Education

“I Spy an Ecosystem!” and Words as Barriers

Today, it seems that our current method for teaching about the environment fosters a perceived intrinsic disconnect, or distance, that humans have from our environment. The words that are used, and the ways in which we use them, make for an unstable foundation for the ongoing efforts to better understand our place in the ‘environment’. As teachers, learners, and as human thinkers, we are constantly trying to bridge connections and understanding between one another and to the world around us. Knowing is about making connections. How can we make connections to Nature and the ‘environment’ when these terms segregate all things ‘human’ from what is ‘natural’? Where do we fit into this environment? Perhaps the terminology we use to talk about ecological concerns is rooted in a way of thinking that we are trying to separate ourselves from. As Bowers says, “Many of those analogs were chosen by men who were unaware of environmental limits, and who took for granted many of the cultural assumptions of their era. Recognizing that words have a history has important implications that are seldom considered” (Bowers 48). How can we teach a love, a respect, and a sense of connection to ourselves while using the same vocabulary that was created by those who were unaware and apathetic to these same concerns? We are having a different conversation now, so maybe we need to be deliberate in our language and conscious of our meaning. 

Tearing Down the Language Barrier

Every environment, whether it is in the city, your home, or the outdoors, has obstacles to tear down and work through. We are not a perfect community and in a way it is great that we will never be a utopia. Individuals gain knowledge through experience, through failing and learning how to overcome and adapt to face our biggest problems. Individuals would never progress intellectually, mentally, or emotionally if our environments were problem safe, poke free bubbles.

Every environment is unique and created differently due to geographic and economic standards. Philadelphia’s solution for better environmental education caliber might not apply to Houston’s solution due to a lot of reasons, but most importantly because of how different each population in each of the environments is. Houston and Philadelphia are two different cities in two different states miles apart from each other, not only does location play a big factor in the issue but so does the general make up of both environments. We would need to take into consideration the types of communities that build both cities, which requires stepping in, and becoming personally aware with who lives there rather than focus solemnly on the problem at hand.

After looking through all of the readings we have done so far in class I decided I wanted to focus on the readings that coverered bilingualism in public schools as well as focusing on disabilities in the public school system. The main focus for this essay is on accessibility: Accessibility for people with learning diabilities or language differences in the public school system as well as accessibility for people in nature whether it’s in natural parks or in playgrounds with man-made structures. For this essay I looked at Lapayese’s essay on bilingualism in public schools, two essays on disabilities, as well as Price’s essay which focused on the idea of access. I also wanted to tie in my own experiences with disabilities and school systems.

             Environmental education is an effort to teach how natural environments function and the ways people can change their habits and behavior in order to live more sustainably. This form of education aims to foster more ecological intelligence, environmental consciousness, and more caring of the earth. One issue with environmental education, though, is that it often calls for “providing more positive opportunities for contact with nature among children and adults as an integral part of everyday life” (159). By limiting the scope to connecting students to “nature” or to wildscapes free from pollution, skyscrapers, and waste, students from cities who lack access to these outdoor spaces are inhibited from getting the “environmental education” experience. There is a bias in environmental education toward natural, pristine spaces, when in actuality students should be learning about their own communities; the environments they live in, breathe in, and attend school in. This issue of access to untouched outdoor spaces is especially the case in Washington D.C. where certain neighborhoods have disproportionately high rates of pollution compared with other parts of the city. Students who do not have access to “nature” as well as those who live in communities that deal with environmental racism, should learn more about their natural surroundings as well as means of action they can take to address environmental racism.

I absolutely LOVED the time we spent with the fifth graders on Friday. It was so refreshing to be around young people, and at the same time it felt very productive, like we were doing good work together, creating ties between two very different groups of people. Though they were sort of supposed to be "teaching" us the planting process, the kids I was working with hadn't really remembered the steps, and since I have experience with planting seeds (and also since I was the adult figure and so gravitated to the leadership position naturally due to ageism), I ended up teaching them and it felt like a prelude to the lesson later in the afternoon. It was really interesting to reflect on the fact that, had I not learned the small details of gardening from my mother - poke a tiny hole with your finger, cover gently with a small amount of dirt and don't press down or pack it in) - I would not have felt nearly as confident in the instructions I gave.

I felt far less confident, however, when we got to the math lesson, despite our extensive preparation. There was really no way I could have prepared for four students at completely different levels of understanding, interest, and attention spans, for the chaos of managing all those at once and remaining calm and coherent, for students who don't just grasp what you're trying to explain after a short amount of explanation.

As someone who loves being around children and doesn’t do that enough while in college, I had an absolutely brilliant time on Friday’s trip to Camden. We were introduced to the fifth grade students in the green house and played a name game with them. I was relieved that they weren’t shy or unenthusiastic to see us, because although I love kids, I get anxious about not knowing what to talk about. I’m not in tune with American pop culture or other things that could be easy conversation topics with them, but thankfully both my 5th grade buddies Janelle and Maria had plenty to tell me about planting seeds and their lessons in school about recycling.

First, we planted one tray with two types of tomatoes. The girls talked about their feelings regarding the taste of vegetables. Janelle said the first time she tasted salad, she really didn’t like it, but now she likes it a bit more. I told her that I used to feel the same, and now I love salad; when you grow up, your tastes change. We then planted another tray with yellow peppers. Maria chatted more than Janelle, but both were eager to keep my attention. I asked them questions about the lessons they had in school, if they had been to Philadelphia and what they thought about it. Just this week, Maria said, they’d gone to see an orchestra in Philadelphia, and they really liked it.

There is sometimes a stigma that urban city kids aren’t into “the environment” or “nature.” Going to an urban city school in Boston myself, I know that this isn’t the case because of the students themselves, but sometimes can be forced onto them because of accessibility. While in the Boston Public School system, I loved learning about the environment in my science classroom for all of the 3 short weeks we spent on it during senior year. But I never had access to a greenhouse. Far too many urban students don’t have access to spaces like this, and I think the stigma stems from that lack of environmental accessibility. It was heartwarming to see the students engaged and excited about the dirt and seeds and nature in the greenhouse, and such a wonderful contradiction to that stigma. My partner knew so much about planting and gardening, and was also genuinely passionate about it, which was great to see that this wasn’t just a boring class project day, but something they wanted to be doing. Hopefully they’ll continue with that interest, and maybe even be like the other older students we met months ago working/volunteering for the organization. And, maybe even some of these students will end up at BMC doing a 360, like the boy said during our go-around in Camden on MLK day—“I want to do this 360 thing too someday.” A lot of hope.

On Friday, my 360 friends and I had the opportunity of learning from and teaching a fifth grade class in Camden. We were met by the fifth grade students at the Center; their energy was infectious. Starting out the session with a dancing name game activity set the stage for a fun day and allowed everyone to loosen up and get comfortable with another. After introductions, I paired up with two of the fifth graders, Evan and Jason, to begin planting seeds. Jason told me that he wanted to grow french fries, and I replied by saying that sounded good, but we had to grow a certain vegetable first. We then decided that if we could, we would grow potatoes and carrots. Lori, an intern at the Center handed us two different kinds of tomatoes, so we planted those instead. We were instructed to divide up the tray into two parts--half of it would be used for the Nepal Tomatoes and the other half would be for the Berry Wine tomatoes--and two seeds would go into each individual section. The boys gave me directions on how to plant the seeds and planted two full trays. They were a little bit nervous about accidently putting more than two seeds into each section, so they poked holes in the parts of the tray that had no seeds, keeping them on track of where they had planted seeds. After finishing up planting seeds in two trays, we all took a lunch break. As we were heading inside, Jason talked about how much he wanted a burger from McDonalds.

The beginning of the week was not the best due to the horrible flu going on around campus. I was determined to be better by the time Friday came. I was so excited to be able to go to Camden on Friday. I kept thinking that the morning was going to be cold and miserable, but once I walked into the greenhouse I felt really happy and warm. Going around in the large circle and saying our names and doing a dance move was a lot of fun and a great way to break the ice between us and the 5th graders. I was paired with two fifth graders and a volunteer student (I won’t be using their names in this post). The four of us were a speed team as we were planting. As we planted I kept asking the fifth graders if they had planted seeds before or the types of vegetables they liked to eat. The two of them kept telling me how much they hated eggplant and I just kept thinking how much I wanted to cook them eggplant the way I make it and have them try it.