Nature, Humans, and Education: Ecohumanism as an Integrative Guiding Paradigm for Values Education and Teacher Training in Israel

Abstract

Ecohumanism is a timely topic for educational undertaking in our global reality amid the pressing climate crisis, mass migration, weakening commitment to social justice and liberal democracy, and the coronavirus pandemic that began in 2020. In this chapter, we explore the philosophical, theoretical, and practical approach of ecohumanism in the context of teacher training education, focusing on the interrelations between the ideas of field environmental philosophy, the biocultural conservation, and the social-ecological system frameworks. One avenue of exploration may focus on the pressing predicaments of environmental sustainability. Namely, Mother Earth sustains many cultures. Surely many cultures should be able to sustain Mother Nature. This is achieved by harnessing strengths from all cultures, with their different perspectives and traditions, to sustain Nature. Another avenue of exploration that has philosophical and practical elements, is to endorse and cultivate worldviews that stress the moral and civic virtue of respect for dignity, diversity, democracy, and harmony (social and natural). Along the lines of Neil Postman’s book, The End of Education, we argue that ecohumanism, as a metanarrative or overarching goal for value education aiming for a good quality of life—for nature and humanity—defines the most appropriate and desirable common good for the twenty-first century. We include examples from the college’s integrative and activist curriculum, as well as from the experiential and explorative teaching-learning methods, demonstrating how pre-service and in-service teacher training courses contribute to a new paradigm of ecohumanist education. Our approach considers issues of social-ecological systems, contemplative environmental education, multiculturalism, shared life, and biodiversity conservation.