February 3, 2015 - 00:05
As I glanced back through the papers we've read over the past couple weeks, there were a few ideas that really grabbed me: 1) the importance of diversity in ecological thinking and teaching (talked about in many papers, especially The Multicultural Approach to Ecopsychology), 2) the way individual experiences of the environment are influenced by identity, particularly one's race, 3) the idea that mutations and change are natural (The Ecological Thought), 4) the concept of networks and interconnectedness in ecological thought and teaching, 5) thinking about making social and ecological change through creation (as oppose to fear and authoritarianism), and 6) the idea of practicality when talking about the ecological thought and making change.
I found Jamaica Kincaid's Alien Soil and Evelyn White's Black Womand and Wilderness to both be very powerful pieces in portraying the kind of complicated relationship racial history and nature have within individuals. Interestingly, when I was trying to come up with metaphors for my paper topic, one of the ones I thought of using was that of a loose tomato cage for helping tomatoes grow upward, working in a network and using support when they needed it, but growing its own fruit (ideas) to contribute to the meal. However, as I read back through Alien Soil, I felt weird trying to use a gardening metaphor when the piece talked so explicitly of how gardening is tied to privilege and wealth and requires removal of previous plants and nature. I felt I needed to find another metaphor, and Kincaid just happened to provide me with a metaphor in the same sentence I tossed aside my first one - weaving on a loom.
Though not a perfect metaphor for ecological pedagogy (what truly is though), I think it represents a lot of the points I find important in an ecological curriculum. It is a form of creation that requires tedious attention to detail and individual threads, and builds a large network that together is very strong and can protect against harsh weather to come. It represents the need for diversity in ecological pedagogy (a monocolored woven creation is rather dull and uninspiring), and it shows how one can start out with a general goal and idea for which direction to take the creation, but mistakes are inevitably made and ideas and goals change as the creation begins to take form. Also, it is of course both a beautiful, complex, and practical art form - it has a concrete outcome that can prepare one for whatever storm the future holds.
I'm still forming this metaphor and concept in my mind and notes, but I believe this is a strong jumping off point for my ideas for an ecological pedagogy.