Philosophies of Adult Environmental Education

Abstract

This article offers a typology of philosophical traditions in environmental education for adults, based on five philosophical perspectives of adult education described by Elias and Merriam. These five traditions are liberal, progressive, behaviorist, humanist, and radical adult environmental education, respectively. A summary of each philosophy’s main tenets, including the aims of education, beliefs about the nature of learners, the role of educators, and instructional strategies and assessment of learning is given in the article. Limitations of the typology are also discussed. Prominent examples from the environmental movement and adult environmental education practice in North America are then presented to illustrate each philosophy. The article ends with a discussion of directions for future research and implications for practice.

Adult Learning, Education, and the Environment

“…First, adult educators can link themselves to protest activities, finding ways to connect with other organizations and groups and to enter the struggle. A plethora of creative environmental adult educative activism is taking place with and through various media, including the arts such as popular theater, quilting, music, and puppetry (Branagan, 2005;Clover & Shaw, 2009;Walter, 2009). Researchers identify a "multiplicity of approaches from reformist demands on elites to revolutionary challenges to dominant paradigms, challenges aimed at fundamentally different human/environment relations" (Branagan, 2005, p. 35).…”

“…However, there were two advances in Belém: the acknowledgment of the gender-specifi c disproportionately negative impact of a carbon-saturated planet on women and the inclusion of youth in the document. While many adult educators have an aversion to youth-it is only millimeters from the all-consuming discourse of schools-the environment is certainly an issue and preoccupation of young people, especially young activists (Clover & Shaw, 2009;Walter, 2009). …”

“…In adult education, Walter (2009) argues that despite years of environmental movements and activity at local, regional, and international levels, we are still not particularly green in terms of "research and scholarship" (p. 4). This chapter explores such concerns from the context of Theme 6 of the Hamburg Declaration (UNESCO, 1997).…”

Educación de adultos en determinantes sociales de la salud: experiencia con la Seremi de Salud de la Región de Los Ríos

“…La educación de adultos, por su parte, es un concepto con múltiples significados dependiendo del lugar, territorio y grupo humano que la utilice 5,6 . En este artículo se refiere a aquella educación que reconoce el aprendizaje vinculado a la interacción, las emociones y la construcción conjunta del mismo, por lo cual las metodologías a utilizar han de ser activas, contemplarán espacios de diálogo colectivo y de reflexión sobre lo aprendido 7 , además de la solución conjunta de los problemas.…”

Rhetoric of Oil in Canadian News: Framed for Indigenous Care

“…Upon review of a topology of philosophical traditions in non-formal and informal environmental education for adults (Walter, 2009), it can be said that contemporary media culture employs the entire range of behaviourist, humanistic, radical, and liberal philosophies to encourage ecological sensibility. However, strikingly little philosophical writing has been done on how people learn to disengage from issues concerning environmental justice.…”