Towards Ecopedagogy: Weaving a Broad-based Peagogy theory

In towards Ecopedagogy, Richard Kahn argues about environmental education being unresponsive and how ecopedagogy will affect the planet for the better. He also explains upon the capitalism society in the century. He opens with, “It is urgent that we assume the duty of fighting for the fundamental ethical principles, like respect for the life of human beings, the life of other animals, the life of birds, the life of rivers and forests.” He continues stating, “I do not believe in love between men and women, between human beings, if we are not able to love the world.”

First, is the environmental education that is taught in school unresponsive to children?  Second, are people so “selfish” or/and “self-centered” with themselves that they don’t care for the good of the environment?  And finally, what exactly is ecopedagogy according to the author? First, I do believe the environmental education that is taught in the school system is unresponsive. Secondly, absolutely, people are driven by money and they do not care for the environment, as long as they can’t see that they are truly affected by it. And finally, “ecopedagogy,” according to Richard Kahn is an interdisciplinary mixture of theories from Joel Kovel, Paulo Freire, and many others, dealing with race, anthropology, theology, poltical science, philosophy, geography, class, gender, and species/nature liberation.

Ecopedagogy cannot be “lowered,” to just the education that we learn about while in school. It’s a lifelong knowledge and process that we must share with each other, with the entire general public. Again, I tell you, environmental education in the school system is surely not enough to help individuals improve their conservation of energy and sustainability of the ecosystem. The environmental group, EcoVitality, believes that “Education can seldom change self-interested choices in circumstances where people can obtain higher incomes through ecologically destructive activities than by conserving natural features.” Think of the automobile industry, electricity industry, and how many companies there are whose doing the absolute worst for the planet. Again, people are getting rich by any means necessary, whether it harms other people, or the environment in which they live in.

There was also an article in The Undersea Journal that showed the widespread practice of dynamite fishing, which is illegal in virtually all-coastal states. According to Kahn, “while throughout the oceans, global fishing also has doubled resulting in a recent report finding that approximately 90% of the major fish species in the world’s oceans have disappeared.” In addition, “Forty mile-long drift nets are routinely used to trawl the ocean bottoms, causing incalculable damage to the ocean ecosystem.” Giant biomass nets are now commonly used and by 2048, it is expected that there will be no extant commercial fishery left. To succeed with change, we must show the public (everyone – rich, poor, young, old, you name it) statistics, surveys’, and prime examples of how they can contribute to a sustainable ecosystem. Many can fish less, or drive less, ride a bike, walk, there are many ways that people can contribute to maintaining productivity, diversity, resilience, and disturbance to the planet.

http://richardkahn.org/writings/ecopedagogy/towardsecopedagogy.pdf

EcoVitality – http://ecovitality.org/badeduc.htm