Answer: If it’s possible, and that’s a big IF, then it’s because we finally remember, re-member ourselves as Earthlings in deep, complex, intricate entanglement with our Earthly home; it’s because we finally go back to acknowledging the astonishing Intelligence of Nature; it’s because we re-learn to think like Nature does and return to our own natural intelligence.
I think you know by now that I don’t put much hopium in the heroic Lone Ranger/Robin Hood approach to “saving” us from the worst excesses of our all-too-human nature. However, I do recognize that individuals make a difference, each one a sweet, unique mushroom poking up his/her head into the forest, nourished by vast networks of mycellium underground. Paul Stamets, “The Mushroom Man,” is one such individual; so is David Orr, who calls for a complete revamp of education to place Nature at the heart of school curriculum at every level, in every place, local, decentralized.
Stamets via Mitch, Orr via Jay.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDkR2HIlEbc]
An Ecology-Based Education
April 2008
What is the purpose of education? What exactly are we trying to achieve by sending kids to school for twelve years? Many people talk about reform, but Dr. David Orr, Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies at Oberlin College, says we need to rethink our school systems altogether. Further, he sees a direct connection between how we teach children and the disastrous impacts of our dependence on fossil fuels. A pioneer in the ecological literacy movement, he believes that all education should be ecologically based, from the design of the campus to the curriculum itself.
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