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Category Archives: ecoschools

Looking for WalMart Effects in Education

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Andrea Saveri
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Daniel Goleman spoke at the beautiful new David Brower Center in Berkeley on August 13th (as part of a seminar hosted by the Center for EcoLiteracy) about his new book Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything. Two big ideas that stuck with me were (1) the emergence of new tools and techniques for achieving radical transparency of products—a deep accounting of a products biological and ecological risks across its life cycle and across its supply chain, communicated in easy to understand rating systems and indices like the GoodGuide; and (2) the need for introducing ecological intelligence into the K-12 school curriculum to develop a generation of globally and ecologically empathic individuals. Radical transparency combined with ecological intelligence provides the data and the collective human capacity to turn empathy for the planet into meaningful action.

Goleman explained that ecological intelligence is the capacity to live well in our ecosystem. It is an extension of our emotional and social intelligence to a planetary level in which our collective empathy is put into action globally. With emotional intelligence we learn how to identify, assess, and manage our own emotions. With social intelligence we learn how to manage relationships and develop empathy. According to Goleman, ecological intelligence “lets us apply what we learn about how human activity impinges on ecosystems so as to do less harm and once again live sustainably in our niche—these days the entire planet.” Many native groups do this well, like the tiny Sher village in Tibet that has sustained itself on a steep mountainside for over a thousand years. We don’t. Our modern routines and industrial systems have disconnected us from our adverse impacts on the world. We need to change this if we are to create significant and lasting positive impacts on the health of the planet and preserve the human species.

Goleman proposes that with ecological intelligence and radical transparency we will relate more empathically to information about human risks (like exposure to harmful pesticides) and ecological damage (like destruction of coral reefs from chemicals in sunscreen) and make different consumer decisions. As companies respond to new market choices and demands driven by ecological intelligence and radical transparency (and potential cost savings) they will innovate business and industrial practices that are less destructive to human and ecological wellbeing. Goleman sees the supply chain as the point of leverage and points to WalMart’s new sustainability index as a way for their suppliers to compete for shelf space. With 200 million customers and 60,000 suppliers, the impact is huge.

Developing ecological intelligence in the school age population is necessary for nurturing an ecologically empathic future generation of leaders, consumers, voters, innovators, and community members. And Goleman is hopeful because there seems to be an emerging track record here. He stated that a new study is about to be released, a meta analysis, (he didn’t cite it in his talk so I have no reference unfortunately! I’m trying to track it down.) that reviews research on classrooms that implemented social-emotional learning (SEL) in the school curriculum. Those classes that were exposed to SEL reported lower rates of antisocial behavior (e.g. bullying), high rates of pro-social behaviors (e.g. cooperation), and higher levels of academic outcomes. Introducing ecological intelligence into K-12 curriculum could extend those positive results to our behaviors regarding human-natural ecosystems and raise student achievement at the same time. That is exciting.

Goleman mentioned that there is discussion about having some form of ecological intelligence curriculum included as part of a revised No Child Left Behind bill. That is one way to diffuse ecological intelligence, but it might just be perceived as one more requirement added to teachers’ load and could become watered down and scripted curriculum by the time is reaches the classroom. Perhaps we should look at the supply chain in education to think about other ways to catalyze ecological intelligence in schools. WalMart acts as a de facto regulator and has huge impact on changing behaviors of manufacturing and industrial processes because of its size and leverage on supply chains.

Where in education is there that kind of catalyzing effect without going to the federal government? Another player in the education ecosystem with big leverage is higher education—colleges and universities. Imagine if they required applicants to demonstrate ecological intelligence. Just as suppliers are intent on getting their product on a WalMart shelf, families and schools are increasingly focused on getting their kids into college. Foundations have built initiatives on facilitating entry to college, K-8th grade and high schools have oriented curriculum around college entrance, and a thriving market of commercial providers has targeted college acceptance to design an array products and services.

The University of California and California State University systems together serve over 670,000 students. Imagine if they required applicants to demonstrate proficiency or a certain number of course credits in ecological intelligence. What if their application included an essay question or description of a project that dealt with ecological intelligence? What are other levers in the education supply chain? There may be other creative ways to stimulate the states into finding ways of diffusing ecological intelligence into curriculum, service learning opportunities, and even internships with businesses. Focusing in the education supply chain may provide ideas for some useful strategies.

Posted in civic engagement, community, design, ecoschools, Education links, forecast, Learning | Leave a reply

Achieving Personal Democracy

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Andrea Saveri
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I attended the Personal Democracy Forum in New York City in late June and returned home excited about how  social media and web 2.0 tools can help to create a transparent, accountable, and innovative government and a more inclusive and dynamic civic sphere.  I also returned with a deeply nagging concern that we may not get there from here.  Not because of any technological barriers, lack of will, or lack of creativity, but because of our education system.

The personal democracy reflected by the speakers and discussions at PDF assumes an engaged, tolerant, and reflective citizenry.  It assumes a personal relationship with civic sphere and the capacity to think critically about complex topics, debate issues, cooperate, and solve problems.   Are the goals, strategies, and resources of the education system aligned to support personal democracy?  I’m sure there are examples of schools and districts that are, but is the whole system? What kind of citizenry is our education system creating?

Jeff Jarvis invited the audience into a discussion about the government as a platform, an API, a network that allows citizens to fully engage, create and innovate as a part of the civic process.  He exclaimed, “do what you do best and link to the rest, ” whether that is volunteering, campaigning, or any other activity in the public interest.

Vivek Kundra, the first CIO of the United States, thrilled the audience with the IT Dashboard, a site that makes all federal IT spending open and accessible to the public, and mashable.  In notes to the Press Kundra said,  “In making this data publicly available, we are providing unfettered access to investment performance to its true owners – the American people.”

David Weinberger described how a digitally-based personal democracy benefits from difference and seeks higher truths.  The “hyperlinked world of difference adds context and meaning” and “argument, conversations, debate, controversy give up wisdom not just facts”.  This new open platform will bring transparency to government enabling us to scale democracy and discover deeper insight, and presumably create a more just and equitable society.   “The linked world of difference gives us a greater sense of truth of what a topic is than the paper world”.

These statements are exciting, possible to realize, and could bring real transformation to governance. But then I think about danah boyd’s and Michael Wesch’s presentations.

danah posed the question: are we growing together or apart?  She suggested that we’re falling prey to the shallow argument of “anyone can participate if we just give them access”.   She continued to reveal how racism and classism manifest in social networks, suggesting that we are witnessing the equivalent of the “modern incarnation of white flight” among social networking sites.  The early signs of stratification online by race and class exist, and we risk creating a bourgeois public sphere rather than a truly broad and inclusive one.

Michael Wesch, giving a standing ovation presentation, asked if we can use the new media ecology to conquer narcissism and triviality he sees in the MTV generation.  Can we discover our authentic selves, he asked, a deeper sense of self-awareness in the new media ecology that provides tremendous connection without constraints?  Can we shift our society, specifically youth culture, from the indifferent “whatever” to the purposeful “whatever” it takes?

Both danah’s and Michael Wesch’s talks point to education transformation as a critical factor in creating a broad and inclusive personal democracy. Given this country’s dropout rates (particularly in large metropolitan areas), the economic constraints that face public education in the next decade, and the uncertain national leadership in education system, it is unsure whether the student age population that matures along with the personal democracy platform will engage in a personal democracy even if there is access.

There are some hopeful signs on the horizon. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is working with educators in 10 states to introduce a new curriculum framework that includes 21st century themes (such as global awareness, civic literacy, health & wellness awareness, and financial literacy)  along with Life & Career Skills; Information, Media, and Technology Skills; and Learning & Innovation Skills.  While Partnership for 21st Century skills tends to weigh heavily on workplace skills for a knowledge economy, stressing global competition as a key element in its rationale, the effort moves curriculum away from traditionally siloed subject areas and toward relevant, integrated activities that connect students with their broader world.   And CIRCLE at Tufts University is a research and information center supporting the link between academic success and civic education and engagement.  Service learning is becoming more common at K-12 schools and the eco-schools movement is using food and nutrition to make the link youth, health, geographic community, and learning.

In order to achieve the personal democracy envisioned at the PD Forum, the tools of personal democracy, the digital media applications and the cooperative, bottom up, social practices, need to be used to bring a systemic alternative to education in the U.S.   Perhaps having the equivalent of a Vivek Kundra and a Beth Noveck (Wiki Government) in the Department of Education could bring a sophisticated awareness and understanding of transparency, openness and bottom-up, co-creation to the education policy and institutional worlds.   What kind of incentives would catalyze social media application developers to focus on mobile and web-based apps for families and communities to self-organize and create their own relevant learning ecologies?  We need an Obama style campaign to get education raised to a first tier issue in this country at the national and local levels.

Perhaps these can be threads discussed at the next PD Forum so that we can ensure that personal democracy is not just accessible to all, but meaningful, relevant, and treasured by all.

Posted in civic engagement, community, design, ecoschools, Learning, personal democracy | Leave a reply

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