Education: A key tool in challenging times for environmental and social justice
Education a collective endeavor where we define, enact, and identify with the “common good.” That includes the “environment” because environments, social and biophysical, are what connects us-- we are each other’s environments. Education is intentional social influence based on and fostering various values, embedded in a specific social contexts. Education is unavoidably participatory. But what do the participants participate in? How is learning done? That, more that “subject matter,” influences a deeper socio-ecological level of what people learn. For example, how is respect for persons – and other-than-human beings -- enacted in the ways education is done. Since its inception in 1970, CENV not only provides education but also offers preparation for environmental educators. We call it Education and Eco-Social Justice, and it centers on human strengths. This talk will explore educational responses to today’s cultural-political-geographical/ecological environments, with illustrations from research and CENV’s programs & graduates.
Photo of students, below, by Sage Martin.
About the Speaker
Gene Myers, (BS, College of the Atlantic / WWU / CENV; & MA & Ph.D., the University of Chicago, Human Development & Psychology) has learned and unlearned a few times - and is still learning - how to integrate human ecology and human development in education in, about and for social and environmental well-being. Dr. Myers has practiced environmental education in many contexts. For over 30 years he has helped CENV students gain understanding and skill as educators for social and ecological responsibility.
His research interests include the roles of animals in child development, human-animal studies, broader applications of psychology to environmental policy challenges, and multi-level social science analysis and approaches. He is a founder of Conservation Psychology, past president of the Society for Human Ecology, and member of the North American Association for Environmental Education for many years.
Environmental Speaker Series
The Environmental Speaker Series is hosted by the College of the Environment at Western Washington University.
The Series is free and open to the public. Talks are held each Thursday at 4:30 pm in Academic Instructional Center West room 204 - AW-204. Talks will also be streamed via Zoom. Register with The Foundation for WWU & Alumni for the zoom link. Parking is available in lot C.
Learn more about the Environmental Speaker Series
Email Alumni@wwu.edu to be added to a mailing list to hear about upcoming events.