Teaching Citizenship is the journal of The Association for Citizenship Teaching. For their latest issue (Issue 62: Legal Literacy in Action; Rights, justice and the rule of law), Hans Svennevig read Earthwards: Transformative Ecological Education by Katherine Burke.
Utilising this book will help all of us to go ‘Earthwards’! This book is not simply about action, making that point immediately clear. It is about helping us as educators to reconnect to nature and, by doing so, providing opportunities to inspire children and young people to do the same, now and in their adult futures. In this way, instead of retelling the same points in lessons each year about reducing waste or campaigning for more green initiatives, it helps us to develop an interconnectedness with the ecosystems around us, so that we can collectively collaborate to find new ways of teaching and learning.
This is a book of stories and experiences of teachers and children, learning to find ‘awe’ in the world around them. The book starts with a very clear summary of its purpose; there are case studies from primary, secondary and post-16 learning to try out. The book deals with eco-anxiety by teaching us that while we need to have knowledge, we also need to share ways in which to connect and communicate with each other, and we need to recentre empathy in our learning about nature so that we are all included.
You don’t need to read this in one sitting (even though you could); you can dip in, dip out, try things, use the amazing index to find an example, try a lesson plan (each chapter has one) or use the book to think around ideas. Each chapter has guiding questions, highlights, reflections and a list of further reading, which includes links to listen to and watch. The book is absolutely packed with inspirational quotes and statements that you can use in a myriad of settings, inspiring others to think about how they interact with the world around them.
This book is very much about our intention and the resolve that we wish to have to improve things, over time, in our world. It’s about how we discover and share the world – the questions that we ask and how we can enrich the experiences of all its inhabitants.
I have talked to a lot of people who have read this book and they all rave about it – and I can see why.
Hans Svennevig
Teachers are incredibly passionate, imaginative and creative people, yet we all still need some inspiration to refresh and improve our curricula, and this book helps us to do that while not overwhelming us. Even the glossary helps us to grasp new words and techniques in a helpful style, creating curiosity in our own learning that will help us all to come up with new ideas for system change in a positive way.
I have talked to a lot of people who have read this book and they all rave about it – and I can see why. Many talked about Chapter 5 and children meeting worms. I particularly liked Chapter 6 and a ‘sit spot’. I wondered how often we teach children and young people to be in solitude while connecting with nature (maybe even meeting worms), and this chapter helps with that. I also loved laughing when reading Chapter 10, which explores using satire to deal with the challenges around us, including getting young people to script short films to tell a story, activities that can be added to existing curricula.
Chapters 12 and 13, on social change and economics, might seem best suited to Citizenship educators, but I felt that we as Citizenship educators could learn from the book overall, and these chapters would particularly help non-specialists. In this way, teachers can work together across the curriculum, enabling – as the book would hope – the school to be a ‘transformative agent’ of connection to the environment, with students at its heart.
The Association for Citizenship Teaching (ACT) is the professional subject association for all teachers and educators engaged in Citizenship education. Hans is the Subject Leader for Citizenship PGCE and Deputy Programme Leader for Secondary PGCE at UCL Institute of Education. His review of Earthwards can be read in Teaching Citizenship journal (issue 62): Legal Literacy in Action.
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.
