Environmental Justice Education for Whom? Understanding Environmental Justice and Intersectional Educator Identities in Environmental Education

• In Event: Global Perspectives on Environmental Justice: The Role of Identities and Experiences

Abstract

Through this case study, I seek to understand environmental educators’ understandings of environmental justice (EJ) and their responsibilities in the broader environmental movement. Interviews and video recorded discussions with environmental educators of the MoonForest graduate program revealed differences in how participants positioned themselves in relation to environmental injustice depending on their racial identities, as well as how they relied on collective or individual power/action in their work toward environmental justice. These differences indicate a need for continued refinement of political clarity (Madkins & McKinney de Royston, 2019) and politicization (Curnow, Davis, & Asher, 2019) as individuals (environmental educators) and in community (environmental learning spaces) around what EJ means and what responsibilities environmental educators have in the fight for EJ.

Author

• Christina Guevara, University of Washington - Seattle