Proposal for an Ecological Pedagogy of Hope

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 1:45 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Theoretical Frameworks for Hope, Crisis, and Transformation

Abstract

In response to ecological crisis, educator burnout, and systemic injustice, this paper proposes an ecological pedagogy of hope—an education framework grounded in critical consciousness, relationality, and regeneration. Drawing from Freirean pedagogy, Indigenous epistemologies, and critical environmental education, it reimagines education as a living, relational system rooted in land, community, and shared humanity. Using the metaphor of a tree, the framework integrates deep roots of justice, a strong trunk of educator well-being, branching pedagogical practices, and the flourishing leaves of joyful, liberatory learning. This pedagogy invites a shift from extraction to reciprocity, from burnout to renewal, and from despair to critical hope—positioning education as a practice of healing, transformation, and ecological belonging.

Author

• Kevin Patrick O'Brien, University of Denver