Developing an ‘Activist Mentality’ in an Environmental Science Course

Abstract

This chapter presents a framework for understanding the goals of the Environmental Science course, including promoting an activist mentality, through Kempton and Holland’s (Identity and sustained environmental practice. In: Clayton S, Opotow S (eds) Identity and the natural environment: the psychological significance of nature. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 317–341, 2003) stages of environmental identity development. Subsequently, the concept of the ‘zone of proximal identity development’ (Polman JL, Revista de Educación, 353:129–155, 2010) is introduced as a useful theoretical notion in conceptualizing how teachers can encourage activism within the Environmental Science course. Excerpts from teacher and student interviews from a recent ethnographic study in an Environmental Science high school course are shared in the discussion of the goals for the course and in the presentation of several activities which encourage student activism. The categories of environmental action described as ‘civic action’ and ‘cultural reform’ are used to further analyze the various types of activities that may be enacted in an Environmental Science course in the teaching of environmental issues. Additionally, this chapter considers how we can employ the objectives of the social reconstructivist movement of the early twentieth century as a guide for promoting activism in our schools, specifically to counter the current narrative of learning and schooling advocated by the ‘education reform’ movement. Finally, several teaching strategies that can be used in an Environmental Science course (or on a school-wide level) are recommended in order to extend the goals of the course beyond environmental awareness to a level where scaffolding for environmental activism becomes a central component.KeywordsControversial issuesCurriculumEnvironmental activismEnvironmental identityEnvironmental scienceRole of schooling