Ecological Revelations: Recovering the Unseen

Abstract

Chet Bowers’ contributions to education are numerous and provocatively persistent. Using the title Ecological Revelations: Recovering the Unseen to frame my examination, I explore four concepts central to Bowers’ work: oikos, intelligence, language, and cultural maps. First, I reflect on the ways in which Bowers’ conceptualization of the concepts created ecological meaning and discursive relevance in education over the course of his scholarship, which spanned more than four decades. I highlight how Bowers’ development of the ideas, each on their own and collectively as a coherent whole, not only challenged assumed cultural ways of being for educators, but importantly, provided an alternative theoretical framework to make new sense of how education (re)produces culture. I examine these concepts in relation to Bowers’ critique of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), the theoretical dilemmas they raise, and the ecological questions that emerge. Finally, I inquire into how the four featured ideas, STEM, and STEM education play out in the context of a community commons. Here, additional concepts such as collaboration, innovation, renewal, and relationality expand Bowers’ theory, which, in turn, not only give rise to ecological alternatives for STEM and STEM education but for the cultural commons as well.

Notes

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In memory of Chet Bowers, for his deep interest in and concern for life’s relationships.

Notes

1 Martusewicz, Edmundson, and Lupinacci (2014) define the cultural commons as including

non-money-based economic and social exchanges including: work-for-work; strong communitarian beliefs, practices and relationships; alternative forms and spaces of education, democratic decision-making; and efforts to create more sustainable, ecologically sound relationships with natural systems. Aimed at protecting the ability of both human communities and natural systems to live well together into the future, these are the sorts of day-to-day relationships and practices that function to nurture the larger communicative system of intelligence. (p. 211)

2 In this article, I use STEM (education) to refer to both STEM and STEM education.

3 See also, OUR Ecovillage website: https://ourecovillage.org/

4 My sincere thanks to Brandy Gallagher, Bill Blount, Elke Cole, and everyone at OUR Ecovillage. OUR’s commitment to the cultural commons is both tremendous and inspiring.

5 See also Elke Cole’s website: https://elkecole.com

6 This reminder was prompted by recent conversations with Elmer Ghostkeeper and Florence Glanfield.