Environmental Education and Multicultural Education – Too Close to Be Separate?

Abstract

Environmental education and multicultural education share many characteristics. In addition to having the same underlying core values of a democratic society, they both emphasise values education, empowerment and active citizenship. Environmental education and multicultural education also find common ground in treasuring diversity, respect and compassion. They both aim for societal reform by reorienting education and facilitating active personal and social change. They also have a strong global perspective. The relationship between these two educational trends should be seen in a wider context, as a starting point for more holistic teaching and learning. Environmental education and multicultural education can be considered as two parts of the same theme of how individuals and institutions can collaborate in building a better, sustainable world locally, nationally and globally. By engaging students in multicultural education, school can simultaneously better achieve the goals of environmental education, and vice versa.

Keywords:

• environmental education
• critical pedagogy
• multicultural education
• sustainability
• values education

Acknowledgements

This paper was written as part of the project entitled Environmental Education: Creating Sustainable Futures − Multidisciplinary Research on Environmental Values, Active Citizenship, and Multiculturalism, lead by Professor Sirpa Tani from the Department of Applied Sciences of Education at the University of Helsinki. I thank the participants of this project as well as the Department of Applied Sciences of Education Post Graduate Seminar attendants for helpful comments on earlier drafts of the paper. Funding for this project was obtained from the Maj and Tor Nessling Foundation.