Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World

Ecological Literacy: Education and the Transition to a Postmodern World (Albany: State University of New York Press, c. 1992), by David W. Orr, challenges us to re-think and re-orient our educational endeavors with a singular focus: to save the earth. The volume is one in the "SUNY Series in Constructive Postmodern Thought," which explores the possibility, in the words of its editor, David Ray Griffin, that modernity is an "aberration," that "the continuation of modernity threa¬tens the very survival of life on our planet" (p. vi). Given modernity's misguidance, we need to find wiser guides than those which have structured to¬day's technological society. Unlike the "deconstructive postmodernists" who've attracted considerable media attention, however, "constructive postmodernism" seeks to "salvage a positive meaning not only for the notions of the human self, his¬torical meaning, and truth as correspondence, which were central to modernity, but also for premodern notions of a divine reality, cosmic meaning, and an enchanted nature" (p. v). Orr, director of the environmental studies program at Oberlin College, first deals with "the issue of sustainability," arguing we live on a finite planet which needs careful husbandry. Data detailing environmental degradation should chill us: daily we spew aloft 15,000,000 tons of carbon, wipe out 115 square miles of tropi¬cal rain¬forest, desertify 72 square miles of land, drive to extinc¬tion 40-100 species, erode 71,000,000 tons of top¬soil, shoot 2700 tons of CFCs into the stratosphere, and add another 263,000 persons to the world's population. The earth simply can't long endure modernity's technologi¬cal society. Yet the critical nature of the environmental crisis isn't really technical. "Above all else it is a crisis of spirit and spiritual resources" (p. 4). The makers of modernity have so successfully preached a gospel of endless Progress and Prosperity, of economic growth and material affluence, that many of us take for granted their self-evident goodness. Whatever promotes human progress and prosperity must be good! That such progress and prosperity have been purchased by devouring na¬ture's resources rarely troubles their defenders, who, like Julian Simon, argue natural resources "'are not finite in any economic sense'" (p. 8). Not so, argues Orr, who champions "sustainability" instead of growth. Rather than equat¬ing social "good" with economic growth (the sa¬cred GNP), sustainability ought to define the "good." According to the oft-quoted words of Aldo Leopold, "A thing is right when it tends to pre¬erve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends other¬wise." If one accepts sustainability as the goal, the next question naturally focuses on the means to that end. What kinds of things ought we do? To answer that question Orr eliminates some options: 1) trying (through "midwifery" strategies) to alter some asp

Living Education: The Power of the Circle This book explores the depth of the challenges of thinking ecologically. I was especially impressed by the focus that is put on process within the decision making process. The variety of topics, and authors offers a wide take on the issues, challenges and hurdles as we move as a society to seeing the world more clearly. Well done.

David Orr has approached the subject of "Environmental Literacy" from a series of diverse perspectives. As a Professor of Environmental Studies at Oberlin College, and founder of the Non-Profit Meadowcreek Peoject, he has made a significant and thought-provoking contribution to the field of Contemporary Ecological LIterature. Orr sees "Sustainability," as being "about the terms and conditions of human survival," and that "this crisis can not be solved by the same kind of education that helped to create the problems." The Author feels that the contemporary social problem of Alienation from the Natural world has reached a level which is unprecidented in Human History, and that our success in healing this "division" will be the difference between extinction or survival of the Human Race. This book represents a an in-depth contribution to the growing field of Neo-Ecological Literature. Althought it is wtitten in an academic format, the concepts are clearly defincd, and written in an interesting readable style. This is a basic "Must Read" for anyone seriously interested in becoming "Ecologically Literate."

Orr has plenty to say about how the educational system can play a key role in ensuring that future generations better understand how to live in harmony with the earth. For example, on pp. 85-86, he writes, "The failure to develop ecological literacy is a sin of omission and of commission. Not only are we failing to teach the basics about the earth and how it works, but we are in fact teaching a large amount of stuff that is simply wrong. By failing to include ecological perspectives in any number of subjects, students are taught that ecology is unimportant for history, politics, economics, society and so forth. And through television, they learn that the earth is theirs for the taking. The result is a generation of ecological yahoos without a clue why the color of the water in their rivers is related to their food supply, or why storms are becoming more severe as the planet warms. The same persons as adults will create businesses, vote, have families, and above all, consume. Orr's book is a wake-up call to educators worldwide. It is a lesson on the value of integrative teaching strategies. His underlying message: Don't be an ecological yahoo.