Engaging the Environment: Relationships of Demography, EcoJustice, and Science Teacher Education in Response to Wolff-Michael Roth

Abstract

Kurt: Wolff-Michael Roth provides a valuable description and analysis of students working in their own community to be part of a democratic, ecologically based dialogue. At the core of this community activism is a movement away from top-down traditional teaching practices, or even liberal/progressive teaching practices that steer students toward the “right” answer, one that is often decontextualized from the students’ own natural, social, and cultural communities. As community activism is inferred, this type of teaching, namely, using one’s community as the curriculum, is a real and necessary departure from a curriculum that exists everywhere and nowhere. This begs the question of how future science teachers can be prepared and how current science teachers can be supported to develop teaching practices that are strongly rooted in connections between science, culture, social hegemonic structures, and ecological identities. A question follows. During a time when science education is often specifically named in political rhetoric to developing more workers in science-related fields largely driven by corporate agendas and ultimately the profit motive, how can science teacher educators and science teachers create an effective learning experience that is not significantly overcome with corporate and political motives?