The Greening of American Education

As glaciers and polar ice-caps melt, carbon concentrations continue to increase in the atmosphere, and fossil fuel supplies dwindle, there is a corresponding movement, not just in the U.S., but across the world, to change the way society does business.

Many books and articles about what we can do individually and as a society are out there. 

And, for many of us in education, this means thinking about what we can do to help at school. 

Whether it is called "going green"  or "educating for sustainability" or living with a "zero carbon footprint", there are multiple initiatives afoot to discover and create ways that education can contribute to a long-term solution for sustainably meeting our human needs.

Certainly, there is no more important place to begin in realizing a new social paradigm around consumption patterns than with children, since, as they age, they inevitably become the new demographic of consumers, parents, policymakers and leaders.  If we can bring them up to choose and decide wisely around all aspects of sustainability, we will be well on our way to confronting the reality of global climate change.

Interestingly though, as much as we need to move quickly toward incorporating green principles, technology and curriculum in our school settings, we also need to think in terms of the experiences of young people.

There is a new edition of the book Last Child In The Woods out by Richard Louv, which details with alarming statistical evidence the truth that today's children are growing up without much exposure to or experience in being out of doors.  That, with the increase of "screen time"--young people today spend as much as 40 hours a week in front of their various electronic devices--children are not getting out, not connecting and not developing an affinity for nature.

The term of art for this phenomenon is Nature Deficit Disorder. 

The concern is this:  how are we going to get young people to believe in the importance of preserving the natural world if they have little contact with it?  Or, in fact, see it as frightening, dirty, chaotic, or just plain indecipherable? 

The answer is, it will be tough.  Not to mention the frightening level of disconnect that could develop within youngsters as they grapple with their fundamental values, what matters to all of us as a society or how they can derive individual meaning from their human existence.

I mention the Louv book because the new edition has:

• 100 actions you can take to create change in your community, school, and family.
• 35 discussion points to inspire people of all ages to talk about the importance of nature in their lives.
• A new progress report by the author about the growing Leave No Child Inside movement.
• New and updated research confirming that direct exposure to nature is essential for the physical and emotional health of children and adults.

I will have much more to say about sustainability going forward and how we, as educators, can work with children so that their experiences include significant contact with, reverence for and understanding of nature, but for now, I ask that all teachers think carefully and creatively about lessons and curriculum in a way that supports young people's outdoor contact.

Primarily, this has to be about some of the things I discussed in this entry:  Namely, that, quiet, solitude and developing an internal and well-grounded frame of reference is essential for a young person's development.  There is no better place to do that than in the great out-of-doors, but without encouragement, opportunity and means, that is increasingly rare in contemporary America.  

Someone has to help encourage this contact to happen. 

And, our role in this, as educators is crucial.  We can and must do something about Nature Deficit Disorder as teachers.  Not just for the crisis that is global climate change, but for the healthy, full and meaningful development of our young people.