Bioregional education on the Hudson

Breyman, Steve

doi:10.1080/10455759609358701

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Similarly, until recently, the majority of research on commons issues concerned similar contexts, in part because the livelihoods and survival strategies of rural smallholders are disproportionately Using institutional arrangements to teach undergraduates 365 dependent on common resources of forests, grazing land, and waters (Rangan 2004). As many educators in industrialized regions have found, it would be a pedagogical challenge to teach an undergraduate political ecology course primarily using literature and cases from students' home contexts (for notable exceptions, see Breyman 1996 andJarosz 2004). Barriers to such courses focused on commons concepts and issues may include the complex and multidisciplinary nature of commons studies (Berge and van Laerhoven 2011), students' relative lack of familiarity with the resource use contexts of much commons research, and a perceived relative dearth in industrialized societies of the customary institutions often used to illustrate commons issues.…”

Section: Introduction: the Challenge Of Teaching Undergraduates Aboutmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using institutional arrangements to teach undergraduates about commons in Thailand, and beyond

Yoder

Bicksler

2012

Int J Commons

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

How can we introduce more people to the concepts of commons and institutions earlier in their careers? Despite the wide variety of academic fields that contribute to commons research, there are few undergraduate university courses that center on this theme. This study describes how a study abroad program in Thailand uses guiding questions about institutional arrangements to teach North American undergraduate students about commons resourcedependent communities' control and access regarding coasts, forests, and rivers. Components that will enable students to transfer this learning to other, more familiar settings are built into the field-based courses. This paper outlines how students learn institution-focused questioning on history of local resource management groups, resource access and use, exclusionary mechanisms, strategic collaborations, and power relations in very unfamiliar contexts. Through the lens of political ecology, the paper describes how focusing on institutions has shaped students' understanding of the commons, and how they have been able to transfer their newly acquired institutional perspective to a range of situations in their home contexts.Keywords: Commons, institutions, pedagogy, political ecology, sustainability education, Thailand Acknowledgements: The excitement and commitment of our students as they learn about the commons in new ways prompted us to write this paper. Laura S. Meitzner Yoder and Abram BickslerThe long-term relationships ISDSI has built through collaborative course development with host villagers and local organizations enhanced the work. Two anonymous reviewers contributed insightful comments that helped re-shape the paper.

show abstract

Section: Introduction: the Challenge Of Teaching Undergraduates Aboutmentioning

confidence: 99%