the american adolescent’s environmental ethic educating leaders for an uncertain future on planet...
TRANSCRIPT
Educating leaders for an uncertain futureEducating leaders for an uncertain future on Planet Eaarthon Planet Eaarth
A presentation by Eleanor BurkeA presentation by Eleanor Burkefor Envr 120 / December 2010for Envr 120 / December 2010
Today’s children will likely confront challenges we can hardly begin to imagine in
a radically altered, unrecognizable world. Can
we responsibly continue preparing them for
business as usual? And if not, what can we do to make them ready for a survival game in which
wild cards rule?
--Dianne Dumanoski The End of the Long Summer
Graph from Wray-Lake, L., Flanagan, C.A., Osgood, D. W. (2010) Examining Trends in Adolescent Environmental Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behaviors Across Three Decades. Environment and Behavior (42:1) Retrieved October 2010 at http://eab.sagepub.com/content/42/1/61
To follow the nature deficit theory, and To follow the nature deficit theory, and to learn about teensto learn about teens’’ implicit implicit
theory of TIME, I asked:theory of TIME, I asked:
To understand teensTo understand teens’’ theory of agency theory of agency in the world Wray-Lake analyzed:in the world Wray-Lake analyzed:
Graph from Wray-Lake, L., Flanagan, C.A., Osgood, D. W. (2010) Examining Trends in Adolescent Environmental Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behaviors Across Three Decades. Environment and Behavior (42:1) Retrieved October 2010 at http://eab.sagepub.com/content/42/1/61
“When you don’t recycle a container at school, what is the main thing stopping
you?”
No response
I don’t care
about recycling
I’m too lazy; its botherso
me
I forget; I’m
careless
I don’t feel like
emptying it in the
sink
Too far to walk to
the barrel
I always recycle or
use my own bottle
12 4 20 16 4 34 15
(n=105)
Teen Materialism Belief in the technofix remains high throughout 30-yr
study
Surpassed personal responsibility in the 1980’s
1976 1986 1996
2004
Data simplified from Wray-Lake, L., Flanagan, C.A., Osgood, D. W. (2010) Examining Trends in Adolescent Environmental Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behaviors Across Three
Decades. Environment and Behavior (42:1) Retrieved October 2010 at http://eab.sagepub.com/content/42/1/61
Time: Gotta check my Facebook---where’s my cell & my i-Pod?Agency: It’s the government’s job...the recycling barrel’s too far away
Change: I need a new pair of jeans & a new cell phone
Community, Authority, and System:These are in tender developmental stage in teen years,
And must be explicitly re-taught in the curriculum by using a New Environmental Paradigm
Teenenvironmental
silhouette thus far
Guiding principles for a high school Guiding principles for a high school environmental curriculumenvironmental curriculum
Appeal to youth’s sense of community, fairness, justice, and enlist teens as agents of change, as the new voices of authority in the world as they assume leadership
Provide real-world experiences, in and of the environment, a deep sense of system
Be realistic about costs of teen materialism, while using their electronic obsessions to advantage
To help teens develop anenvironmental ethic, the curriculum
must
1. What is the story 1. What is the story behind all those jeans behind all those jeans
in your closet?in your closet?
Photo source: Diesel.comPhoto source: Diesel.com
In a place that has In a place that has already felt the effects of already felt the effects of
climate change and/or climate change and/or the tragedy of the the tragedy of the
commonscommons
Try for one week to Try for one week to disconnect yourself from disconnect yourself from the world community--the world community--
see if itsee if it’’s possible.s possible.