ENVIRONMENTAL & SOCIAL JUSTICE
Higher Still... ...continued from page 59 change policies). ●
Earth Education: A Programmatic Approach to Environ- mental Learning Earth education grew out of the groundbreaking work of Steve Van Matre in his Acclimatization summer camp programs to help young people build a love affair with the Earth (Van Matre, 1972). An inter - national non-profit educational organization, The Institute for Earth Education, was formed in 1974 and continues to this day. The purpose of Earth education is to nurture the process of “helping people to live more harmoniously and joyously with the Earth and its life.” (Van Ma - tre, 1990, p. 87) Earth education programs are magical learning adventures, holis- tic programs designed to help learners construct understandings of the systems of life that support us, develop positive feelings for the natural world and our place in it, and begin to craft lifestyles that less- en impact. There are several earth education programs for different ages and contexts, including three for 10-11 year-olds: Sunship Earth (Van Matre, 1977), Earthkeepers (Van Matre & Johnson, 1988); and Rangers of the Earth (Van Matre & Farber, 2005); and one for 13-14 year-olds, Sunship III (Van Matre & Johnson, 1997). Other programs are in development. All are focused on helping participants grow in three general ways: ● Construct understandings of fundamental ecological con- cepts, such as flow of energy, cycling of materials, interrelating of life, and changing of forms; ● Develop positive feelings, such as joy, at being in touch with the elements of life, kinship with all living things, reverence for natu- ral communities, and love for the Earth; and ● Processing what they learn and experience into action by in- ternalizing understandings for how life works on the Earth, enhancing
Effectiveness knowledge is about the relative gain or ben- efit that is associated with a particular behavior or action or “knowing which”—building on action-related knowledge, going from knowing how to lessen impact to knowing the relative benefits of different be - haviors and actions. This element is taught even less than action-relat- ed knowledge, which is taught less than system knowledge. Self-Enhancing vs Self-Transcendent Values and Environ- mental Identity People’s values and life goals are one aspect of human identity that plays a significant role in the development of pro-environmental atti - tudes and behavior (Crompton & Kasser, 2009). Values and life goals are critically important to consider when deciding how to convince people to act. Psychological research on values has shown that there are universal values, though they play out differently in both individu - als and societies (Schwartz, 1992). Some goals are extrinsic and are related to self-enhancement; these include achievement, power, status, and wealth (Kasser, 2005, 2011; Sheldon & McGregor, 2000). Another set of opposing goals are more intrinsic and self-transcendent, including universalism and benevo- lence (Crompton & Kasser, 2009, 2010; Grouzet, et al. 2005). People with strong self-enhancement values and goals tend to have negative environmental attitudes and behaviors. Those with strong self-tran- scendent values and goals tend to be more concerned about the envi- ronment and more motivated to engage in pro-environmental behav- iors.
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60—PATHWAYS—Spring 23
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