Traversing the Gap: Concientización , educative-activism in environmental adult education

Abstract

Although many individual behaviours have changed and a plethora of collective pro-environmental actions are taking place worldwide, environmental problems continue grow. From a framework of environmental adult education, I believe that by continuing to concentrate on behaviour modi cation and awareness-raising, we ignore the strengths, knowledge and power of people on the streets, as well as the larger structural and ideological problems at the root or environmental destruction. It is crucial that adult educators, those working with the 'public', acknowledge the serious and sometimes fatal risks of taking political action while encouraging the potential of people to make change through critically-focused educational-activist work.

Fostering Critical Thinking about Climate Change: Applying Community Psychology to an Environmental Education Project with Youth

“…Many psychology-informed behavior change strategies, for example, seem to accept financial and social status elements as essential to motivating individuals to make environmental choices, rather than challenging individuals in order to seek more complex methods of change that target other forms of motivation more likely to make significant impact (World Wildlife Fund [WWF], 2008). We agree with other authors (e.g., Clover, 2002;Harré, 2011;Riemer, 2010;WWF, 2008) that an alternative approach is needed, one that reflects a more complex method of individual and social transformation. In this paper, we present an example of how community psychology theory and principles can be used to create an environmental change program that reflects complex systems thinking through the mode of education.…”

Australian Secondary Students’ Views About Global Warming: Beliefs About Actions, and Willingness to Act

“…It has been argued that introducing students to systemic and critical thinking is one way of helping them to explore environmental concerns from more than just a scientific and technological perspective (Clover 2002;Devine-Wright et al 2004;Sterling 2004). However, systemic thinking, with its emphasis on root causes and multidisciplinary inputs, may cause further uncertainty in the minds of students which may, in turn, lead to more misconceptions about particular issues (Fortner et al 2000).…”

An Analysis of Nepalese Youth Understanding Level on Climate Change

“…In environmental issues, people constantly take actions and behave in certain ways that reflect the most appropriate and effective environmental choices (Clover, 2002). Addressing such environmental behaviors, understanding individual motivations and differences in behavior by environmental educators are important (Heimlich and Ardoin, 2008).…”