The Stroud-based charity SEEd recently hosted Katherine Burke to talk about her new book Earthwards: Transformative Ecological Education, proudly published by Hawthorn Press.
When Katharine Burke’s pupil asked her, ‘Miss, do you think we are going extinct?’ she knew it was time to change the way schools approached sustainability education. Instead of simply being told things, students needed to develop a deep relationship with the living Earth. This paradigm shift builds resilience and resolve, and fosters a culture of care for ourselves and the planet. Earthwards looks at how we can do this, with stories of real teachers working with children in primary classrooms, gardens, wilderness trips, service clubs, and in secondary-level language, social studies and geography courses.
SEEd CEO Ann Finlayson spoke with Katherine about the inspiration behind Earthwards and the importance of integrating sustainability education into the national curriculum.
Below you can listen to Katherine chat about her book, and find out more about the Earthwards project and SEEd.
Links
Sustainability & Environment Education (SEEd) helps educators prepare young people for the future and the environmental changes they will experience. It does this through both practical training and policy work. Learn more about SEEd.
The EARTHWARDS Project is a new way of teaching sustainability that focuses on a culture of care. It promotes resilience and resolve through deep connection to the natural world, deep understanding of natural systems and practice of leverage points for change. Learn more about the Earthwards Project ↗.
Earthwards: Transformative Ecological Education
Katharine Burke
A timely handbook of transformative ecological education with principles, methods and projects that teachers of all subjects can use to engage students aged 7–18 across the curriculum.
