Developing a Critical Consciousness of Race in Place-Based Environmental Education: The Case of Franco

• In Event: 44.054 - (Re)Considering Place and Place-Based Education in Environmental Education

Abstract

Environmental Education place-based pedagogy has long supported pro-environmental action. However, the intersection of race and place-based EE has been undertheorized. In this paper, I use five tenets of Critical Race Theory to interpret the experience of a non-American, non-White student in an action-oriented place-based EE program. I argue that without a critical consciousness of race, instructors may (a) privilege their own ways of knowing in local settings and (b) send non-White students home having learned that they cannot effect meaningful change for sustainability in local communities. I conclude with recommendations for how faculty in predominantly White institutions might work towards the development of critical consciousness of race in place-based EE curriculum and instruction.

Author

• Hannah K. Miller, Johnson State College