Toward a Framework for Critical Environmental Justice for Teaching and Learning

• In Event: Confronting Colonial Legacies: Healing and Justice in Environmental Education

Abstract

Global environmental crises juxtaposed with the politics of fear, denial, and disinformation, highlights the imperative for a critical, intersectional environmental justice (EJ) movement. This paper outlines the knowledge, skills, and mindsets essential for PreK-12 educators to design and facilitate curricula that integrate EJ through a critical lens effectively. The Critical Environmental Justice for Teaching and Learning framework offers a guide for educators and researchers. This model includes four core practices and multifaceted approaches to equip students to address the complexities of contemporary environmental challenges in ways that center equity. The framework seeks to cultivate environmental literacy and empower youth to dismantle the environmental racism threatening our planet’s future through liberating pedagogies that cultivate problem-solving and commitment to justice.

Authors

• Holly Maribeth Plank, Bowling Green State University

• Hillary Chelednik, University of Pittsburgh

• Cassie F. Quigley, University of Pittsburgh