Constance Russell - Böcker

This book illustrates how humour can be a powerful tool for environmental education. Hailing from eight different countries, the authors’ inquiries are grounded in a range of sites of learning and focus on different comedic forms, offering a variety of perspectives on the ways humour features, or could feature, in environmental education.The chapters adopt an array of methodological approaches and theoretical frames, drawing not only on environmental education research and humour studies, but also scholarship in affect theory, antiracist and Indigenous education, climate change communication, critical pedagogy, ecocriticism and language arts education, feminist theory, human– animal relations, media studies, new materialisms, philosophy, psychology, public pedagogy, science education, and social movement studies. Many of the topics discussed in this volume necessitated multi- or interdisciplinary inquiries and pedagogies.Delving into humour led the authors to push beyond the boundaries of their own disciplines and, for some, to form creative collaborations that took them not only into new academic fields but also outside their professions to work with actors, cartoonists, comedians, and game developers. This book was originally published as a special issue of Environmental Education Research.

This book illustrates how humour can be a powerful tool for environmental education. Hailing from eight different countries, the authors’ inquiries are grounded in a range of sites of learning and focus on different comedic forms, offering a variety of perspectives on the ways humour features, or could feature, in environmental education.The chapters adopt an array of methodological approaches and theoretical frames, drawing not only on environmental education research and humour studies, but also scholarship in affect theory, antiracist and Indigenous education, climate change communication, critical pedagogy, ecocriticism and language arts education, feminist theory, human– animal relations, media studies, new materialisms, philosophy, psychology, public pedagogy, science education, and social movement studies. Many of the topics discussed in this volume necessitated multi- or interdisciplinary inquiries and pedagogies.Delving into humour led the authors to push beyond the boundaries of their own disciplines and, for some, to form creative collaborations that took them not only into new academic fields but also outside their professions to work with actors, cartoonists, comedians, and game developers. This book was originally published as a special issue of Environmental Education Research.

This book was named a 2015 Choice magazine Outstanding Academic Title.Place-based education offers a compelling opportunity to engage students in the life of their community. More than just taking a field trip, participants in a place-based project make sustained efforts to make a difference and learn basic skills along the way. Academic concepts come to life as real-world problems are investigated from a local angle. Even global issues can be connected to the community, such as the high school in Missouri that linked local land-use choices to the «dead zone» in the Gulf of Mexico. For teachers, place-based projects offer a chance for professional revitalization as they orchestrate complex and meaningful learning environments that go well beyond scripted curriculum mandates. Both teachers and students benefit from a new level of agency as they take ownership of their work. Drawing on his own experience as a teacher and more than a decade of work supporting teachers in crafting their own projects, the author outlines the many benefits of place-based education and describes the challenges that must be overcome if we are to realize its potential.

This book was named a 2015 Choice magazine Outstanding Academic Title.Place-based education offers a compelling opportunity to engage students in the life of their community. More than just taking a field trip, participants in a place-based project make sustained efforts to make a difference and learn basic skills along the way. Academic concepts come to life as real-world problems are investigated from a local angle. Even global issues can be connected to the community, such as the high school in Missouri that linked local land-use choices to the «dead zone» in the Gulf of Mexico. For teachers, place-based projects offer a chance for professional revitalization as they orchestrate complex and meaningful learning environments that go well beyond scripted curriculum mandates. Both teachers and students benefit from a new level of agency as they take ownership of their work. Drawing on his own experience as a teacher and more than a decade of work supporting teachers in crafting their own projects, the author outlines the many benefits of place-based education and describes the challenges that must be overcome if we are to realize its potential.

Over the past decade, concerns about a global «obesity epidemic» have flourished. Public health messages around physical activity, fitness, and nutrition permeate society despite significant evidence disputing the «facts» we have come to believe about «obesity». We live in a culture that privileges thinness and enables weight-based oppression, often expressed as fat phobia and fat bullying. New interdisciplinary fields that problematize «obesity» have emerged, including critical obesity studies, critical weight studies, and fat studies. There also is a small but growing literature examining weight-based oppression in educational settings in what has come to be called «fat pedagogy». The very first book of its kind, The Fat Pedagogy Reader brings together an international, interdisciplinary roster of respected authors who share heartfelt stories of oppression, privilege, resistance, and action; fascinating descriptions of empirical research; confessional tales of pedagogical (mis)adventures; and diverse accounts of educational interventions that show promise. Taken together, the authors illuminate both possibilities and pitfalls for fat pedagogy that will be of interest to scholars, educators, and social justice activists. Concluding with a fat pedagogy manifesto, the book lays a solid foundation for this important and exciting new field. This book could be adopted in courses in fat studies, critical weight studies, bodies and embodiment, fat pedagogy, feminist pedagogy, gender and education, critical pedagogy, social justice education, and diversity in education.

Over the past decade, concerns about a global «obesity epidemic» have flourished. Public health messages around physical activity, fitness, and nutrition permeate society despite significant evidence disputing the «facts» we have come to believe about «obesity». We live in a culture that privileges thinness and enables weight-based oppression, often expressed as fat phobia and fat bullying. New interdisciplinary fields that problematize «obesity» have emerged, including critical obesity studies, critical weight studies, and fat studies. There also is a small but growing literature examining weight-based oppression in educational settings in what has come to be called «fat pedagogy». The very first book of its kind, The Fat Pedagogy Reader brings together an international, interdisciplinary roster of respected authors who share heartfelt stories of oppression, privilege, resistance, and action; fascinating descriptions of empirical research; confessional tales of pedagogical (mis)adventures; and diverse accounts of educational interventions that show promise. Taken together, the authors illuminate both possibilities and pitfalls for fat pedagogy that will be of interest to scholars, educators, and social justice activists. Concluding with a fat pedagogy manifesto, the book lays a solid foundation for this important and exciting new field. This book could be adopted in courses in fat studies, critical weight studies, bodies and embodiment, fat pedagogy, feminist pedagogy, gender and education, critical pedagogy, social justice education, and diversity in education.

Learning from Bad Practice in Environmental and Sustainability Education illuminates the notion of bad practice from the perspective of environmental and sustainability education (ESE) and how it is possible to learn from it in order to avoid the relentless pitfalls and blind spots that are part of any educational field. Combining lessons from Danish and South Korean NGOs involved in both formal and non-formal ESE with emerging theoretical perspectives on education, the important question is: Why do practitioners, educators and researchers have such a hard time dealing with the challenges of bad practice and is it possible to understand bad practice as not only something that mars the educational purpose of ESE, but also as something that at the same time protects the very ideals we find in the fields. Through empirical analysis, and theoretical perspectives from Jacques Lacan and Slavoj Slavoj Žižek, Learning from Bad Practice in Environmental and Sustainability Education argues how we, as teachers, practitioners and researchers can learn from bad practice and move beyond the comfortable position of finger pointing and push for more genuine good practice.

Learning from Bad Practice in Environmental and Sustainability Education illuminates the notion of bad practice from the perspective of environmental and sustainability education (ESE) and how it is possible to learn from it in order to avoid the relentless pitfalls and blind spots that are part of any educational field. Combining lessons from Danish and South Korean NGOs involved in both formal and non-formal ESE with emerging theoretical perspectives on education, the important question is: Why do practitioners, educators and researchers have such a hard time dealing with the challenges of bad practice and is it possible to understand bad practice as not only something that mars the educational purpose of ESE, but also as something that at the same time protects the very ideals we find in the fields. Through empirical analysis, and theoretical perspectives from Jacques Lacan and Slavoj Slavoj Žižek, Learning from Bad Practice in Environmental and Sustainability Education argues how we, as teachers, practitioners and researchers can learn from bad practice and move beyond the comfortable position of finger pointing and push for more genuine good practice.

Children’s Environmental Identity Development: Negotiating Inner and Outer Tensions in Natural World Socialization draws inspiration from environmental education, education for sustainability, environmental psychology, sociology, and child development to propose a theoretical framework for considering how children’s identity in/with/for nature evolves through formative experiences. The natural world socialization of young children considers not only how the natural environment affects the growth and development of young children but also how children shape and influence natural settings. Such childhood relations with the environment are explicitly linked to familial, sociocultural, geographical, and educational contexts. While the book is theoretical and will be of interest to academics and students, the use of accessible language, vignettes, and figures will make it useful to teachers, policy-makers, parents, and others genuinely concerned with children’s relationships with other humans and the natural world.

Children’s Environmental Identity Development: Negotiating Inner and Outer Tensions in Natural World Socialization draws inspiration from environmental education, education for sustainability, environmental psychology, sociology, and child development to propose a theoretical framework for considering how children’s identity in/with/for nature evolves through formative experiences. The natural world socialization of young children considers not only how the natural environment affects the growth and development of young children but also how children shape and influence natural settings. Such childhood relations with the environment are explicitly linked to familial, sociocultural, geographical, and educational contexts. While the book is theoretical and will be of interest to academics and students, the use of accessible language, vignettes, and figures will make it useful to teachers, policy-makers, parents, and others genuinely concerned with children’s relationships with other humans and the natural world.

Written during a time characterized by catalyzing Indigenous environmental movements such as Idle No More, political upheaval, and the final years of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Protest as Pedagogy: Teaching, Learning, and Indigenous Environmental Movements was motivated by Gregory Lowan-Trudeau’s personal experiences as an activist, educator, and researcher. Insights from interviews with activists and educators in a variety of school, community, and post-secondary contexts are presented in relation to teaching and learning during, and in response to, Indigenous environmental movements. Looking toward future possibilities, the rise of renewable energy development by Indigenous communities across Canada is also considered. Throughout Protest as Pedagogy, these inquiries are guided by a theoretical framework built on concepts such as decolonization, Herbert Marcuse’s repressive tolerance, Elliot Eisner’s three curricula, and broader fields of study such as social movement learning, critical media literacy, Indigenous media studies, and environmental communication.

Written during a time characterized by catalyzing Indigenous environmental movements such as Idle No More, political upheaval, and the final years of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Protest as Pedagogy: Teaching, Learning, and Indigenous Environmental Movements was motivated by Gregory Lowan-Trudeau’s personal experiences as an activist, educator, and researcher. Insights from interviews with activists and educators in a variety of school, community, and post-secondary contexts are presented in relation to teaching and learning during, and in response to, Indigenous environmental movements. Looking toward future possibilities, the rise of renewable energy development by Indigenous communities across Canada is also considered. Throughout Protest as Pedagogy, these inquiries are guided by a theoretical framework built on concepts such as decolonization, Herbert Marcuse’s repressive tolerance, Elliot Eisner’s three curricula, and broader fields of study such as social movement learning, critical media literacy, Indigenous media studies, and environmental communication.

Building Kids’ Citizenship Through Community Engagement offers a compelling, empirically-based argument for giving young people opportunities to grow through productive involvement with their local community. Drawing on John Dewey’s pragmatic frame of experience and concepts of bildung that inform educational practice in Europe, the book speaks directly to teachers and parents who are looking for a way to support young people in their efforts to become confident, self-directed citizens. Throughout, the book offers a paradigm for growth that counters the limits of narrow visions of schooling and equally thin out-of-school learning opportunities which serve to limit young people’s potential.In framing the argument, veteran educator Bob Coulter draws on more than 30 years of experience that includes extensive work with youth as a classroom teacher and in a variety of other community-based efforts, as well as 18 years of work as a mentor to teachers and parents. Key themes running through Building Kids’ Citizenship Through Community Engagement include a cogent argument in support of young people assuming an active, age-appropriate role as citizens, as well as a modern updating of Dewey’s concept of experience that is suitable for a technological age. These theoretical ideas are made tangible through specific recommendations for productive uses of digital technology and a critical review of several frameworks that have proven useful for designing and evaluating the quality of kids’ community-based learning experiences.

Building Kids’ Citizenship Through Community Engagement offers a compelling, empirically-based argument for giving young people opportunities to grow through productive involvement with their local community. Drawing on John Dewey’s pragmatic frame of experience and concepts of bildung that inform educational practice in Europe, the book speaks directly to teachers and parents who are looking for a way to support young people in their efforts to become confident, self-directed citizens. Throughout, the book offers a paradigm for growth that counters the limits of narrow visions of schooling and equally thin out-of-school learning opportunities which serve to limit young people’s potential.In framing the argument, veteran educator Bob Coulter draws on more than 30 years of experience that includes extensive work with youth as a classroom teacher and in a variety of other community-based efforts, as well as 18 years of work as a mentor to teachers and parents. Key themes running through Building Kids’ Citizenship Through Community Engagement include a cogent argument in support of young people assuming an active, age-appropriate role as citizens, as well as a modern updating of Dewey’s concept of experience that is suitable for a technological age. These theoretical ideas are made tangible through specific recommendations for productive uses of digital technology and a critical review of several frameworks that have proven useful for designing and evaluating the quality of kids’ community-based learning experiences.

Animal Edutainment in a Neoliberal Era is a rich and beautifully written multispecies ethnographic monograph that explores pedagogy and practice at a Southern California aquarium housing and displaying over 10,000 animals. Drawing on extensive interviews with aquarium staff and visitors, as well as fieldwork interacting with and observing human-animal interactions, the book demonstrates the complex ways in which aquarium animals are politically deployed in teaching and learning processes. Weaving together insights from anthropology, critical geography, environmental education, and political ecology, Teresa Lloro crafts a three-pronged "political ecology of education lens," illuminating how neoliberal ideologies interact at various scales (local, regional, national, and global) to deeply shape aquarium decision-making and practice. Acknowledging that neoliberalism enrolls humans and other animals in teaching and learning in new and often poorly understood ways, this study challenges the anthropocentrism of contemporary informal educational approaches, suggesting that imaginative ways forward will require a paradigm shift in regarding the role of animals in education.

What does it look like to live with integrity in the midst of complicity? When the daily tasks of eating, working, and providing for our homes are tangled up with climate change, exploitative working conditions, colonial legacies of stolen land, and more, what do we do? Based on five years of research, this book shares intimate narratives about 12 educators working at the intersection of education, environment, and social change, as they describe their understandings and experiences of integrity and complicity in today’s world. Nora Timmerman argues that these stories collectively teach us how scale matters, to stop being one person, and to act anyway. Integrity comes not from ridding oneself of complicity but from critical learning, community accountability, cultivating interdependence, and strategic experimentation to create new worlds."This delightful book, Between Integrity and Complicity, is an environmental educator’s manifesto on how to live well in relation to communities of others. The stories call on us to do more acting (with inevitable missteps) and less worrying. The author skillfully untangles the roots of complicity, integrity and suffering to show us the colourfully varied microcosm of ecological and social renewal, perseverance, and possibility. This book honours listening to the world in all its myriad ways—it is a found treasure."—Leesa Fawcett, PhD, Environmental and Urban Change, Coordinator of Environmental & Sustainability Education, York University"This book explores the existential journeys of leading environmental educators and scholars through illuminating portraits and vignettes in a thoughtfully nuanced manner. It is a timely and notable contribution to the literature."—Greg Lowan-Trudeau, PhD, Associate Professor of Education, University of Calgary