In Richard Kahn's Toward Ecopedagogy, Kahn establishes several claims pertaining to environmental education. Through the extensive (and somewhat over-encumbering) use of facts, examples, and quotes, Kahn is able to inform his audience about the problems in our environmental education system.
Kahn utilizes the first few pages of this article to describe how fragile of a state our environment is in. Kahn references the novel The Enemy of Nature by Joel Kovel. This novel discusses how inefficiently and horrifically humans have treated the earth since the first Earth Day, and how humans have too rapidly depleted natural resources. Kahn uses a quote from this novel, describing how human industrialization and progress is an "cancerous... endless growth". This reference and quote enlightens the audience of how severe a state the earth is in. The connotations surrounding cancer are negative, and the negativity of this statement matches Earth's environmental state.
The next segment of the article addresses the extreme need of environmental education reform in the United States. Kahn offers his audience statistics projecting how large of a demand there is in the US for environmental education reform. One statistic from the list is "95% of all american Adults support having environmental education programs in schools". This statistic gives the reader hope. When I read this, I was pleased to see that such a high percentage of Americans are in favor of environmental education. This statistic is a great indicator that Americans are demanding a change in environmental issues. With a demand as large as this, environmental education reform will surely be obtained.
Kahn next describes several environmental education campaigns that have occurred thus far in modern American. One of these campaigns pertains to the "Zoo School" (The School of Environmental Studies), stationed in Apple Valley, Minnesota. This program offers its students the opportunity to learn about the environment hands on, in a controlled zoo- like environment. However, the students enrolled at this institution do not focus solely on Zoo's, but more on environmental topics as a whole. This school is a firm example of environmental education practices in the United States.
Kahn uses the rest of this article to call his audience to action pertaining to education of sustainable development. Kahn makes it obvious to his readers how inefficiently humans have used earths precious resources, and how with out sustainable development, man kind is eminently doomed.
It is to my amazement the shear amount of of the habitat that has been damaged by humans. It as well amazes me that 95% of all American Adults support having environmental education reforms. As you stated, this also give me hope that change will occur and preservation and conservation of the environment will finally become a normal instead of abnormality. The thought of different types of schools such as the "Zoo School" is also something else that conveys hope. Your organization of the reply to Kahn's article is well developed and clearly organized. It was a easy and informational read.
ReplyDeleteThis article has really opened my eyes to the damage done by humans to the earth's environment. I do agree with Kahn that environmental education is important and learning needs to be more interactive in order to really grasp what's occurring in the earth right now. I really like your essay and the organization is very thought out. It made me understand the article more and I really like your writing style:)
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