Curricula to Analyze Culture for Sustainability and Justice

• In Event: Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Public Scholarship Toward Social Justice and Sustainability in Teacher Education

Abstract

If we hope to find sustainable modes of existence, our society must develop habits of mind that allow us to connect to other beings, critically question established belief systems, and imagine alternative ways of living (Author, 2011; Author and Donnelly, 2013; Martusewicz et al., 2011). It is the challenge of educators to help establish these skills as systematic social practice. In classrooms and collective conversations, we must teach and manifest strategies that encourage us as individuals and as a society to creatively question our cultural values and the logics of domination (Warren 2000) that have authorized exploitation of people, other beings, and the land; rethink our worldviews to find those that best facilitate justice and sustainability; and forge emotional connections to one another and to the more-than-human world. For this reason, in this presentation I first outline the importance of preparing pre-service teachers in English Language Arts and Social Studies to employ eco-critical frameworks in their teaching across all courses, topics, and skill levels. Creating opportunities for critical analysis of the cultural roots of social and environmental problems is in perfect keeping with English Language Arts and Social Studies education, as these fields already deal in the analysis of culture, language, belief systems, and history. Engaging in analysis that questions cultural norms which have lead to environmental crisis strengthens students’ critical thinking, provides space for vital engagement with pressing modern issues, and allows the classroom to become a space of positive transformation where students and teacher can imagine better ways to live (Author, 2011, 2015). Next I share examples of curriculum materials I have designed for use in English and Social Studies classrooms at the secondary and post-secondary level (Author, 2015). These materials give teachers-in-training examples of how to apply eco-critical frameworks within their own classes. I also provide examples of student responses to these materials, demonstrating that students are eager to discuss issues of social and environmental justice and that such discussions greatly sharpen students’ understanding of cultural norms, values, and belief systems, and how such systems can be reformulated for a more positive future

Author

• Rita Turner, University of Maryland - Baltimore County