Eco-Critical Pedagogies: (Re)Imagining Possibilities for Eco-Justice Curriculum and Environmental Education Research in Teacher Education

• In Event: Ecologically Intersecting Curriculum Studies With Environmental Education Research: 21st Century Implications, Inspirations, and C. A. Bowers

Abstract

In this paper, the author reflects on the contributions of C. A. Bowers and his conceptualization and introduction of “eco-justice” to widely spread networks of higher education, community activism, and global politics. While contextualizing Bowers’ work within environmental education research and implications for 21st Century challenges in teacher education, this paper focuses on Bowers contribution to eco-critical pedagogies and teacher education—specifically, the importance of EE research and curriculum studies toward fostering teacher preparation focused on learning to recognize and rethink often un-identified cultural assumptions embedded in Western industrial culture (Bowers, 1997). Concluding, the author of this paper highlights how Bowers’ work presents tensions and possibilities for revolutionary collaborations among diverse cultures and species for rethinking teaching and learning.

Author

• John J. Lupinacci, Washington State University