Teaching Environmental Literacy: Across Campus and Across the Curriculum

9 Effective Education for Environmental Literacy

9 E√ective Education for Environmental Literacy Craig E. Nelson Biology Because of the ever-increasing magnitude and importance of the consequences of human actions on global ecosystems, e√ective education for environmental literacy is intrinsically one of the most important areas of post-secondary education . It is also one of the more complex. Environmental literacy requires integrated understanding of the ecological, social, and economic dimensions of human–environment interactions. For example, Bennet Brabson, as he explains in chapter 2 of this book, wants students not simply to understand the physics of energy and the relationships of energy to ecological, social, and economic dimensions ; he also asks for a focus on a sense of place and of personal impact and responsibility. In terms of themes of this book, environmental literacy couples such broadly interdisciplinary understanding with key synthetic concepts such as ecosystem services, ecological footprint, and sustainability. Environmental literacy acquires even greater significance when we realize that it is also one of the areas in which student interest can help overcome the hurdles in the development of more e√ective ways of dealing with complex issues generally as well as 118 ⭈ craig e. nelson those pertinent specifically to environmental understanding and action. This chapter will examine these hurdles and explore key ways to make education for environmental literacy more e√ective and more broadly significant. Cognitive Development In environmental literacy, as in scientific literacy generally, key tasks include, first, coming to grips with the paradox that the sciences and social sciences are fundamentally uncertain and simultaneously incredibly useful in dealing with external reality and, second, understanding how to appropriately constrain and qualify one’s understandings in the face of this paradox, a goal that was clearly stated for education generally by Rousseau and Dewey (e.g. Oliver et al. 2001). The magnitude of the di≈culty of these tasks for many students—and the consequent challenges for teachers—were first made clear by William G. Perry, Jr. (1970, 1998). The major steps in student thinking and the transitions between them are summarized in figure 9.1 with a brief indication of how they apply to understanding nuclear power. Perry found that many students arrive at college expecting faculty to provide them with ‘‘facts’’ or truths to memorize, especially in science (Sergeant Friday, figure 9.1). For nuclear power (Nelson 1986: 200), students expect the faculty member to state clearly either that nuclear power is safe and should be developed immediately or that it is dangerous and should be banned. The first fundamental learning/teaching problem is to help students to understand how knowledge can be legitimately uncertain. As they come to understand this, students initially have no good ways of dealing with disparate views in the face of legitimate uncertainty . They conclude that, absent clear truth, all views must be equally valid (Baskin Robbins, figure 9.1). They think that since nuclear power has clearly been controversial, one just goes with whatever feels good. And just as if we were choosing flavors for our ice cream cones, there seems to the students to be no way of fairly critiquing anyone else’s ‘‘opinions.’’ Indeed, many students initially think that all attempts to decide which opinions are better and which are weaker are inherently narrow-minded. Nevertheless, the fundamental learning/teaching problem has become exactly the task of learning to do valid critiques so as to separate stronger and weaker positions and arguments. Within the game of science (or economics, etc.), how do experts decide which ideas are stronger and which weaker? As the students learn these expert ways of knowing, they often in their hearts continue to believe that the validity of an opinion depends only on the act of choice. They then treat the more sophisticated approaches as ‘‘teachers’ games’’ (figure 9.1) that one must adopt to pass exams. The question becomes, how does the particular economist or other faculty member guiding the class want me to justify my apparent E√ective Education for Environmental Literacy ⭈ 119 SGT FRIDAY Facts One Authority Has The Truth Nuclear Power Either... (a) Is Really Safe or (b) Should Be Totally Banned BASKIN ROBBINS Opinions Each Person's Views are Right For Her Nuclear Power: Why Argue? Just Respect Each Other! TEACHERS’ GAMES Making Arguments Let’s Really Understand Everyone’s Arguments & Frameworks Nuclear Power: Environmentalists Argue That …. Whereas… OWNED GAMES Contextual Decisions Some Frameworks / Combinations...