18. Teaching for Epistemological Difference: Decentring Norms in Environmental Studies

• Main Author: M.J. Barrett
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Windsor 2012-06-01
• Series: Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching
• Online Access: https://celt.uwindsor.ca/index.php/CELT/article/view/3405

Many environmental educators and philosophers have identified anthropocentrism and the socially constructed separation between humans and “the more-than-human world” (Abram, 1996) as primary root causes of current ecological devastation. This separation is embedded in Western schooling content and structures and is often unintentionally reinscribed by educational content and practices.  This paper describes three ways I work to disrupt this artificial separation between humans and the non-human ‘nature’ within a graduate level course: 1) attention to discourses; 2) offering counternarratives; and 3) provision of experiences that support ways of knowing and being introduced in course readings and class lectures.