Richard Kahn's 'Ecopedagogy'

"As a form of nonformal, popular education it has stirred many people to become self-aware of the role they play in environmental destruction and to become more socially active in ways that can help to create a more ecological and sustainable world." -- Richard Kahn

Kahn introduces the idea of ecopedagogy to influence the study of environmental education in both academic and nonacademic institutions.  The article explains how although environmental education has recently grown throughout the school systems, there still needs to be more action taken in order to make people fully understand the importance of the environment.  There are still people out there that can't understand basic environmental concepts.  The education is a start, and according to the statement above, has influenced people to become more self-aware of their role in the environment.  Kahn also states that personal interactions and experience must be a part of this learning.  People will not get a full, knowledgeable education from simply learning the concepts in various institutions around the world.  In order for this to become effective, I would create more institutions like the Zoo School where students are physically involved in learning different techniques and concepts important to conserving the environment.  In the article, it supported this institution by also saying that such a school has even increased test scores and helped students transfer unfamiliar knowledge to familiar knowledge in ways that are impossible in a regular classroom.  Learning the information is important, but being able to understand it and apply the information to every day situations is the point we have to get to.

Response to Gary Snyder's Turtle Island (3)

Gary Snyder's writings put significant emphasis on nature, including the air, water, and ground.  Each poem speaks specifically about one more so than the other, creating valid points behind each.  In the poem, For the Children, Snyder speaks of the coming age, focusing on the importance of learning the land and its functions in order to make it through the century.  His goal here is to fulfill a sense of peace.  His words stay together at the end of the poem stand out; they support Snyder's idea of creating change, starting with a single individual and working towards change from a whole population.  The poem, It Pleases, states that "It does what it pleases" in reference to the world.  To me, this contradicts what Gary Snyder talks about in the rest of his poems because his ideas support the fact that humans must be the ones to implement action in order to produce change.  Snyder's reasoning behind implementing this idea is to make us learn to respect the land and appreciate it more by learning about it.

Response to Gary Snyder's Turtle Island (2)

In Turtle Island, the poem The Call of the Wild really caught my attention.  Snyder neglects Americans in the sense that we destroy earth by dumping poisons and explosives around the world and feel no shame for doing so.  At one point in time, there was not damage done to the environment causing so much harm, but recently it has gotten worse.  As the poem states, "A war against earth, when it's done there'll be no place a coyote could hide."  This reflects on the theme of a fear of nature, implying that other countries use acts of nature against us, causing us to fear "the call of the wild" or either care less about what we do to destroy it.  The theme of this poem seems to be the basis for all poems included in the book.  Snyder works to illustrate the point that our actions are destroying nature and that at some point, nature could quite possibly be gone.  It's not going to last forever, and if these actions continue, that chance increases.  If by ironically 'fearing nature' the human population backs away from nature itself, then perhaps the destruction will decrease in intensity and allow for better things to happen.

Gary Snyder's Turtle Island: Theme

According to Gary Snyder in Turtle Island, change needs to be made.  That is the simple solution behind every poem written, although there may not always be a precise outlook on the future as far as what changes must be made.  The poems are intriguing, allowing the reader to become more interested in nature itself and ways to prevent the damage done so far.  Although they are direct and simple, they give way to meaning beyond what is printed on the pages.  The part that caught my attention was the fact that even though Snyder continuously makes a negative remark towards change, he throws bits and pieces into his poems that equate to hope and peace for the upcoming years.  It seems that a common theme is self vs. nature, referring to the fact that as humans-- as an individual in this society-- we must be willing to devote ourselves to producing change in this world.