Class 8 / IDS 3920 / Spring 2004

Environmental Education I: Definition, Theory, and Practice

  Informed and engaged citizens are essential to the creation of a civil and sustainable society.  The University values the development of the responsible self grounded in honesty, courage, and compassion, and committed to advancing democratic ideals.  Through service learning requirements, the University engages students in community involvement with time for formal reflection on their experiences.  Integral to the University’s philosophy is instilling in students an environmental consciousness that balances their economic and social aspirations with the imperative for ecological sustainability.

 Reading

Reading "Environmental Education in a Sustainable Environment" reading from Module 2 of Teaching for a Sustainable World, 1995, pp. 2.27-2.29 and 2.17-2.20, and/or other handouts provided by the instructor.

 

Writing

 

Ethics and Economics
  Short Paper Three is due.  It should be four to five typed, double-spaced pages in length. Your paper shall be evaluated according to the criteria presented by the assessment rubric and by your section instructor.  The assignment is as follows:

David Orr’s Ecological Literacy and Aldo Leopold's The Land Ethic” display a number of convergent or complementary ideas.  One of the most important of these is the idea that the principles of “mainstream economics” as well as the assumption that “self-interest” and the desire for personal profit are humanity’s principal motivations, hamper the development of an environmentally sustainable ethic.  In this regard, for example, Orr writes that “economic man knows not limits of discipline, or obligation, or satiation, which may explain why the growth economy has no logical stopping point, and perhaps why good neighbors are becoming harder to find.” (p. 9)  Similarly, Leopold writes that “a system of conservation based solely on economic self-interest is hopelessly lopsided.” (p. 251)

This writing assignment asks you to wrestle with some of the problems and paradoxes evident in this idea.  In four or five pages, typed and double-spaced, you should address the following concerns:
 

1) With respect to problems of environmental sustainability, what does Orr mean when he writes that “the prominence of the economy in the modern world, and that of growth economics in the conduct of public affairs explains, I think, a great deal of the propensity for social traps”? (p. 11)  How does Leopold’s discussion in “The Land Ethic” develop some very similar points? (roughly two pages)

2) Select from either Orr’s discussion or Leopold’s discussion one alternative to this economic approach or key concept that the author feels is essential to developing a more environmentally sustainable ethic, and summarize its essential points. (roughly one to one and a half pages)

3) Evaluate the alternative that you summarized in part 2 above, doing so on the basis of your personal convictions.  Be sure to explain and defend your evaluation to the reader using specific examples from your experience (roughly one to two pages).

Understanding Floridiana

Remember you will be asked to read a work of Florida literature of your choice. Find a work of your interest. Feel free to ask your instructor for assistance.

Self-Assessing

Have a look at the syllabus and the assessment rubric to consider how you are doing. . . are you moving toward achievement of the course goals?  In what ways?  If not, what should you do?