The label attached to environmental education determines whether communities accept it.

Evidence

A group of educators in Montana had a similar experience a few years ago. When they tried to implement a statewide environmental education program, they found that “environmental education” was a lead balloon. But when they talked about a Montana Cultural Heritage program, there was support across the board. The program explores the history of people’s relationship with the land just the way an environmental education program would, but “cultural heritage”’ has less baggage than “environmental education,” and places environmental issues within a broader context. Similarly, we have found it more effective to talk about “place-based education” rather than “ecological literacy.’ Sometimes, we elaborate and refer to “community~ and place-based education,” to give equal emphasis to cultural and natural contexts for learning. — David Sobel, Place-Based Education, 72 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Calling a viral outbreak a pandemic can prove vital in mobilising against it. Similarly with the global system we live in today: the word we use to describe it can influence profoundly whether we are more likely to perpetuate and reproduce it or whether we might challenge or even overthrow it. — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 453 (#expands, via linked claim)

In the beginning, the CO-SEED materials talked about educating for “ecological literacy,’ which for many in the North Country translated into tree hugging. They assumed we wanted to teach children that cutting down trees was bad and that by extension, people that cut down trees (their parents) were also bad. (I can sympathize. It’s like when my kids come home after the substance abuse program in school and tell me I shouldn’t drink a beer with dinner.) In southern and central New Hampshire, “ecological literacy” played well, but not up north. In Gorham, the solution was to focus on forestry education. We worked with the town forester, placed an intern in the school who owned his own independent logging operation, and implemented a high school science curriculum that focused on the town forest. — David Sobel, Place-Based Education, 68 (#instantiates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Environmental education can alienate resource-dependent rural communities when it condemns local livelihoods. — David Sobel, Place-Based Education: Connecting…, 68; Place-based education requires place-specific balancing of economic and environmental concerns; The label ‘environmental education’ itself repels some communities where neutral terms succeed. — David Sobel, Place-Based Education: Connecting…, 72 (+1 more)

Related

• The label ‘environmental education’ itself repels some communities where neutral terms succeed. (similarity 0.90)
• Environmental education can alienate resource-dependent rural communities when it condemns local livelihoods. (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• The label ‘environmental education’ itself repels some communities where neutral terms succeed. #corroborates (0.92) — David Sobel, Place-Based Education, 72
• The label used for a system shapes whether people maintain or resist it. #expands (0.78) — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 453