Environmental Education and Teaching for Diversity
As environmental educators, we strive to instill a love of nature in all audiences, despite their background. Many funding opportunities reflect a desire to reach more rural and under served communities that lack access to nature parks, museums and zoos. How can we take audiences with diverse cultural, social and economic backgrounds into account when teaching and designing curriculum? There isn't a lot of literature or training that addresses this specifically for the environmental education world. But plenty of books have been dedicated to this topic for formal classroom educators. Two such books that provide a wealth of information to be gleaned from any educator are in the Environmental Literacy Center at the Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs.
A Framework for Understanding Poverty
"People in poverty face challenges virtually unknown to those in middle class or wealth--challenges from both obvious and hidden sources. The reality of being poor brings out a survival mentality, and turns attention away from opportunities taken for granted by everyone else. If you work with people from poverty, some understanding of how different their world is from yours will be invaluable. Whether you're an educator--or a social, health, or legal services professional--this breakthrough book gives you practical, real-world support and guidance to improve your effectiveness in working with people from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Since 1995 A Framework for Understanding Poverty has guided hundreds of thousands of educators and other professionals through the pitfalls and barriers faced by all classes, especially the poor."
Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice
"For nearly a decade, Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice has been the definitive sourcebook of theoretical foundations and curricular frameworks for social justice teaching practice. This thoroughly revised second edition continues to provide teachers and facilitators with an accessible pedagogical approach to issues of oppression in classrooms. Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice presents a well-constructed foundation for engaging the complex and often daunting problems of discrimination and inequality in American society."
EE Specific Resources:
What's Good in My Hood?
Available online: http://www.nyrp.org/Kids_Parents_Teachers/Whats_Good_In_My_Hood_
Description from website:
"This is an innovative service-learning workbook that leads users through a 5-unit investigation of their neighborhood. Each unit asks questions that lead to answers about what is and what is not good in their neighborhood and how it affects the food, water, and shelter sources they depend on to survive. The resources in this book give users a platform to create a plan of action based on their findings. With over 80% of the US population living in urban areas, this curriculum was intentionally designed to empower urban community dwellers with a more informed perspective about the health and wellbeing of their local environment. What’s Good in My Hood? empowers users to make their community a safer, cleaner, healthier place."
North American Association for Environmental Education
NAEE Inclusivity Network
