Dewey (1916/1944) also noted the “numerous and varied … interests which are consciously shared” (p. 83) as a means to ensuring positive growth in a democratic society.

6. See, for example, Boulder Valley School District’s () recent Sustainability Curriculum guide, which continues in the vein of an education “about” the environment without attention to the kinds of experiences facilitated in the classroom.

7. Dewey (1938/1997) also addressed the problem with this traditionalist approach: “… it is a mistake to suppose that the mere acquisition of a certain amount of arithmetic, geography, history, etc., [will prepare us for future, richer experiences], and it is a mistake to suppose that the acquisition of skills in reading and figuring will automatically constitute preparation for their right and effective use under conditions very unlike those in which they were acquired” (p. 47).

8. Most ecological education theorists tend to reorganize schooling from an ecological perspective. To reiterate our goal, we are suggesting that environmental knowledge is important, but ecological mindedness is a way of thinking that has potential to cross disciplines and school models.

9. We also believe there may be other qualities of ecological mindedness such as imagination (Judson, ) and aesthetic ways of knowing (Eisner, ). However, the scope of this article is to connect the findings from a study of the practices of ecologically minded teachers with the current literature on ecological education. Though we acknowledge that more study is warranted, these three qualities provide the focus of this article.

10. Although not a focus of the present study, when participants were asked how they became ecologically minded, they had varied responses; there was no single path to their beliefs, but all cited important role models and experiences as youth.

11. All names are pseudonyms.

12. Ecological integrity has also been defined a number of other ways (see Lemmons, Westra, & Goodland, ; Manuel‐Navarrete, Kay, & Dolderman, ).