Environmental justice teaching in an undergraduate context: examining the intersection of community-engaged, inclusive, and anti-racist pedagogy
Since the early 1980s, the environmental justice (EJ) movement was critical in drawing much needed attention on how Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), and low-income groups have experienced a disproportionate burden of environmental harms. This movement eventually formed the field of enviro...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
2024
|
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155735 |
| _version_ | 1824458041646383104 |
|---|---|
| author | Rabe, Christopher |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Environmental Solutions Initiative |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Environmental Solutions Initiative Rabe, Christopher |
| author_sort | Rabe, Christopher |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Since the early 1980s, the environmental justice (EJ) movement was critical in drawing much needed attention on how Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), and low-income groups have experienced a disproportionate burden of environmental harms. This movement eventually formed the field of environmental justice, a multidisciplinary area of study that attempts to identify environmental injustices and provide theory and practice for their resolution. Despite the expansion of the EJ field and recent public attention, research shows that both EJ content knowledge and BIPOC students are isolated and excluded from Interdisciplinary, Environmental, and Sustainability (IES) programs within higher education. In addition, these studies have shown a relationship between EJ content and community-engaged practices with the inclusion of BIPOC students. This study sought to examine how and why EJ teaching and community-engaged pedagogies may be associated with inclusive or anti-racist practices by examining four faculty members teaching undergraduate EJ courses at four institutions. Using a multi-case study design, primary findings showed that faculty members held activist course objectives, which led to distinct community-engaged practices, such as the invitation of diverse guest educators, inclusion of readings from diverse authors, field experiences with EJ communities, and the integration of alternative ways of knowing that resist Eurocentric biases. The discussion and implications explore how these practices intersect with inclusive and anti-racist pedagogies, and provide recommendations for their implementation within the context of Environmental Studies and Sciences (ESS) in higher education. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:53:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/155735 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T04:19:35Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1557352024-12-21T05:58:18Z Environmental justice teaching in an undergraduate context: examining the intersection of community-engaged, inclusive, and anti-racist pedagogy Rabe, Christopher Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Environmental Solutions Initiative Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Environmental Solutions Initiative Since the early 1980s, the environmental justice (EJ) movement was critical in drawing much needed attention on how Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), and low-income groups have experienced a disproportionate burden of environmental harms. This movement eventually formed the field of environmental justice, a multidisciplinary area of study that attempts to identify environmental injustices and provide theory and practice for their resolution. Despite the expansion of the EJ field and recent public attention, research shows that both EJ content knowledge and BIPOC students are isolated and excluded from Interdisciplinary, Environmental, and Sustainability (IES) programs within higher education. In addition, these studies have shown a relationship between EJ content and community-engaged practices with the inclusion of BIPOC students. This study sought to examine how and why EJ teaching and community-engaged pedagogies may be associated with inclusive or anti-racist practices by examining four faculty members teaching undergraduate EJ courses at four institutions. Using a multi-case study design, primary findings showed that faculty members held activist course objectives, which led to distinct community-engaged practices, such as the invitation of diverse guest educators, inclusion of readings from diverse authors, field experiences with EJ communities, and the integration of alternative ways of knowing that resist Eurocentric biases. The discussion and implications explore how these practices intersect with inclusive and anti-racist pedagogies, and provide recommendations for their implementation within the context of Environmental Studies and Sciences (ESS) in higher education. 2024-07-22T17:03:41Z 2024-07-22T17:03:41Z 2024-07-14 2024-07-21T03:13:49Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2190-6483 2190-6491 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155735 Rabe, C. Environmental justice teaching in an undergraduate context: examining the intersection of community-engaged, inclusive, and anti-racist pedagogy. J Environ Stud Sci (2024). PUBLISHER_CC en 10.1007/s13412-024-00939-9 Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences Creative Commons Attribution https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The Author(s) application/pdf Springer Science and Business Media LLC Springer US |
| spellingShingle | Rabe, Christopher Environmental justice teaching in an undergraduate context: examining the intersection of community-engaged, inclusive, and anti-racist pedagogy |
| title | Environmental justice teaching in an undergraduate context: examining the intersection of community-engaged, inclusive, and anti-racist pedagogy |
| title_full | Environmental justice teaching in an undergraduate context: examining the intersection of community-engaged, inclusive, and anti-racist pedagogy |
| title_fullStr | Environmental justice teaching in an undergraduate context: examining the intersection of community-engaged, inclusive, and anti-racist pedagogy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental justice teaching in an undergraduate context: examining the intersection of community-engaged, inclusive, and anti-racist pedagogy |
| title_short | Environmental justice teaching in an undergraduate context: examining the intersection of community-engaged, inclusive, and anti-racist pedagogy |
| title_sort | environmental justice teaching in an undergraduate context examining the intersection of community engaged inclusive and anti racist pedagogy |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155735 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT rabechristopher environmentaljusticeteachinginanundergraduatecontextexaminingtheintersectionofcommunityengagedinclusiveandantiracistpedagogy |