Environmental Literacy, Ecological Literacy, Ecoliteracy .

2y ago
77 Views
7 Downloads
495.37 KB
20 Pages
Last View : 17d ago
Last Download : 2m ago
Upload by : Jacoby Zeller
Transcription

SYNTHESIS & INTEGRATIONEnvironmental literacy, ecological literacy, ecoliteracy:What do we mean and how did we get here?B. B. MCBRIDE,1, C. A. BREWER,2 A. R. BERKOWITZ,3ANDW. T. BORRIE11College of Forestry and Conservation, The University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812 USA2Division of Biological Sciences, The University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812 USA3Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York 12545 USACitation: McBride, B. B., C. A. Brewer, A. R. Berkowitz, and W. T. Borrie. 2013. Environmental literacy, ecological literacy,ecoliteracy: What do we mean and how did we get here? Ecosphere 4(5):67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES13-00075.1Abstract. Numerous scholars have argued that the terms environmental literacy, ecological literacy, andecoliteracy have been used in so many different ways and/or are so all-encompassing that they have verylittle useful meaning. However, despite the seemingly arbitrary and, at times, indiscriminate use of theseterms, tremendous efforts have in fact been made to explicitly define and delineate the essentialcomponents of environmental literacy, ecological literacy, and ecoliteracy, and to firmly anchor theircharacterizations in deep theoretical and philosophical foundations. A driving purpose behind theseongoing conversations has been to advance complete, pedagogy-guiding, and broadly applicableframeworks for these ideals, allowing for standards and assessments of educational achievement to beset. In this manuscript, we review a diversity of perspectives related to the often nuanced differences andsimilarities of these terms. A classification of the numerous proposed frameworks for environmentalliteracy, ecological literacy, and ecoliteracy (advanced within the fields of environmental education,ecology, and the broader humanities, respectively) is presented, and used to compare and contrastframeworks across multiple dimensions of affect, knowledge, skills, and behavior. This analysis facilitatesclose examination of where we have been, where we are, and where we might be headed with respect tothese vital conversations. This work also offers points of reference for continued critical discourse, andilluminates a diversity of inspiration sources for developing and/or enriching programs aimed atcultivating these types of literacies.Key words: ecoliteracy; ecological literacy; ecology education; environmental education; environmental literacy;sustainability education.Received 5 March 2013; revised 10 April 2013; accepted 12 April 2013; final version received 8 May 2013; published 31May 2013. Corresponding Editor: C. D’Avanzo.Copyright: Ó 2013 McBride et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative CommonsAttribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided theoriginal author and source are credited. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/E-mail: brooke.mcbride@umontana.eduWHATISLITERACY?literacy referred only to the ability to read andwrite, its usage has since been extended greatlyin scope, beginning during the Industrial Revolution. Emerging in Britain in the late 18thcentury and then spreading throughout WesternEurope and North America, the IndustrialRevolution was a period of rapid industrialUntil the late 1800s, the word literacy did notexist. In fact, according to the Oxford EnglishDictionary, the word literacy was predated by theword illiteracy by several hundred years (Venezky et al. 1987). Although the original termv www.esajournals.org1May 2013 v Volume 4(5) v Article 67

SYNTHESIS & INTEGRATIONMCBRIDE ET AL.growth via the introduction and advancement ofmachinery, with far-reaching social and economicconsequences. During this era, mandatory andwidespread elementary public education grew toresemble its present magnitude. Although theprecise relationship between industrializationand the rise of public education is difficult toestablish, there are nevertheless strong correspondences between the two (Carl 2009). Gainsin income and wealth during the industrial agemade possible larger public expenditures for thewelfare of the general population, in the form ofschools and teaching resources. A focus on thethree Rs, reading, writing, arithmetic, was seen asessential for preparing a work force that couldunderstand basic instructions, engage in rudimentary written communication, and performsimple office functions, thereby creating the mostskilled mass workforce in the world. Additionally, through the cultivation of the western culturalperspective emphasizing rational individualsand egalitarianism, public education promoteda sense of national unity and success (Carl 2009).In the years following the Civil War, the ability toread and write was used to determine whetherone had the right to vote. Thus, like otherabstract nouns such as freedom, justice, andequality, literacy came to denote a value thatwas promoted throughout the population of theUnited States. Government officials, industrialleaders, and educators all began to see illiteracyas a social ill and literacy as something to beadvanced for the benefit of society as a whole(Michaels and O’Connor 1990, Carl 2009).Current dictionaries (e.g., Merriam Webster,Oxford English Dictionary) generally provide twodefinitions of literacy: (1) the ability to read andwrite, and (2) knowledge or capability in aparticular field or fields. Today’s broader understanding and application of literacy has essentially arisen from the latter interpretation (Roth1992). Within the field of cognitive science,literacy has been reconceptualized as a tool forknowledge construction (i.e., using reasoning orproblem solving to obtain new knowledge)(Michaels and O’Connor 1990). This work setthe stage for the extended scope of the term usedtoday. As defined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization(UNESCO Education Sector 2004:13), ‘‘[l]iteracyinvolves a continuum of learning in enablingv www.esajournals.orgindividuals to achieve their goals, to developtheir knowledge and potential, and to participatefully in their community and wider society’’.Clearly, the concept of literacy has evolvedconsiderably from its origin in the ability to readand write. Especially over the last 50 years,expectations for a literate citizenry have beenextended to include the ability to understand,make informed decisions, and act with respect tocomplex topics and issues facing society today.The term literacy also has been extended to referto such knowledge and capabilities in manydifferent discourses (e.g., computer literacy,mathematics literacy, cultural literacy, arts literacy). Additional notions of literacy that haveemerged are environmental literacy, ecologicalliteracy, and ecoliteracy.ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY,ECOLOGICAL LITERACY, ECOLITERACYNumerous scholars have argued that the termsenvironmental literacy or ecological literacy havebeen used in so many different ways and/or areso all-encompassing that they have very littleuseful meaning (e.g., Disinger and Roth 1992,Roth 1992, Stables and Bishop 2001, Payne 2005,2006). The introduction of the term ecoliteracyhas further complicated the conversation. Disinger and Roth (1992) contended that the almostarbitrary application of the term environmentalliteracy has resulted in nearly as many differentperceptions of the term as there are people whouse it, and that while various groups often usethe term to solidify or demonstrate correctness ofeither themselves or their clients, they give littleor no indication of what they actually mean.Similarly, Stables and Bishop (2001) argued thatthe meaning of environmental literacy has beengreatly muddled as a result of its indiscriminateapplication. Recently, Payne (2005, 2006) alsodismissed the notions of environmental orecological literacy as vague and messy, arguinginstead for a ‘‘critical ecological ontology,’’ acurriculum theory focusing on the learner’sexperience of being in the world. Given themultitude of literacies now being promoted, andthe widespread and seemingly arbitrary use ofthe terms environmental-, ecological-, and ecoliteracy in particular, it is easy to see how theseauthors made these assessments.2May 2013 v Volume 4(5) v Article 67

SYNTHESIS & INTEGRATIONMCBRIDE ET AL.Despite the widespread, and at times, indiscriminate, use of these terms, efforts have beenmade to establish a definition and identify keycomponents of environmental literacy, ecologicalliteracy, and ecoliteracy, and to firmly anchortheir characterizations in broad theoretical andphilosophical frameworks. A driving purposebehind this work has been to advance complete,pedagogy-guiding, and broadly applicableframeworks allowing for standards and assessments of educational achievement to be set.Widely varying discourses on the nature andessential components of environmental literacy,ecological literacy, and ecoliteracy have arisenprimarily within the fields of environmentaleducation, ecology, and the broader humanities,respectively.The term environmental literacy was first used45 years ago in an issue of the MassachusettsAudubon by Roth (1968) who inquired ‘‘Howshall we know the environmentally literatecitizen?’’ Since then, the meaning of the termhas evolved and been extensively reviewed (e.g.,Roth 1992, Simmons 1995, Morrone et al. 2001,Weiser 2001, North American Association forEnvironmental Education (NAAEE ) 2004,O’Brien 2007). The notion of environmentalliteracy has been and continues to be promotedthrough creative and intensive discourse from adiversity of perspectives. The most widelyaccepted meaning of environmental literacy isthat it comprises an awareness of and concernabout the environment and its associated problems, as well as the knowledge, skills, andmotivations to work toward solutions of currentproblems and the prevention of new ones(NAAEE 2004).More recently, the term ecological literacy wasfirst publicly used 27 years ago by Risser (1986)in his Address of the Past President to theEcological Society of America. Risser (1986)urged ecologists to ponder, debate, and arriveat consensus as to what comprises basic ecological literacy, adopt a vigorous stance, andembrace their responsibilities as promoters ofecological literacy in their students and thegeneral public. Since then, characterization ofecological literacy within the field of ecology hasevolved considerably (Cherrett 1989, Klemow1991, Odum 1992, Berkowitz 1997, Berkowitz etal. 2005, Jordan et al. 2009, Powers 2010),v www.esajournals.orgfocusing on the key ecological knowledge necessary for informed decision-making, acquiredthrough scientific inquiry and systems thinking.The term ecoliteracy was first published 16years ago by Capra (1997), who founded theCenter for Ecoliteracy, a nonprofit organizationdedicated to education for sustainable living(Center for Ecoliteracy 2013a). Drawing heavilyon the work of Orr (1992), Capra and others inthe broader humanities have advanced ecoliteracy, with a focus on the creation of sustainablehuman communities and society (e.g., Capra1997, 2002, Cutter-Mackenzie and Smith 2003,Wooltorton 2006, Center for Ecoliteracy 2013b).Despite a shared concern for the environmentand recognition of the central role of education inenhancing human-environment relationships, researchers have adopted widely differing discourses on what it mean for a person to beenvironmentally literate, ecologically literate, orecoliterate. We approached the multiplicity oftheoretical and practical perspectives by developing a classification of the literacy conversation.This involved considering similar propositionswithin groups (i.e., within the fields of environmental education, ecology, and the humanities),describing each of these groupings and distinguishing it from the others, and highlightingareas of similarity and divergence.We focused on comparing definitional treatments of environmental, ecological, and ecoliteracy. That is, we focused on contributions thatexplicitly used one of these terms and attemptedto provide or refine a precise definition orframework to describe it. A definition attests toand presents as a description ‘‘. . . a statement ofthe exact meaning of a word . . .’’ or ‘‘. . . thenature, scope, or meaning of something . . . ,’’attributing to a term a commonly understoodprecise meaning (Oxford Dictionaries 2013). Suchan approach characterizes a phenomenon asembodying a compendium of key attributes,defined a priori (see Davis and Ruddle 2010).We focused on contributions that took thisapproach to (re)defining environmental, ecological, or ecoliteracy. As it was impossible toconsider all relevant contributions to our collective understanding of human-environment relationships, our focus on definitions andframeworks served to set practical limits on thescope of our study.3May 2013 v Volume 4(5) v Article 67

SYNTHESIS & INTEGRATIONMCBRIDE ET AL.In contrast to a definitional approach, aconceptual approach regards phenomena asabstract ideas, whose attributes arise from aparticular and identifiable theoretical frameworkconcerning the factors that organize humanrelationships and affect the human condition(Davis and Ruddle 2010). Stable and Bishop’s(2001) and Payne’s (2005, 2006) aforementionedcritiques of efforts to characterize these types ofliteracies are based on the argument that theseapproaches are definitional rather than conceptual/theoretical. Indeed, these are entirely different ways of understanding and explainingphenomena, but they are both valid (Davis andRuddle 2010). We recognize that innumerableother contributions, on a global scale andthroughout history, have directly or indirectlyled to broader theoretical conceptualizationsrelated to these types of literacies, often withouteven naming them as such. However, it wasbeyond the scope of our study to consider all ofthese contributions.In this manuscript, we trace the evolution ofthe term environmental literacy within the fieldof environmental education. We also examine thedevelopment of the more recent terms ecologicalliteracy and ecoliteracy, and explore how andwhy they evolved from environmental literacy.We present a classification of the numerousproposed frameworks for environmental literacy,ecological literacy, and ecoliteracy, and compareand contrast these frameworks across multipledimensions of affect, knowledge, skills, andbehavior. This analysis facilitates close examination of where we have been, where we are, andwhere we might be headed with respect to thesevital conversations. This work also offers pointsof reference for continuing critical discourse andilluminates a diversity of inspiration sources fordeveloping and/or enriching programs aimed atcultivating these types of literacies.the frequent media references to ‘‘environmentalilliterates,’’ who were accused of polluting theenvironment.The widespread public awareness of andconcern about environmental issues at that timeis often attributed to the work of the distinguished naturalist and nature writer, RachelCarson (e.g., Nash 1990, de Steiguer 1997, Rothman 1998). In 1960, Carson published a series ofarticles in The New Yorker concerning the effectsof chemical insecticides on the balance of nature,which led to her best-selling publication, SilentSpring. Carson (1962) cataloged the impacts ofthe indiscriminate spraying of DDT in the UnitedStates and questioned the logic of releasing largeamounts of chemicals into the environmentwithout fully understanding their effects. As partof the legacy of Silent Spring, the public began toexpress their uneasiness, suspicion, and evenoutright hostility with respect to the nation’sunthinking allegiance to progress (Rothman1998). Environmental illiteracy was no longeracceptable.It was in this charged atmosphere that Roth(1968) posed the question: ‘‘How shall we knowthe environmentally literate citizen?’’ Shortlythereafter, the article was reprinted in the NewYork Times (Faust 1969), yet it received relativelylittle more attention until a year later when theterm environmental literacy appeared in severalspeeches by President Nixon, relating to thepassage of the first National EnvironmentalEducation Act in 1970 (Roth 1992). As timepassed, the term was used more and morefrequently within the field of environmentaleducation. Although the first National Environmental Education Act was not signed into lawuntil 1970, environmental education emerged asa distinct field in the mid-1960s (Braus andDisinger 1998). With its primary antecedents innature study, conservation education, and outdoor education, environmental education aroseas a complex and vibrant field of practice andinquiry into the meanings, problems, and potentials of human-environment relationships, andthe role of education in this respect.The rise of the nature study, conservationeducation, and outdoor education movementslargely reflected the socio-political environmentof their time (Braus and Disinger 1998). Beginning in the late 1800s, nature study emerged as aENVIRONMENTAL LITERACYRoth (1992) noted that it was fitting that theterm environmental illiteracy predated the termenvironmental literacy, in the same way that theterm illiteracy predated the term literacy. Notably, Roth was referring to his original attempt todefine environmental literacy in a 1968 issue ofthe Massachusetts Audubon, written in response tov www.esajournals.org4May 2013 v Volume 4(5) v Article 67

SYNTHESIS & INTEGRATIONMCBRIDE ET AL.means of providing opportunities for the appreciation and discovery of nature in response to theshift from a mainly agrarian to a more industrialsociety in which students were no longerspending their childhood in natural settings. Inthe 1930s, conservation education grew out ofconcerns about poor natural resource management, as reflected by the Great Dust Bowl, andfocused on the importance of conserving soil,water, and other natural resources. In the 1950s,outdoor education emerged out of concern thaturban youth were not experiencing direct contactwith the outdoor environment; it encouraged theteaching of all subjects outdoors, often usingresidential camps. By the late 1960s, publicawareness of environmental issues had becomewidespread, and environmental education, witha focus on the social aspects of environmentalproblems, emerged.Numerous scholarly reviews have highlightedthe fact that, despite a common concern for theenvironment and human-environment relationships and a shared recognition of the role ofeducation in this respect, the field of environmental education continues to be advanced viawidely differing theoretical, pedagogical, andresearch perspectives (e.g., Robottom and Hart1993, Disinger 1998, Hart and Nolan 1999, Sauve1999, Rickinson 2001, Ramsey and Hungerford2002, Russel and Hart 2003, Disinger 2005,Robottom 2005, Sauvé 2005, Smyth 2006). Whileoriginally focused on increasing public awareness of the environmental damage caused byhumans, particularly in terms of pollution,environmental education has since evolved intoa rich, complex and vast pedagogical landscape,encompassing numerous distinct currents ofintervention, each with different objectives,teaching approaches, and strategies (Sauvé 2005).While developing a consensus set of goals forenvironmental education continues to be a topicof spirited discourse and debate, many previousand current leaders in the field have identifiedenvironmental literacy as the primary goal ofenvironmental education. The goal of environmental literacy was advanced in the BelgradeCharter by the United Nations Educational,Scientific, and Cultural Organization and theUnited Nations Environment Programme(UNESCO-UNEP 1976) and the Tbilisi Declaration(UNESCO 1978), which are considered thev www.esajournals.orgofficial founding documents of the environmental education field. The Belgrade Charter, theproduct of the first international conference onenvironmental education held in former Yugoslavia in 1975, outlined some

precise meaning (Oxford Dictionaries 2013). Such an approach characterizes a phenomenon as embodying a compendium of key attributes, defined a priori (see Davis and Ruddle 2010). We focused on contributions that took this

Related Documents:

Traditionally, Literacy means the ability to read and write. But there seems to be various types of literacy. Such as audiovisual literacy, print literacy, computer literacy, media literacy, web literacy, technical literacy, functional literacy, library literacy and information literacy etc. Nominal and active literacy too focuses on

4.3.1 Age and the Ecological Footprint 53 4.3.2 Gender and the Ecological Footprint 53 4.3.3 Travelling Unit and the Ecological Footprint 54 4.3.4 Country of Origin and Ecological Footprint 54 4.3.5 Occupation, Education, Income and the EF 55 4.3.6 Length of Stay and Ecological Footprint 55 4.4 Themes of Ecological Resource Use 56

Social-ecological systems are complex and adaptive systems defined by feedbacks and interactions between nature and people. Here, we adopt Nobel Prize Winner Elinor Ostrom’s social-ecological systems framework that that depicts the essential elements of social-ecological systems and was designed for analyzing outcomes in social-ecological

1) What is the level of environmental literacy of sixth and eighth grade students across the United States on each of the following variables: a. ecological knowledge; b. verbal commitment [intention to act]; c. environmental sensitivity; d. general environmental feelings [environmental attitudes]; e.

has developed this Ecological System Plan to: Figure 1. Ecological System Plan. The frst of its kind, the Ecological System Plan provides a framework for how environmental considerations can be addressed in ongoing planning eforts at MPRB as well as how and where the organization can look to partner

4. Calculating the ecological footprint Data from the Department of Energy Management were utilized in the ecological footprint calculation. The following identifies the process for calculating ecological footprints: 1. Estimate the average population size. 2. Estimate the average annual consumption for a particular item. 3.

The "Footprints Family" and the environmental pressures they represent 38 The Ecological Footprint and the future of the planet 50 ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTS OF THE STATE AND CITY OF SÃO PAULO 54 CONCLUSIONS 82 Technical Notes 87 Bibliographic References and Suggested Reading 92 ATTACHMENTS 98 Ecological Footprint: frequently asked questions 100

Advanced Financial Accounting & Reporting Accounting concepts Accounting concepts defi ne the assumptions on the basis of which fi nancial statements of a business entity are prepared. Certain concepts are perceived, assumed and accepted in accounting to provide a unifying structure and internal logic to accounting process. The word concept means idea or notion, which has universal .