Curriculum, Environment, and the Work of C. A. Bowers Ecological and Cultural Perspectives Studies in Curriculum Theory Series

This edited volume extends ecological approaches to curriculum theory by recognizing and building on the contributions of the late Chet A. Bowers to curriculum and ecological studies globally.

Chapters provide in-depth explanation of Bowers? central contributions to the field, including his identification of the linguistic roots of ecological degradation; the need for school curricula to support sustainability; and the principles of cultural commons, eco-justice, and ecological intelligence. Building on these ideas and emphasizing the links between curriculum studies, social justice, and environmental education, the text illustrates how Bowers? ideas must now inform future approaches to schooling, teacher education, research, and Indigenous communities to guard against the global ecological crises we now face.

This text will benefit researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in curriculum studies, sustainability education, and environmental studies in particular. Those interested in the sociology of education, educational change, and school reform will also benefit from the book.

Chapter 1. An Introduction to the Curriculum and Environmental Scholarship of C.A. (Chet) Bowers

David J. Flinders

Part I: Ecological Approaches to Curriculum Discourse

Excerpt for Part I from: Bowers, C. A. (1996). The cultural dimensions of ecological literacy. Journal of Environmental Education, 27(2).

Chapter 2. Co/inspiriting Ecological Conversations with Chet A. Bowers (1935–2017) and Ted T. Aoki (1919–2012)

Jennifer S. Thom

Chapter 3. Reconceptualizing ‘Experience’ for the Anthropocene

Kathleen Kesson

Chapter 4. Beyond the Binary of Bowers

Jeff Edmundson

Chapter 5. Steps to an Ecology of Mindful Teaching in Friluftsliv (Outdoor Life) Education: Revisiting the Works of C.A. Bowers and Arne Naess for a Deep Ecocultural Approach

Per Ingvar Haukeland

Part II: Curriculum of the Commons

Excerpt from: Bowers, C. (2016). Reforming higher education in an era of ecological crisis and growing digital insecurity. Anoka, MN: Process Century Press.

Chapter 6. On Traditions and the Commons: A Material Feminist Analysis

Audrey M. Dentith

Chapter 7. A Curriculum of the Commons: Learning in Detroit and Beyond

Rebecca A. Martusewicz

Chapter 8. Lessons from a Pandemic: Can We Reclaim Our Cultural and Environmental Commons?

Susan Huddleston Edgerton

Part III: Eco-Justice Curriculum

Excerpt for Part III from: Bowers, C. A. (2002). Toward an eco-justice pedagogy. Environmental Education Research, 8(1), 21-34.

Chapter 9. Developing Ecological Literacy as a Habit of Mind in Teacher Education through

Ecojustice Progressive Curricula

Kelly Young

Chapter 10. Coyote and Raven Encounter Chet Bowers in Conceptual Time-Space: Ecojustice

Pedagogies of the Land

Peter Cole and Pat O’Riley

Chapter 11. Developing Literacies through Place-based Poetic Inquiry: A Curriculum of Movement, Travel, and Writing

Andrejs Kulnieks

Chapter 12. Ecocritical Pedagogies: (Re)Imagining Education for Diversity, Democracy

and Sustainability as Eco-Justice Curriculum

Johnny Lupinacci

Audrey M. Dentith is Professor of Leadership Studies and Adult Education and Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at North Carolina A&T State University, USA.

David Flinders is Professor of Education at Indiana University, USA.

John Lupinacci is Associate Professor of Cultural Studies and Social Thought in Education at Washington State University, USA.

Jennifer S. Thom is Associate Professor of Curriculum Studies and Mathematics Education at the University of Victoria, Canada.