Education, Faculty of
Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of
DSpace
Ecological Perspective in Home Economics Ed
McIntosh, Sarah Kathleen
There is a need for critical and ecological perspectives in education in order for educators to gain the capabilities to respond to the realities of climate change and the resulting calls for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and sustainability education. The topic of this graduating paper incorporates an ecological perspective in home economics. Eleanore Vaines (1990, 1997) proposes home economists strive towards a reflective professional practice grounded in an ecocentred philosophical orientation. An eco-centred home economics practitioner holds an ecological world view where “everything is related to everything in some way” and the teacher is a learner among learners “empowered to facilitate emancipatory action” (Vaines, 2004a, pp.142- 143). I have searched for ways to interweave the context of my practice with educational theory and work towards a pedagogy that supports the goal of developing of an ecological perspective in home economics. I present my search as narrative self-study where I share my journey of becoming a reflective home economics teacher. After reviewing the literature on an ecological perspective and outlining what it means in terms of curriculum and pedagogy, I critique my practice using three critical incidents to show how a weak understanding of a sense of place and controversial issues were an impediment to implementing ecological material effectively. I subsequently research these two aspects that are related to the implementation of an ecological perspective in more depth in order to make recommendations for home economics educators who might find themselves in a similar situation.
Running head: ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME EC ED Nurturing an Ecological Perspective in PEI Home Economics Education: A Narrative Self-Study by Sarah Kathleen McIntosh Costume Studies Diploma, Dalhousie University, 2004 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Dalhousie University, 2005 Bachelor of Education, University of New Brunswick, 2006 A GRADUATING PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Master of Education in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Home Economics) The University of British Columbia (Vancouver) ©Sarah Kathleen McIntosh March 18, 2017 2 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED Abstract There is a need for critical and ecological perspectives in education in order for educators to gain the capabilities to respond to the realities of climate change and the resulting calls for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and sustainability education. The topic of this graduating paper incorporates an ecological perspective in home economics. Eleanore Vaines (1990, 1997) proposes home economists strive towards a reflective professional practice grounded in an eco-centred philosophical orientation. An eco-centred home economics practitioner holds an ecological world view where “everything is related to everything in some way” and the teacher is a learner among learners “empowered to facilitate emancipatory action” (Vaines, 2004a, pp.142-143). I have searched for ways to interweave the context of my practice with educational theory and work towards a pedagogy that supports the goal of developing of an ecological perspective in home economics. I present my search as narrative self-study where I share my journey of becoming a reflective home economics teacher. After reviewing the literature on an ecological perspective and outlining what it means in terms of curriculum and pedagogy, I critique my practice using three critical incidents to show how a weak understanding of a sense of place and controversial issues were an impediment to implementing ecological material effectively. I subsequently research these two aspects that are related to the implementation of an ecological perspective in more depth in order to make recommendations for home economics educators who might find themselves in a similar situation. 3 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED Dedication To Gus and Lou, my life’s best teachers. For my darling husband, I am humbled by your enduring love and support. You have worn many hats during this process. See you at the beach! 4 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED Acknowledgement I would like to acknowledge my two professors, and graduate studies supervisors, Dr. Mary Gale Smith and Dr. Mary Leah de Zwart, for their guidance, support, and most of all, inspiration, throughout my studies in HEE2 and during this research. I am honoured to know such inspirational women and to have been invited to take this journey with you as my guides. I acknowledge my family. This research would not have been possible if it were not for the clever wit and keen eye of my sister-in-law. You have more love and grit than anyone can imagine. My gratitude is always in abundance for my loving parents, who provided the roots of this research in the form of a wonderful childhood and whose unending encouragement and support have kept me going. A huge “Thank you!” is owed to my other two parents (in-law), who have been a part of my team, in love, in celebration, and in spirit, from day one. Most of all, thank you for sharing your incredible children. I am forever in awe of them. A final thanks to my muses, the many creatures and places that have engendered an ever-growing interest and care for the future of our beautiful home, Earth. 5 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED Table of Contents Abstract .......................................... ............................................................................................ 2 Dedication ...................................... ............................................................................................ 3 Acknowledgements ........................ ............................................................................................ 4 Chapter 1: Introduction .................. ............................................................................................ 7 Setting the Context: My Interest in Ecology ..................................................................... 7 Conclusion ............................ ............................................................................................ 9 Chapter 2: Reviewing the Literature for an Ecological Perspective ......................................... 11 Introduction .......................... .......................................................................................... 11 Sources of Literature ............ .......................................................................................... 11 What Is An Ecological Perspective? ............................................................................... 12 Ecology is Central to an Ecological Perspective in Home Economics ........................... 12 Ecology as The Basis For Educational Change ............................................................... 18 In What Ways Can An Ecological Perspective Be Implemented In Home Economics Curriculum And Pedagogy? . .......................................................................................... 26 Conclusion ............................ .......................................................................................... 26 Chapter 3: Narrative Self-study, an Action Research Methodology ........................................ 28 Introduction .......................... .......................................................................................... 28 Locating the Study – Research Paradigms ...................................................................... 29 Self-Study ............................. .......................................................................................... 29 Narrative Inquiry: Telling the Teacher’s Story ............................................................... 33 Reflective Inquiry ................. .......................................................................................... 33 Research Method .................. .......................................................................................... 34 Critical Incident Analysis ..... .......................................................................................... 34 Conclusion ............................ .......................................................................................... 36 Chapter 4: Foraging For Interconnectedness and Ecological Perspective ................................ 38 Identifying and Describing a Critical Incident ................................................................ 38 The Incident: After the Storm .......................................................................................... 39 Reflecting on this Critical Incident .................................................................................. 41 Connecting With Theory ...... .......................................................................................... 43 Ecological Perspective and Sense of Place ..................................................................... 47 Sense of Place as an Essential Component of an Ecological Perspective ....................... 50 Conclusion ............................ .......................................................................................... 52 Chapter 5: Discovering the Nature of Ecological Topics in Home Economics ....................... 54 Identifying and Describing Two Critical Incidents ......................................................... 54 Reflecting on These Critical Incidents ............................................................................ 58 Analysis: The Nature of Ecological Topics in Home Economics Education .................. 60 Connecting With Theory: Transformative Learning and Critical Thinking ................... 62 Controversial Issues in Developing an Ecological Perspective in Home Economics ..... 68 Conclusion ............................ .......................................................................................... 74 Chapter 6: Informing Practice through Reflections and Implications for Home Economics ... 75 Research Findings ................ .......................................................................................... 76 Reflections ............................ .......................................................................................... 78 Implications for the Future ... .......................................................................................... 82 Recommendations ................ .......................................................................................... 84 6 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED Conclusion ............................ .......................................................................................... 86 References ...................................... .......................................................................................... 87 7 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The major problems in the world are the result of the difference between how nature works and the way people think.” – Gregory Bateson, An Ecology of Mind, 2010 I grew up on a small farm, working and playing with my family in a caring, rural community. The roaming territory for my brothers and me was the farmyard on top of a hill and the forest and wetlands below. Our favourite places were the vegetable garden, rhubarb and raspberry patch, apple orchard, chicken pen, horse and cow barns, fenced pastures, fields, woods, marsh, and the red dirt road. On the farm, I made meaningful connections through frugal living and permaculture and days spent earning the trust of animals, discovering the wild and the cultivated, giving and receiving help from neighbours, learning about life cycles, nutrient cycles, and the seasons by witnessing the patterns of relationships between and among a myriad of organisms. “Waste equals food” was an inevitable equation experienced most explicitly through cycling nutrients from year-old compost or manure to garden, to vegetables, to a family or animal meal, and back to compost or manure. Most of all, I enjoyed how my family valued these sorts of first-hand experiences, making time for making food from scratch, listening, touching, smelling, pondering and reflecting outdoors. I believe my close relationship with family and nature as a child led me to develop a sense of interconnectedness and a moral responsibility to care for life on Earth. Setting the Context: My Interest in Ecology My local home is the agricultural province of Prince Edward Island (PEI). When I decided to become a teacher, I had a vision of education that included students building strong, caring, responsible and ethical relationships with each other and nature through practical 8 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED experiences. I decided teaching home economics would be a perfect match. The Foods module fitted with my vision of education with its opportunities to explore the food web through growing, preparing, eating and sharing food all of which could be supported by the official curriculum. In addition, my prior years of studying costume construction prepared me to teach Sewing classes. For seven years as a French teacher, I found ways to weave my vision into teaching through student eco-action projects about alternative energy and waste; on other days we would prepare picnics and crêpes in French classes. Finally an opportunity to pursue more professional learning in home economics education came in 2013, when I joined the second cohort of the Master of Education in Home Economics, Human Ecology and Everyday Life (HEE2) program at the University of British Columbia. Through this program I came to realize that home economics education is about developing students’ knowledge and skills in ways that optimize living in their current and future relationships but also relates everyday life decisions to considerations of well-being and the just treatment of people and the environment (Smith & de Zwart, 2010). Home economics had changed since my days as a student in “cooking” and “sewing” classes. Smith and de Zwart (2010) describes the re-orienting of curriculum and pedagogical approaches in home economics education: Emphasis has changed from a technical, skill-development, scientific approach to one that includes critical thinking and social responsibility. Global perspectives, social justice, and sustainability are underlying conceptual threads as home economics acknowledges the incompatibility of the scientific paradigm with post-modern plurality and with inequities in the global marketplace. Home economics educators have been encouraged to adopt ecology as a unifying theme, broadening the ― “home” in home economics to the ― 9 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED “world as our home” and ― “economics” as the judicious use and stewardship of resources. (p.21) Home economics as a profession holds many connections to the earth, humans, non-humans, education, families, and society. A human ecology perspective has been its basis since the 1990s. With so many relative connections it has undergone a consistent process of reconceptualising since the first days of debate over the name over 120 years ago, when Ellen Swallow Richards proposed the name oekologie (Thompson, 1994), meaning ecology. Even then, ecology was recognized as foundational to the field of home economics. More currently, Vaines (1994; 1997) has argued that ecology ought to be the unifying theme for the home economics profession and her writing has encouraged me to explore my role as a reflective practitioner and work towards becoming more “eco-centred” in my professional practice as a home economics educator. Conclusion This is the story of my journey. My research question was: In what ways can I, as a home economics teacher in PEI, incorporate an ecological perspective? I begin in Chapter Two by reviewing the literature to determine what an ecological perspective is and how it relates to other educational movements such as education for sustainable development, environmental education and global education. Then in Chapter Three I outline my research methodology as falling within the broad category of narrative self-study, in particular, the analysis of critical incidents. A “critical incident” is a significant event that signals an important change, or a shift, in one’s thinking. In Chapters Four and Five, I use three critical incidents to explore themes related to implementing an ecological perspective in teaching home economics. Chapter Four focuses on developing a sense of place and interconnectedness as essential to caring for and 10 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED choosing to protect one’s home, the Earth. Chapter Five focuses on what implementing an ecological perspective in home economics means for content. It addresses the controversial nature of some topics related to ecological perspectives and how teachers might teach controversial issues without becoming part of the controversy. Chapter Six is a summary of what I have learned through this exploration. I reflect on the experience and its implications for my teaching and the wider field of home economics education and make recommendations for the future. 11 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED CHAPTER 2 REVIEWING THE LITERATURE FOR AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE Introduction In Chapter One, I outlined how I was drawn to Vaines’ (1994) argument that ecology ought to be the unifying theme for home economics and how my interest then became how to implement an ecological perspective in home economics. In this chapter I review the literature to outline general themes related to what constitutes an ecological perspective and the ways it ought to be implemented in education. I highlight some key concepts and terms I encountered in my research, which formed the foundation of my critical analysis later in this paper. Sources of Literature Resources for this literature review include journal articles and textbooks, some recommended from HEE2, two books purchased from publishers in Germany and the US, e-book excerpts, and articles published on websites relating to the topic. Resources were identified through the UBC Library electronic data system, reference lists in pertinent articles, related recommended articles and ‘cited by’ lists offered by journal databases (e.g. Sage Journals). The International Journal of Home Economics E-journal submissions in the members-only section of the International Federation of Home Economics data base provided current research in this field. Successful search criteria within scholarly journal databases, such as, ERIC, Google Scholar, and Sage Journals, used a combination of the terms: ecological, critical, perspective, mindedness, education, sustainable, school, Vaines, and home economics or family and consumer sciences. Resources for this review were selected for their varying ability to address the questions a) what is the meaning of an ecological perspective? And, b) how can it be incorporated in home economics education? 12 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED What Is An Ecological Perspective? The literature in Home Economics appears to support developing an ecological perspective as an educational goal. My review of the literature begins with an examination of ecology as the foundational concept, and then moves to ways an ecological perspective has been defined and described, including arguments for using an ecological perspective over other terminology such as sustainability. Ecology is Central to an Ecological Perspective in Home Economics In the late 1980s, Eleanore Vaines began exploring ecology and its transformative and philosophical potential for the field of home economics. My research interest stems from reading Vaines’ (1994) article, “Ecology as a unifying theme for home economics/human ecology” in the Canadian Home Economics Journal. Vaines’ notion of “ecology as a unifying theme” for home economics is characterized by an appreciation of the interconnectedness of all living things through a wholistic worldview; a recognition of the many spheres of influence (unknowable, unknown, inner sphere, private sphere, public sphere, power sphere, biosphere, and cosmos) (Vaines, 1994, p. 60); and, the sacred nature of everyday life activities as providing meaning, in part by recognizing the impact we have on others and the planet (Vaines, 1994). Her attention to ecology has been important for researchers in the field of home economics, such as Smith (1992; 2008) and McGregor (2012; 2013) and most lately to me (McIntosh, 2015), because it has led to re-examining curriculum and pedagogy to find ways of building on the themes of social justice and sustainability. This suggests significant value in examining the concept of ecology within home economics. What is ecology? Ecology is central to an ecological perspective. Capra (1999) explains that ecology is a 13 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED pattern of organization of key core principles that must be understood at the same time. An understanding of these principles could form the basis of a set of common understandings for consensus about an ecological perspective. The core ecological principles include: ● interconnectedness, ● interdependence, ● systems thinking and nested subsystems, ● intersecting cycles and networks, ● solar energy sustains most life, ● the food web represents everything (one organism’s waste is another’s food), ● coevolution, ● mutual adaptation provides development, and, ● dynamic balance is always maintained in the ecosystem (Stone, 2009, p. 178-179). The word ecology comes from the Greek word oikos, meaning ‘household’ (Smith, 2008). “A cardinal understanding of ecology is the complex interconnectedness of all life phenomena, which is captured in the etymology of the very word ‘ecology’ (eco+logy = the study of the household)” (Bai &Romanycia, 2012, p 103). The metaphor ‘household’ can help describe our complex ecological relationship with the Earth as “the operations of a household in which everybody is interconnected and every element interpenetrates” (Bai & Romanycia, 2012, p.103). To know how this household works we must understand the essential principle that relationships interlink all members of the Earth Household, therefore, it is impossible to know any separate element in isolation from the rest (Capra, 1999). Vaines (1994) has highlighted the ecological paradigm for the field of home 14 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED economics/human ecology (HMEC). In this context she explains the meaning of ecology as two interrelated generalizations: “Every living system is related to every other living system in some way and to some degree, and the whole of these systems is greater than the sum of their parts” (p.60). She asks us to consider how this relates to families and the home, suggesting that while the private sphere of the family is unique, its interrelatedness with other spheres needs to be understood and validated. The following section highlights current themes in the research linking education to ecology, including proposed educational models and their suggestions for implementation. Themes linking education to ecology. The term ‘ecological perspective’ is seldom specifically defined in the education literature. Instead, I found that authors mainly used it to help clarify their own conceptions of the role of ecology in education. In her writing about ecology in home economics/human ecology, Vaines does not focus on the term ‘ecological perspective’ specifically, however, her use of the term was helpful in framing the importance of ecology as the basis for future development in the field. Vaines (1994; 1997) used it to encourage home economists to embrace ecology as a unifying theme and develop eco-centeredness in their reflective practice. The field of social work has had a strong interest in incorporating an ecological perspective, considering that: The ecological perspective makes clear the need to view people and environments as a unitary system within a particular cultural and historic context. Both person and environment can be fully understood only in terms of their relationship, in which each continually influences the other within a particular context. (Germain & Gitterman, n.d.) 15 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED In the field of education, Weaver-Hightower (2008) proposed that taking an ecological perspective calls for the assessment of the impact of various actors, relationships, environments, and processes in education, providing the ability to present complexity and interdependence as related to policies (e.g., educational, governmental, municipal, classroom, etc.). Policies for home economics students’ consideration through an ecological perspective may include those at the governmental level (e.g., those related to water use or regulating chemical use in agriculture; food labelling) or at the school level (e.g., those related to school lunch programs; school gardens) and the affect they have on ways of being in the everyday, such as healthy eating, supporting local food producers and reducing our everyday impact on ecosystems through personal choices. Barab and Roth (2006) support the belief that meaningful learning emerges from coupling of the individual and the environment and the resulting flows between them. “Learning through an ecological lens is a process of becoming prepared to effectively engage dynamic networks [of acceptable behaviours, resources and capabilities] in the world in a goal directed manner” (Barab and Roth, 2006, p. 4). Other educational researchers have examined related terms and concepts such as ecological habits of mind (Huckle, 2006; Moroye & Ingman, 2013), ecological awareness, ecological understanding (Fettes & Judson, 2010; Reason, 2007), ecological thinking, ecological intelligence (Goleman; 2009; Goleman, Barlow & Bennett, 2010), ecological consciousness (Morris, 2002), ecological ethics (Bai & Romanycia, 2012), and explored the ways we can develop the qualities of ecological mindedness (Moroye and Ingman, 2013) or become ecoliterate through ecoliteracy (Capra, 1999; Stone, 2009). These are the literature I used to formulate my conception of ‘ecological perspective’. What these terms and concepts have in common is the emphasis on the ‘ecological’ and 16 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED presenting a deeper understanding of the ways the ecological paradigm can and should be central in influencing our thoughts and actions in everyday life, including education. To better understand the basis of this common ecological framework proposed in education research we can look to the roots of ecology and ecological principles. To focus on the other end of the term ‘ecological perspective’, the word ‘perspective’ can be problematic because a perspective is essentially unique to the individual. As Smith (1992) points out, “[t]o talk about a perspective means to have a particular, selective point of view on the world” (n.p.). While there cannot be one true or false perspective, using this term can suggest a consensus has been reached, relaying a set of common understandings about a perspective, as exemplified by the terms economic perspective and environmental perspective (Smith, 1992). These common understandings serve as an orienting point for development of more personalized versions of perspectives or points of view in particular domains such as ecology. Why I chose ecological perspective over sustainability. Over the past decade, radical discourse about sustainability and education has emerged (McGregor, 2013), perhaps triggered by the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD), spanning 2005–2014. “Vaines’ notion of ecology as a unifying theme [for home economics has] allowed for relations and interactions to emerge as close connections to sustainable development and environmental education” (Seppänen, 2001, paraphrased in Turkki, 2004, p. 60). However, concerns have been raised about the limiting nature of education for sustainable development rhetoric, which “can be easily manipulated, or inadvertently bent, in ways that favour the global status quo” (Jickling & Wals, 2012, p. 56). Confusion about the meaning of ‘sustainable’, and further, its pairing with the word ‘development’ have led the direction of ESD to replicate, shift or have little effect on environmental and social issues and the 17 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED everyday choices of society members (Jickling & Wals, 2008). Jickling (2000) explains the basis for seeking alternative approaches to education for sustainable development; ones that help students reach “beyond sustainability”(p.474). He explains that while sustainability concepts and sustainability work are important stepping stones, since “not all values can be sustained” (p.474). Jickling believes we need to: ● speak more confidently about assumptions, lifestyles, worldviews, and conceptions of human place and purpose in ecosystems. ● talk about cultural, spiritual, and aesthetic values, ● and, we must find space to discuss cultural identities, respect, society-nature relationships, tensions between intrinsic and instrumental values and other ideas that lie beyond sustainability. (2000, p.474-475) I agree with Jickling and believe that opening up deeper discussion about philosophical orientations with students in a meaningful way will thus form foundations for new perspectives. McGregor (1997) advocates for the development of an ecological perspective, a global perspective, and a contextual philosophy for the home economics/family and consumer sciences profession, identifying them as separate but important components of strong leadership in the field of home economics. An ecological perspective “enables us to appreciate that the family ecosystem interacts reciprocally with its near environments (natural, human built, and sociocultural) to access, generate, use, and restore resources to meet basic needs”. Professionals can “act as catalysts for change” (McGregor, 1997, n.p.). “If those they target embrace the need for change, they can collectively alter the energy balance of the whole ecosystem such that all benefit” (McGregor,1997, n.p.). A global perspective means that we need to “ bringing into 18 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED focus the aspects of global systems, issues and problems, history, and human and universal values such that individuals are better able to understand and influence their condition in the community and the world” (McGregor, 1997, n.p.) and a contextual philosophy means “appreciating that all things are related to all other things and that relationships between individuals and families and families and their environments are evolutionary, never-ending, and happening in context”(McGregor, 1997, n.p.). Smith (1992; 1994; 2008) has also suggested the need for home economics education to include curriculum, content, and pedagogy which incorporates elements of a global perspective, ecology and connectedness as essential to contextualizing learning with an aim towards building learners’ awareness of these relationships and the capacity to think and act on a personal and global level. I suggest that the literature supports linking the ecological paradigm with education and an examination of the potential for an ecological perspective, responding to Jickling’s (2000) call for deeper discussions that reach beyond sustainability, Smith’s and McGregor’s call for ecology, a global perspective and a contextual philosophy. Ecology As the Basis For Educational Change There is an increasingly strong and emerging interest in the educational community to envision new ways of approaching curriculum and pedagogy that honour the place of humans as part of nature and the need for social communities to seek the sustainability of all forms of life. There is a consensus among the literature suggesting the ecological paradigm should become the basis for educational changes. As previously mentioned, none of the literature I found specifically elaborates ‘ecological perspective’ as a research topic in education, despite using it to present related research concepts. Instead, the most common theme for these changes was a 19 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED focus on the need for an increased awareness of the interconnectedness of all life and resulting interdependence. This is not surprising considering interconnectedness and interdependence are key principles of ecology. According to Bai and Romanycia (2012), ecological interconnectedness leads to an intimate knowing, a one-bodiedness that is an integral function of love and care for our household and a desire to help it flourish–something they call ‘ecological ethics’. It is the “foundation of ecological ethics is love and care of the earth, and love and care for earth’s beings” (Bai & Romanycia, 2012, p.103). Bai and Romanycia (2012) and others (Capra, 1999, Goleman et al., 2010, McGregor, 2013, and Vaines (1994) similarly see ecology as including a sense of deep caring, and deep ecology that presents us with a moral obligation as members of this earth household. Bai and Romanycia (2012) draw on the moral concept of ethics of care, which suggests “an action is good and right when it is in the service of nourishing, fostering, repairing, and preserving relationship of intrinsic worth and regard for the other” (p.104). They propose ecological ethics to extend this intrinsic valuing to include “relationships with the earth community, its inhabitants, and constituent members” (p.104) as interdependent. Bai and Romanycia (2012) suggest education be based in an eco-philosophy, one that re-shapes, enhances, and extends present educational approaches and acts as a catalyst for a new way of life, a new way of being, new norms for schooling infused with an eco-philosophy, and eco-ethic. Practical examples include urban horticulture, edible schoolyards, making meaningful connections to natural places, and examining values and beliefs through the development of capabilities for critical thinking. These would establish the capacity to act in effective ways as integrated members of society and nature by first forming respectful knowledge relationships with the objects of our knowledge (the earth and what it is about) in order to find solutions to 20 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED problems of ecological sustainability as we become aware of them. In related literature, this kind of knowledge is often referred to as ecoliteracy (Capra, 1999). What is ecoliteracy? Avoiding the ambiguity of typically fuzzy terms such as sustainability and sustainable development, Capra’s (1999) educational approach develops what he terms ecoliteracy. Ecoliteracy means understanding the basic principles of ecology, the principles of organization that ecosystems have developed to sustain the web of life and being able to embody them in the daily life of human communities (Capra, 1999). Capra’s work at the Centre for Ecoliteracy (CEL), a non-profit organization that advances ecological education in K–12 schools is a primary example of blending scientific knowledge with sociological approaches through interdependent relationships within a community. Ecoliteracy is an approach that is designed to develop the associated cognitive (head), emotional (heart), active (hands), and connectional (spiritual) competencies needed to build sustainable communities. Sustainable communities are ecosystems in and of themselves, where the social and cultural environments that include plants, animals and microorganisms can satisfy our needs without diminishing the chances of future generations (Capra, 2009). Sustainable communities are also “designed in such a way that ways of life, businesses, economy, physical structures, and technologies respect, honor, and cooperate with nature’s inherent ability to sustain life” (Capra as cited in Stone, 2010, p.35). The Centre for Ecoliteracy takes a broad view of schooling and curriculum to encompasses everything that goes on in schools that contributes to what students learn. For example, “schools take in energy and resources, which they use, transform, recycle, or discharge back into the wider systems” (Stone, 2010, p. 35). As Stone (2010) points out, these everyday systems, that are often ignored, could be highlighted in classes focusing on developing 21 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED ecoliteracy. “An ecoliterate person is prepared to be an effective member of sustainable society, with well-rounded abilities of head, heart, hands, and spirit, comprising an organic understanding of the world and participatory action within and with the environment” (McBride, Brewer, Berkowitz & Borrie, 2013, p.14). Participatory action frequently involves school and community members taking action to reclaim green spaces, improve watersheds, redesign schools systems such as waste water systems and lunch programs by creating and maintaining school/community gardens, recovering waste and purifying polluted resources (Stone, 2009). The goal of such education is teaching students how to build a sustainable community. Ecoliteracy clearly reflects the eco-ethic and eco-philosophy called for earlier by Bai and Romanycia (2012) with the building of sustainable communities serving as an example of a call for the renormalization of schooling, bringing education closer to relations in the natural world. Ecoliteracy is based on principles of ecology and mirrors Vaines’ (1997, 2004a, 2004b) maps outlining the ‘eco-centred’ individual/practitioner and the ecological worldview (Vaines, 1997). Incorporating ecoliteracy can help students develop their social, emotional and ecological intelligence. What is ecological intelligence? Goleman, Barlow, and Bennett (2010) addresses the concept of ecological intelligence, recognizing that, “[w]hile social and emotional intelligence extend students’ abilities to see from another’s perspective, empathize, and show concern, ecological intelligence applies these capacities to an understanding of natural systems and melds cognitive skills with empathy for all of life” (p.92). According to Goleman (2009), ecological intelligence allows us to comprehend systems in all their complexity, as well as the interplay between the natural and man-made 22 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED worlds. But that understanding demands a vast store of knowledge, one so huge that no single brain can store it all. Each one of us needs the help of others to navigate the complexities of ecological intelligence. We need to collaborate. Although Goleman (2009) is not writing about home economics per se, he seems to imply that everyone can/should have ecological intelligence to some degree. What this means for home economics education is, we must find ways to collaborate with others in home economics classes in participatory ways to gain and strengthen ecological perspectives together. Vaines (2004b, 2004c) has proposed we include many ways of knowing in home economics as a means of forming the combined essence of such wisdom. Exploring and creating narratives and building on lifeworld knowing by providing experiences in a place-based approach can contribute to that vast store of knowledge necessary for understanding the complexity that comes with seeing the world through an ecological lens. What is important in Goleman’s statement is that this pattern of collaborating does contribute to wisdom about ecological relationships, especially when students can critically think about local ecological topics and share perspectives when considering moral, ethical and political issues of ecological sustainability. The concept of collaborating is not new or unique to ecoliteracy. The Center for Ecoliteracy (2017) provides a list of topics focussing on food and sustainability, which can be used to support collaborative approaches to ecoliteracy. As such, their commitment to building a sustainable future through sustainable communities reflects the impetus of home economics to serve the individual in relation to the family in ways that consider the many spheres of influence (Vaines, 1994). Why is a sense of place important in ecological education? The literature examined suggests that key in developing students' ecoliteracy and ecological intelligence is instilling in them a strong sense of place. Fettes and Judson (2010) 23 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED promote place-based imaginative ecological education, describing it as a sense of belonging to a specific, localized community. They suggest that place-based imaginative ecological education as integral to developing personal identity and offering psychological well-being through personal affective connections with the natural world. This emotional dimension in turn has been widely shown to contribute to imagination and a desire to care for and protect these places (Fettes & Judson, 2010). Moroye and Ingman (2013) similarly stated their intentions for future research on the qualities of ecological mindedness adding imagination and aesthetic ways of knowing as potential for consideration. The phenomena of emotion, imagination, and care in relation to place are central to establishing a strong sense of place through a multidimensional approach to place-based education approaches (Ardoin, 2006). In Fettes and Judson’s (2010) research this is established through relationships to place which are dependent on actively expending effort to mentally engage in place-making, “to grasp the possibilities of a place, its past, its future, its meaning for us” all of which is essential to the development of an ecological understanding, of the world, and ourselves as part of nature (p. 124). The concept of place-based education and its potential for developing a strong sense of place and care are explored further in Chapters Four and Five. The literature consulted reveals that participatory inquiry is an educational tool that can help students develop a sense of place. Next, I look more closely at this technique. Participatory inquiry as ecological education. Reason (2007) focuses on education for ecology as a response to the planetary imbalances caused by human activities. Through ecological education we could help bring about a type of mind change about our planetary home. He reports such a mind change is now occurring through a growing consensus in the scientific literature that there exists a whole 24 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED planetary system, an intricate, self-sustaining and self-organizing web of life, a whole of which we are a part, referred to as ‘Gaia’. Reason (2007) outlines the need to understand “the intimate and complex connection between life on Earth and the self-regulating properties of Gaia” (p.31). Many of the authors in Reason’s review share the same position that “education based on facts and figures, on alternative models of eco-economy, and even on a scientific understanding of planetary dynamics, is inadequate to respond fully to the challenge of Gaia and the destruction of ecological systems” (2007, p.31-32). Reason referred to the need for participatory approaches to ecological education that relate to the spirituality, emotions, care and personal connection through a deep ecology that fosters personal understanding, responsibility, and stewardship as part of the web of life. Heron and Reason (1997) see participatory inquiry as fundamentally experiential, contextual, and supportive of human flourishing because “it allows us to join with fellow humans in collaborative forms of inquiry. It places us back in relation with the living world-and we note that to be in relation means that we live with the rest of creation as relatives, with all the rights and obligations that implies” (Heron and Reason, 1997, pp. 275-276). Importance of teacher ecological mindedness. Up to this point the literature has indicated that ecology as a unifying theme in home economics as the basis for change in home economics education involves adopting developing an ecological perspective (which includes the sub-concepts of ecoliteracy and ecological intelligence) as an educational goal. Further there is consideration of a sense of place and participatory inquiry as pedagogical processes. Moroye and Ingman (2013) highlight the importance of the teacher and their ecological mindedness. They present ecological mindedness as “a habit of mind comprised of, and developed through, three qualities: ecological care, interconnectedness, and ecological integrity” (p.589). “Seen in this light, ecological mindedness 25 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED may serve as a bridge between ecological reform efforts and the current practices in traditional K–12 schools” (Moroye & Ingman, 2013, p.589). The qualities of ecological mindedness according to Moroye and Ingman (2013) include: ● caring- “based on care for self; care for animals, plants, and the earth; and care for strangers and distant others” (p.596) ● a sense of interconnectedness- “an acknowledgment of various and eclectic notions of the relationships among all things” (p.599), and ● ecological integrity- “the alignment of beliefs and actions, which materialize as dispositional qualities resulting from a comprehension of interconnectedness and ecological care” (p. 604). It appears these qualities can have an impact on success of teaching that is intended to support a shift in perspective for students. The field of home economics has also paid close attention to this phenomenon through Vaines’ (1997) discussion of the ‘reflective practitioner’ presenting three philosophical positions that provide foundational values and beliefs for professional practice: the ego-centric position; the eco-centered position; and the uncommitted position. “It is clear that Vaines considers the eco-centered position the most ethically defensible position for home economics/family studies/human ecology teachers to hold” (Smith, 2014, n.p.). An “eco-centered” (Vaines, 1997) person is one who is guided by a “moral vision requiring professional commitment to belief systems honoring fairness, caring, and equity”(p. 5) and one who is guided by the metaphor “world as our home” (p. 5). Now that I have examined literature which describes an ecological perspective and how to help students develop one, I offer an overview of some ideas presented by researchers on classroom activities to achieve these 26 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED educational goals. In What Ways Can An Ecological Perspective Be Implemented In Home Economics Curriculum And Pedagogy? Literature exploring the potential for an ecological perspective provides the following ideas for implementation in home economics: ● incorporating participatory approaches to spirituality, emotions, care and personal connection within a deep ecology that fosters personal understanding, responsibility, and stewardship as part of the web of life (Reason, 2007) ● providing opportunity to act on ideas and make changes through group/community problem solving and recommendations (Moroye & Ingman, 2013) ● considering ways to support development of social, emotional and ecological intelligence through ecoliteracy (Goleman et al., 2010) and food literacy (Smith, 2009a) ● contextualizing learning through active engagement of human beings with the places they inhabit (Ardoin, 2006; Reason;2007) These ideas for implementation are worthy of consideration because they help guide the home economics teacher towards fully actualizing and ecological perspective in curriculum and pedagogy. They provide direction for both curriculum and pedagogy in home economics education. For example, the curriculum must be broadened to include the connections and interrelations between food and the environment and pedagogy must be such that students have to opportunity to develop a sense of place, to become aware of the webs of life, and encourage 27 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED students to care about the earth we call home. Conclusion In this chapter I have explored some key terms and concepts found in the literature I examined. As a result of this literature review, I intended to frame an ecological perspective as a general, personalizable perspective with a grounding in key principles. A perspective is an attitude toward or a way of looking at something; when combined with ecological it means a point of view that includes: ● a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of all living systems in the web of life, recognizing the intrinsic value of nature, including human and non-human beings (Vaines, 1994; Capra, 1999), ● a readiness to perceive patterns and relationships as foundational to thought (Capra, 2009), ● the virtue of caring about the future of our planet (Vaines, 1994; Ardoin, 2006), ● a propensity towards seeking wisdom through seeing, sensing, feeling, seeking many forms of knowledge (Vaines, 2004c) and apply it to solve problems related to ecological sustainability (Capra; 1999; McGregor, 2012, 2013; Jickling, 2000), ● a strong sense of place (Ardoin, 2006), ● a critical consideration of moral, ethical, social, and ecological implications of our actions in order to choose a personal course of action placing sustainability of all life to the forefront as part of living a just and meaningful life (Smith, 2008, 2009a ; Vaines, 1994), 28 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED ● human and ecological health would be seen as interdependent (Vaines, 1994; Capra, 1999). This is the way I conceptualize an ecological perspective. I continue a more in-depth exploration of these key principles in chapters four and five, using a process of examining critical incidents. The research process is the topic of Chapter Three. I characterize my research as a form of critical action research that uses narrative descriptions of critical incidents to analyze solve an educational problem using both the interpretive (understanding) and critical (solving) research paradigms. 29 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED Chapter 3 Narrative Self-Study, an Action Research Methodology Introduction In Chapters One and Two I introduced my two research questions as, a) what is the meaning of an ecological perspective? And, b) how can it be incorporated in home economics education? In this chapter, I describe the method of research, which I have used to explore these topics. I categorize this as a narrative self-study of critical incidents, which is a form of action research. In narrative research, teacher/researchers describe their own lives, collect and tell stories about the lives of teachers, and write narratives of teaching and education related experiences (Clandinin, Steeves, & Li, 2011). The stories are then explored in an effort to understand the meaning of those experiences and how they impact who we are, what we value and what we do in education. The stories I have come to appreciate more, as I grow older are those in which a personal struggle led to some sort of revelation about ‘virtue’ (a morally good, admirable, or beneficial outcome) or ‘vice’ (a failing or fault of some sort, potentially immoral). As a middle school teacher, such stories are told after school, while propped in the doorway of a friendly colleague’s classroom as we recount struggles and success from the teaching day. Virtues demonstrated by a teacher’s ability to weave patience, caring, knowledge or empathy may have led to pivotal learning moments in the classroom; vices, such a teacher’s personal ignorance, oversight, or unpreparedness may have led to disengaged or confused learners. Sharing stories of teaching is a form of seeking validation as much as it is a form of critical reflection that enables teachers to sort out the details of their own practice, recognize where changes could be made and ‘pull up their socks’, continuing on with the quest for answers. In this paper, I present a quest for 30 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED answers in the form of critical self-reflection through story telling based on important moments in teaching and researching. My intent in Chapters Four and Five is to share three critical incidents (Tripp, 1993) and explore their meanings for my professional practice as a home economics Foods teacher. Locating the Study – Research Paradigms Action research, participatory research, teacher as researcher, insider-research, teacher research, action science, action learning, collaborative inquiry, self inquiry, and an assortment of other descriptors have gained much currency in the educational literature (Peterat & Smith, 2001). Smith (2009b) suggests that all these types and forms of action research share “a commitment to bringing the researcher of the study into the process of educational inquiry. They share an ontological position that honours lived reality, and involves participants and their actions in the creation of personal and social knowing and ways of being” (n.p.). The epistemology, which underpins action research methodology is distinctive in that it rejects the notion that knowledge can be de-contextualized from its context of practice. We live in a world of action, a world in which the nature of existence is shaped by perceptions, and this strongly suggests that knowledge constructed without the active participation of practitioners can only be partial knowledge. (Somekh, 1994, p. 367 as cited in Smith, 2009b, n.p.) By characterizing this as action research I am casting the gaze upon myself, and laying out my personal understanding and my sense of the realities 31 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED that support or constrain my work. This puts the research in the realm of self-study. Self-Study Self-study when used by teachers often focuses on the teacher as researcher of his/her own practice (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993; Fitzgerald, Heston, & Tidwell, 2009; Loughran & Russell, 2002). It entails problematizing teaching experiences or classroom observations in order to learn more about oneself in relation to his/her students, teaching context as well as teaching practices (Lassonde, Galman & Kosnik, 2009). It is believed that by examining and problematizing teaching in this way teachers can become reflective practitioners (Schön, 1987; Zeichner & Liston, 1996). Exploring the ways of becoming a reflective practitioner in home economics has been the goal of Vaines’ (1997) research for many years and is considered foundational to best practice in the field of home economics (Peterat, 1997). In comparison to other research in teacher education, the area of self-study is framed as autobiography or conversation (Bullough & Pinnegar, 2001). Self-study methods can include biographical forms of inquiry, personal histories, life history approach, and narrative inquiry. Activities such as journaling, writing reflections, examining letters and e-mails, can be integral to meaningful reflection and capable of leading to rich in-depth data (Merriam, 1988). These methods center on the autobiographical or conversational approach to writing, which enables an examination of the role of the self in the research project and “the space between self and the practice engaged in” (Bullough & Pinnegar, 2001, p.15). These spaces are complex and dynamic, especially when intersections with curriculum and place are also considered (Kitchen & Stephens, 2005). Self-study can be motivating for teachers by encouraging them to consciously and creatively 32 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED participate in their own growth and development by reflecting and striving to make sense of their practice (Zeichner, 1999). In any research, it is important to grasp the underlying epistemology, philosophical basis and paradigm. The epistemology, or nature and sources of knowledge, is personal practical knowledge (Smith & deZwart, 2016). Self-study is characterized by understanding the role of the self in relation to practice and the ways written reflection can help teachers to negotiate the tensions between ourselves and our contexts, between autobiography and history (Bullough & Pinnegar, 2001). The philosophical basis of self-study (its research background, knowledge and its nature), links the aims of improving practice, established in action research, with the conception of the qualitative researcher who is deeply invested in his/her study and is able to produce self-study research that is rich in in data and analysis that explores it as phenomena (Bullough & Pinnegar, 2001). This self-study is located in a critical interpretive research paradigm (Peterat & Smith, 2001). A paradigm is constituted by and incorporating different ontological and epistemological assumptions (Blakie, 2010; Sommer Harrits, 2011). This paradigm holds that both reality and knowledge are socially constructed. The purpose of the research is to “uncover and illuminate the meaning people construct out of the events and phenomenon they encounter in their lives (Peterat & Smith, 2001, p. 11). Thus self-study acknowledges the following: • The researcher must negotiate a balance between biography and history, and the tensions between these two elements. Over-acknowledging the self would produce a confessional, while under-acknowledging the relationship of the self would simply produce traditional research (Bullough & Pinnegar, 2001). 33 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED • Research reporting must show evidence of such balance in the data reported and in how they have been analyzed, responding to the question, “so what?”, implying that insights gleaned will be of value for advancing scholarship in the wider research community. The questions self-study researchers ask arise from concern about and interest in the interaction of the self-as-teacher educator, in context, over time, with others whose interests represent a shared commitment to the development and nur- turance of the young and the impact of that interaction on self and other… Ultimately, the aim of self-study research is moral, to gain understanding necessary to make that interaction increasingly educative. (Bullough & Pinnegar, 2001, p.15) Self-study is important because it encourages deeper reflection during the action research process that can produce insights that will not only guide improvements in personal practice and understandings about curriculum, but also have a wider impact on interdisciplinary research as it relates to education. Action research through self-study provides an important window on the full experiences of individuals in practice, who engage in reflection and action for the purpose of transforming it, a phenomenon known as praxis (Smith, 2013). Possible problems that can limit the validity of self-study, center on the potential lack of significance and quality in the work. Though self-study focuses on the intersections between the self and the contexts practice, Bullough and Pinnegar (2001) highlighted the need for researchers to engage reviewer imagination, to ask questions of significance to the research community, and to present compelling answers. They also suggest that issues of validity exist due to unestablished criteria for quality in self-study, a relatively new methodology. The methods in 34 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED self-study are borrowed and thus quality and validity must be addressed by ensuring established research practices from the borrowed methodology are respected (Bullough & Pinnegar, 2001). Traditional notions of validity, reliability and generalizability are not appropriate for determining the worth of action research. Perhaps it is more relevant to ask different questions of the research such as: can the experiences explored and shared, help people to better understand the goal of developing in students an ecological perspective? Narrative Inquiry: Telling the Teacher’s Story Narrative inquiry is a literary form of qualitative research that places a special emphasis on writing (Cole & Knowles, 1995; McKinnon Crook, 2004). In narrative research, teacher/researchers describe their own lives, or collect and tell stories about the lives of teachers, and write narratives of teaching and education related experiences. The stories are then explored in an effort to understand the meaning of those experiences and how they impact who we are, what we value and what we do in education (Connelly & Clandinin, 2001). The narrative method is used to analyze critical incidents (Hole & McEntee, 1999; Newmann, 1987; Tripp, 1993) from my own practice, this focus on my own experience as a teacher is further explored in the self-study section of this chapter. Through written reflection teachers are able to negotiate tensions between themselves and their contexts, between biography and history (Bullough & Pinnegar, 2001). Krall (1988) describes this form of research as “personal history” and encouraged researchers to “commence by writing “thick” descriptions of educational experiences in their past that are remembered with special clarity” (p.469). Using the language of story to present these descriptions and their analyses, the researcher places the reader in their shoes as the storyteller, potentially providing a better sense of understanding and empathy. 35 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED Reflective Inquiry Self study can be reflexive or reflective. Reflective practices are when a teacher thinks about and reflects on what happened in her classes (as in the case of this study); reflexive self study practices doing something different next time as a result of their reflections. Reflective inquiry is the ongoing process of examining and refining practice. It is more focused on context and tries to get at the assumptions behind practices. The inquiry is often prompted by surprise (the term used by Schön, 1987), epiphanies (Stringer, 1996), or critical incidents (Newman, 1987, 1991; Tripp, 1993). Schön (1987) writes: [C]omplex dilemmas faced by teachers are viewed as context-specific, unpredictable, and difficult to define, thus not lending themselves to routine ways of responding and the use of ready-made solutions. Competent practice must of necessity then be reflective, involving a process—Through which practitioners sometimes make new sense of uncertain, unique or conflicted situations of practice (assuming) neither that existing professional knowledge fits every case nor that every problem has a right answer. (as cited in Copa, 1989, p. 141) Lyons (2010) has outlined the theories of three central figures, John Dewey, Donald Schön and Paulo Freire, as forming the basis for interpretation of research and practice in the realm of reflection and reflective inquiry. Dewey characterizes reflective inquiry as thinking; Schön characterizes it as a way of knowing; and, Freire explains its relationship to the necessity of critical inquiry, characterizing reflective inquiry as “critical consciousness; interrogation of the contexts of learning” (Lyons, 2010, p. 19). Thus reflective inquiry is both interpretive and critical. Research Method 36 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED The analysis of critical incidents is a qualitative data collection technique based on the researcher’s observations and his or her reflection on them. “A critical incident is something which we interpret as a problem or a challenge in a particular context, rather than a routine occurrence” (Critical incident analysis, n.d.). Newman (1998) describes critical incidents as moments “which catch us by surprise, which make us aware of an aspect of what is going on that we haven’t noticed before” (p.183). According to Smith (2015), critical incidents are important for home economics teachers because they cause us to reflect on “the aims and purposes of education and home economics, about the role of teachers, about relationships with students/parents, about how you want to “be” as a teacher”. She adds, “[t]hey help identify the things that we take for granted, that are hegemonic and often unquestioned” (Smith, 2015). Critical Incident Analysis Critical incident analysis is an approach to dealing with challenges in everyday teaching practice. As reflective practitioners “we need to pose problems about our practice, refusing to accept ‘what is’. We need to explore incidents which occur in day-to-day work in order to understand them better and find alternative ways of reacting and responding to them” (Critical incident analysis, n.d.). The analysis of critical incidents places my work in both the interpretive and critical paradigms of educational research because I both seek to understand the world (interpretive) but also change it in light of ecological justice (critical). My approach to critical analysis involved deconstructing each critical incident based on the four steps in Tripp’s (1993) method: 1. identifying a troubling incident from my teaching experience and problematizing it by framing it in the form of a question, e.g. Why aren’t students recognizing ecological interconnectedness? 37 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED 2. describing it including necessary background context 3. reflecting on it by employing a series of directed questions for analysis (see below) 4. connecting findings with theory, and connecting them to my personal experience to suggest relative implications for future practice for myself and for the broader field of home economics education. Each of these critical incidents were chosen because I felt they reflected my topic through my interest in a) incorporating an ecological perspective in home economics and b) incorporating local ecological contexts and content in curriculum with my students as a holistic approach to developing these two perspectives in my pedagogy. The questions I use for my analysis of these three critical incidents are based on a three step method by Tripp (1993), as adapted by Smith (2015): a) Why did this happen? What does the story reveal? Why did this incident stand out? What meanings might we glean from this critical incident? What are some underlying assumptions and/or taken-for-granteds (about the role of the teacher, the role of the student, how home economics ought to be taught, what should be the content of home economics, how home economics courses should respond to prevailing social, cultural, economic, political conditions or current educational movements, etc.)? b) What might it mean? What other information would be helpful? Consider other points of view or perspectives and background that would contribute to understanding the situation c) What implications are there for improving future teaching practice? 38 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED What implications does this story have for changing teaching/learning practices? What other actions could be taken or tried? What could be modified or changed? (Smith, 2015) I list these questions because they have guided me in my critical analysis of critical incidents, although, they have not been explicitly stated in Chapter Four and Chapter Five. I have organized these chapters according to the four steps in Tripp’s (1993) method under the headings: Identifying and Describing a Critical Incident; Reflecting on This Critical Incident; and, Connecting With Theory. Conclusion I have chosen narrative self-study as an appropriate methodology for reflecting on and analyzing my practice using critical incidents. In Chapter Four, I problematize a critical incident, that caused me to reflect on the way place based education can inform bringing an ecological perspective to home economics curriculum. Chapter Five, I problematize two critical incidents that relate to ecological content and handling the controversial nature of some ecological topics. For the purposes of extending the analysis, making assertions and theorizing practice, in both chapters I explore the ways the intersections of ecology in curriculum and pedagogy could be better framed to develop an ecological perspective in home economics. 39 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED CHAPTER 4 FORAGING FOR INTERCONNECTEDNESS AND ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE The critical incident in this chapter is one that occurred following a visit with students to an apple orchard, a short walk from the school where I teach home economics to students in grades seven to nine. This incident raised the question, why do I take for granted that students aren’t interested in the ecology of their community? Identifying and Describing a Critical Incident The Incident: After the Storm On this sunny, fall afternoon, a group of students and I agreed to pick apples at the local orchard for the school breakfast program, plus a few extra to keep for themselves. The students collected the reusable grocery bags, estimated how many bags of apples they would need to pick and how long the trip would take. As we walked to the orchard, the group was excited but concerned themselves with the task of choosing which song to listen to along the way. It would have been an opportunity for them to engage with their surroundings, share stories of past experiences apple picking, or for me to share my story about Barry and all the details I had learned about his orchard. Instead, I chose not to interrupt their friendly chatter. Shortly after, I noticed the students were entertaining each other by telling stories about kidding around at home and foolish injuries they once had. When we arrived we met Barry at the weigh-in station in the garage of his house. He gave us directions to the row of trees for picking and the group marched to the spot. The trees and ground were a sea of apples. We tried our best not to slip as we balanced on fallen apples 40 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED while stretching for the ‘good ones’. The group had determined that no one wanted the ones with a mark or the ‘weird’ looking ones and were tossing them on the ground. I thought I should tell them to save those for Barry, but I hesitated and said nothing. Even though it felt like a wasteful act, I imagined those apples wouldn’t be of monetary value to Barry and perhaps it wouldn’t make a difference anyway. The group wanted to pick the biggest apples they could find, until I suggested they choose smaller ones so we could feed more kids on our budget. The picking went smoothly and I could see they were really enjoying the experience together. The students laughed, joked and shrieked and took a few photos to remember our afternoon since one of the students would be moving away soon. We took longer to pick the apples than anticipated and were running late. The students helped Barry weigh the apples, while I loaded the bags into a staff member’s car. I paid for them and we headed back to the school. I was preoccupied by the time and did not ask the students to do much reflecting on the experience during the walk back. At the school, we unloaded the bags and I hardly noticed the students sharing the special ways they planned to enjoy their apples after school. After they left to go home, I thought of how pleased I was with the way the students had behaved and that we had completed our goal of picking apples for the school breakfast program. Only, I was feeling disappointed with what I felt were many missed opportunities for the group to sense of their ecological interconnectedness by engaging more deeply with people and places we visited. I assumed that for the students, it was just another form of shopping trip in their eyes, with a focus on consuming and managing time and money. The following weekend there was a wind storm. I never had any thought about the impact it would have on Barry and the orchard until Monday morning when I was surprised by a member of the apple picking group who poked a head in the doorway of my classroom. He was 41 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED speaking in a flurry. “Have you talked to Barry yet? I hope he didn’t lose all his apples in the storm. It was so windy a tree fell down at our house. Do you think he needs any help with branches? Maybe we can go back to pick some of those Jonagold apples for him when they are ripe? We don’t want him to miss them because he said the season will probably be over in November. My Dad said he might take me back there too”. I was stunned by how concerned and passionate this student seemed to be, when I had already assumed he and the others had not really taken much away from the experience. I told him I would give Barry a call to ask him all about it before our next class together. The Back Story – Background to the Incident Barry is the orchard owner and operator who has answered so many of my questions about apple producing in past visits, as I tried to expand my ecological perspective. He has told me about the varieties he grows, where he sells them and what happens to all the fallen apples. He has explained the balance of nutrients cycling back to the tree and other local uses for the apples such as making cider, animal feed and compost. He has explained what it was like to maintain an orchard; that mice and birds could be pests and that fox, coyote, eagles and pollinators were necessary helpers in the system. I have learned there are times when weather has a major impact on his the crop, but in different ways than I had originally imagined, such as controlling the spread of disease. I had decided that this information would add a lot to the learning experience of a student visit to the orchard and planned to share all I had learned about Barry’s orchard with my students so they would get to know another place in their community. I planned to inform them that the orchard had also been involved with a number of local fundraisers and that our school had already received Barry’s donation of apples to enjoy after the Terry Fox Run a few weeks prior. However, a problem remained; I did not know how to 42 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED adequately engage with students in ways that would connect us to our local places, to care for them, and support our development of an ecological perspective. Reflecting on this Critical Incident This incident stands out because I had assumed my students didn’t already have an ecological perspective. The empathy that this student showed for Barry and the state of the orchard took me by surprise and speaks to the impact experiences in a place can have on the desire to care for and protect a place. It also highlighted the ways the student already understands interconnectedness on some level by paying attention to the weather, the seasons, and its impact on the orchard. Tan and Pedretti’s (2010) use of the word “affiliation” comes to mind in this case. “In considering the local, the sense of affiliation to place is of paramount importance. Without an affiliation for place, many argue that we cannot possibly hope to impart to our students a sense of their own agency and capacity to effect change” (Tan & Pedretti, 2010, p.64). It seemed as though at least one student had recognized an affiliation between themselves, the school and Barry’s orchard. This incident has highlighted a new problem, it is that I did not know how to adequately engage with students in ways that would connect us to our local places, to care for them, and support our development of an ecological perspective. I realized teachers could try to gain a stronger sense of place by making time for listening to the stories of their students. The students clearly showed an interest in talking about their own life experiences on the way to the orchard and must have been asking Barry questions about the varieties of apples without my noticing. I think I would have known all of this about my students had I paid closer attention, and seized opportunities to invite them to share their stories. I believe consciously incorporating ways of knowing such as narrative knowing in my practice may restore power to students whose voices 43 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED have been excluded in classes typically dominated by the view of teacher as expert (Schneider, 2010), one who controls knowledge. By reflecting on their lifeworld through the narrative perspective “(my story, your story, our story)” (Vaines, 2004c, pp. 150–151) students and teachers can create new stories that bring about shared meanings about the places they live. Being in the orchard and experiencing it with the students created new situations which led me to consider the ways my own values and beliefs about food shape my practice, for example, through practical decisions about what food was worthwhile choosing or not and what to do in those situations. Simply giving the students the chance to talk about the experience could have been valuable. Including a reflection time, post event, could be an important opportunity for everyone to consider the multiple perspectives and contrast the unique ways we each experience place while also creating new stories to share with others, for example, the students telling their families about apple picking. Ardoin (2006) put forward the same point, as she states, “The lived experiences in everyday life and narrative practices can communicate ‘cultural symbols that constitute, create, and maintain a sense of place within a society’” (p.117) Honouring the lived experiences of my students through narrative in which students share their lifeworld experiences will build relationships of trust, care, respect and dignity while honouring and valuing the perspective of the family through the students’ voices. Developing a sense of place means growing a relationship with place on many levels including the ways we share them with others. This is important to developing an ecological perspective because it helps us see ourselves as part of nature, see and understand interconnectedness, and care about it. Creating and sharing stories about our lived experiences is one way to develop a stronger sense of place through place-based education. 44 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED Connecting With Theory Developing sense of place in home economics curriculum and pedagogy. The critical incident in the apple orchard and the conversation with the student afterward allowed me to consider the ways we build and maintain relationships with places that support stewardship or depletion of human and animal habitat. The literature tells us that developing a sense of place and interconnectedness is essential to caring for and choosing to protect one’s home, the Earth, how can similar close relationships to food and to place be encouraged in our home economics Foods classes, and how can ecological perspectives be developed as we navigate the complex decisions about what to eat? Food literacy. These complex decisions about food can be navigated by developing food literacy (Smith, 2009c). Smith’s (2009c) food literacy research argues for a “reconnecting with food and the environment, revering food rather than treating it as a commodity, restoring the pleasures of eating and the sociocultural importance of food, and understanding the food system and the broad implications of current practices” (Smith, 2009c, p.9) ). I suggest Ardoin’s (2006) conclusions about sense of place complement Smith’s (2009c) suggested approach to developing food literacy in home economics classes. Both of these researchers support the consideration of many ways of knowing in order to relate deeply and effectively with a variety of learners with unique backgrounds and experiences. Two elements of Smith’s (2009c) food literacy are based on Vaines’ consideration of narrative and lifeworld ways of knowing. She refers to ‘narrative food literacy’ is based on 45 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED narratives (yours, mine, ours, theirs): ● using storytelling and narratives to explore the meanings (e.g., cultural, social, geographical) of food; and, ● exploring stories and creating new stories of growing, acquiring, preparing, using, and celebrating food across generations, within and between cultures, and in the various places we live (Smith, 2009c, p. 12) And she refers to ‘lifeworld food literacy’ is based on “the lived experience of students and others in food production and preparation locally and globally” (Smith, 2009c, p. 11), including: ● opportunities for students to explore and share: their own life experience – growing, obtaining, preparing, experiencing food by themselves and with others; the social/cultural/religious significance of food in their families; ● the general social/cultural/religious significance of food; ● the life experience of themselves and others who in work related to food (e.g., food producers, food transformers); and ● empathizing with others (Smith, 2009c, p. 11). Place-based education. Place-based education (PBE) has potential to be a complementary approach to home economics education programs that aims to develop critical, ecological and global perspectives through food literacy. Placed-based education focuses on direct experiences with “real” local contexts and emphasizes actively engaging with natural surroundings. The extent to which it can be fully embraced in a foods and nutrition class depends on the network of support a teacher can gather within staff and community circles, as well as navigating the physical constraints of the classroom and areas surrounding the school or bus availability for field trips, scheduling, etc. 46 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED The elements of place-based education that can be plucked for home economics education include “immersing students in local heritage, cultures, landscapes, opportunities and experiences, using these as a foundation for the study of language arts, mathematics, social studies, science and other subjects across the curriculum” (“Promise of place”, n.d.) potentially in a cross-curricular approach. “PBE emphasizes learning through participation in service projects for the local school and/or community” (“Promise of place”, n.d.). These are some of the ways I can incorporate the principles of successful place-based education into my home economics classes: ● Learning that takes place on-site in the school yard, and in the local community and environment [e.g. growing food in school gardens, greenhouses, in pots on the roof, or indoor standing classroom greenhouses]. ● Learning that focuses on local themes, systems, and content [e.g. mapping local food webs and food systems through lifeworld experiences, participating in and coordinating school-community cultural food events, e.g. potluck, corn boil, etc.]. ● Learning that is personally relevant to the learner [hands-on projects that include reflection and action, e.g. sourcing food for a donation using geographical mapping and critical analysis of local food producers, restaurants that do and do not serve locally produced food and markets in relation to where they live and go to school]. ● Learning experiences that contribute to the community’s vitality and environmental quality and support the community’s role in fostering global 47 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED environmental quality [e.g. shifting to non-toxic sanitizing systems; removing single-use materials (paper towel, plastic cutlery, etc.) from classroom and school settings and replacing them with people-power and reusable options; recognizing ineffective food waste, compost, or recycling programs within school and community and making arrangements for diverting organic waste to domesticated animals, worm bins, or local garden composters]. ● Learning that is supported by strong and varied partnerships with local organizations, agencies, businesses, and government [i.e., choosing a local food related issue that can be addressed through invitations to dialogue or design action projects in the local community, e.g. food insecurity and NGO gleaning partnerships pairing schools with farmers (i.e. gleaning is an arrangement such as helping farmers harvest remaining crop and splitting it three ways with equal portions going to farmer, food bank, and school- or sent home with participating students). ● Learning that is interdisciplinary [e.g. coordinating with other subject teachers and classes to design cooperative initiatives related to curriculum outcomes in multiple subjects]. ● Learning experiences that are tailored to the local audience [e.g. audience can mean those who classroom learning is intended to support in the near family, school or wider community through a consideration of the various levels of impact before choosing ways of acting]. ● Learning that is grounded in and supports the development of a love for one’s 48 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED place [e.g. embracing lifeworld and narrative knowing through reflection, and sharing of stories that stir emotion and reverence, e.g. engaging with ‘good’ food smells, anticipating seasonal changes through familial or school routines related to food, e.g., the winter carnival pancake breakfast or chopping local vegetables for Healthy Snack on Wednesdays]. ● Local learning that serves as the foundation for understanding and participating appropriately in regional and global issues [e.g. critical inquiry into PEI genetically modified salmon, industrial agriculture and water systems]. ● Place-based education programs that are integral to achieving other institutional goals [e.g. healthy lunches, academic achievement through a more engaged student population or improved retention; global citizenship; cost and waste reduction]. (“Promise of Place”, n.d., Principles of successful place-based education) Ecological Perspective and Sense of Place An ecological perspective is directly supported by a strong sense of place, especially when it is considered as a “multidimensional array” (Ardoin, 2006, p.112). Ardoin’s (2006) interdisciplinary study of sense of place literature argues for an integrated, holistic view of place in environmental education. She believes we should regard sense of place as consisting not only of the biophysical environment (e.g. plants, trees, animals, open spaces, buildings, etc.), but also “the personal/psychological element; the social and cultural context; and the political economic milieu” (Ardoin, 2006, p. 114). She explains how the biophysical environment is the essential basic context for all other relationships to place to occur. The biophysical environment can 49 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED inspire awe, mystery, and conjures deep reactions from the senses, sometimes described as “spirit of place” (Ardoin, 2006, p.115). The personal/psychological element of sense of place can include the development of personal identity, sense of self, and the potential for feelings of dependence on a place and thus a deeper attachment which bridges with the sociocultural elements of place (Ardoin, 2006). Through our experiences including social interactions and practices, within culturally based values and beliefs we make meaning in relation to places. This element of sense of place relates to the type of attachment to place that would lead to social and political involvement in the preservation of the physical and social aspects of places that matter most to us (Ardoin, 2006). Ardoin (2006) suggests we take an interdisciplinary approach to place-based education. She writes: [P]lace-based education programs may be most effective when they recognize the diversity of place attachments that exist and cumulate from a range of relationships with the landscape, including familial, spiritual, and economic, among others... Place-based education should strive to reach a range of community members through building on individual, unique perspectives, rather than privileging only a rooted sense of place. A multidimensional model embraces people whose sense of place is complex and built on an array of factors, rather than only focusing on ancestral histories. (Ardoin, 2006, p.120) Implications for my current practice in home economics. Place-based educational approaches are not often present in my pedagogy, however I do find ways of shifting the context of learning by sourcing more local foods and weaving the stories of producers into my lessons. I am always surprised by the range of responses to the question, “What grows in PEI?” For some students, the list is short, or unrealistic. For others, they have first-hand knowledge and usually a story to tell. What is most surprising are the ways 50 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED the phenomenon of viewing the producers telling their stories, while at the same moment handling or tasting the food seems to invite deeper observations, deeper questions, and more engagement. Most interesting of all are the times when students remind me of past classes, asking questions like, “Remember that huge zucchini we used for the muffins last year?” Or, “Are these Alyssa’s berries?” These new stories about shared experiences in home economics class could become more frequent, I feel, and contribute more to a sense of place and interconnectedness if I incorporated a more place-based approach in the Foods program. What are students missing when it comes to sense of place? The curriculum and suggested activities I use to design Foods lessons do not reflect the specific goal of developing a strong sense of place. There is a strong emphasis on exploring the science and technology of food production and developing technical skills. However changes to the setting and approach for learning can reflect multidimensional place-based principles that include explicit and implicit ways of learning prescribed curriculum. Students need to situate themselves in the topics of learning and to see the impact their lives and actions make on their local communities and global ones, otherwise they are missing the opportunity to develop a more complex sense of place. The multidimensional array (Ardoin, 2006) of factors that make up a person’s sense of place can be honoured by being given opportunities to tell their own stories of lifeworld experiences in relation to what they are learning and experiencing. There are possibilities in this for learning from an Indigenous perspective as well (Castagno & Brayboy, 2008). Honouring personal stories contributes knowledge as well as emotion to the social fabric of learning together in school. Opportunities to understand and experience our interconnectedness with the web of life 51 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED are absent from many schools, however, sharing stories about new personal experiences can lead to observations, questions and an appreciation for the multidimensionality of our relationships of dependence and impact in the places we inhabit, including the wider planet. Appreciation, care and responsibility for the stewardship of our places is limited. Without being in a place, hearing stories from classmates and getting to know what it is like, it can be more difficult to be motivated to care for it, to know what helps it to thrive or to notice the ways we may be negatively impacting it. Students can develop more complex relationships with the places they live leading to a stronger sense of place, all of which will contribute to an ecological perspective. Sense of Place as an Essential Component of an Ecological Perspective Through changes in social behaviours and value systems which no longer emphasize nor respect nature’s diversity, children and adults alike are ignoring the importance of developing relationships with nature, a sense of place and the understanding that we are part of nature, not separate from it (Selby, 2015). Selby (2015) explains the existence of “a second environmental crisis: the removal of children from the natural world” (p.34). It is Selby’s words that remind me of how I formed one of my deepest connections to nature, and one of my favourite pastimes: foraging for food. When I know conditions are right, I visit my favourite wild and semi-wild spots where the good things grow. I tread lightly, tend and care for the landscape to protect it and ensure continued bounty in future visits. This knowledge, this love, this care and stewardship in these places form a part of my identity and brings meaning to my life by connecting me to the land. In my youth, I took for granted the bounty of the farmyard and the close relationships I had with all that was growing there. I knew the thrill of eating warm strawberries from the patch, 52 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED tasting the sweet, white tips of clover blossoms in the field, and of locating the next ripe apple, plum, or cherry on the out-of-reach branches and devising clever methods of retrieving the delicious prize. These foods were savoured, on the spot; many times a rub on the shirtsleeves, or pants was the only precursor to the first bite. The seasons, systems and varying conditions for growing were observed and experienced first-hand, and from that, a deeper knowledge and sense of place was developed. These were learning experiences of a different kind, ones that researchers (Ardoin, 2006) believe can contribute to a lifelong sense of responsibility and stewardship of our planet for future generations of humans and non-humans. Developing a sense of place and interconnectedness is essential to caring for and choosing to protect one’s home, the Earth. These are the integral qualities of an ecological perspective, as outlined in Chapter Two. It is my dream to instil in my children the same love, interest, knowledge and concern for the Earth I developed as a child by foraging together with them. As a home economics teacher on agricultural Prince Edward Island, I find myself also engaging with students, who share stories about their similar experiences including farming and gardening. For my children, the urge to feel connected to their home, to know the Earth and all its mysterious forms of life is most evident in the garden. Getting dirty, using our bodies to interact with the soil, plants, insects, and animals invites learning to flood the senses, awakening the imagination and engender new lifeworld stories which strengthen their identities and sense of place in the wider web of life. My oldest son loves to hear the story of how, at four years old, he grew his first, tiny, watermelon from a seed he had saved one day at lunch. The youngest laughs about the time he discovered that blue jays like eating his favourite mulberries, and how, after crying and shouting in protest, he changed his mind and decided there was enough for them all to 53 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED share. In essence, developing a sense of place and interconnectedness with the Earth is most encouraged when we are allowed to engage through the “cognitive (head), emotional (heart), active (hands), and connectional (spiritual)” (Stone, 2009, p. 154) and thus develop social, emotional and ecological intelligences (Goleman et al., 2010). Conclusion What is the point of an ecological perspective in home economics? The simple answer is we want students to care about the world they call ‘home’ and to protect it. At the middle school level, teachers like me are concerned with encouraging students to care about what they are learning by creating more meaningful lessons in the hopes that this might increase the transferability of students learning to new situations and ultimately impact their actions in real life. However, the messages embedded in lessons and curriculum guides about ‘the world they call home’ differ from this perspective. The lessons about the world they are encouraged to ‘protect’ are often explored from within the systems and knowledge of unending growth and development that have caused ecological disruptions through loss of ecological diversity beyond the capacity of Earth’s ecosystems to correct it- phenomena otherwise known as ecological crises. When home economics teachers choose to incorporate sense of place in their lessons, they can make things better for students by recognizing the uniqueness of each individual’s connections with place through narrative and lifeworld ways of knowing. In this chapter I have shown that the place-based educational approach provides many opportunities for the development of an ecological perspective through meaningful contexts, discovering our interconnectedness with nature, and feeling the genuine urge to care for and protect our places, 54 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED locally and globally. As Orr tells us, “if education everywhere does not explicitly promote the well-being of places, then what is education for?” (as cited in Gruenewald, 2003, p.8). In this chapter I have used a critical incident, a story, to argue for the importance of one aspect of developing an ecological perspective, developing a sense of place. The importance of place-making to Islanders is illustrated in Salvo’s (2008) fascinating cross-cultural study of spiritual and sustainable farming and fishing practices in Prince Edward Island and Cyprus. She notes, “Stories play an essential role in the creation of a sense of place. Although it is often something that islanders are unconscious of, and therefore do not always articulate, their sense of place is fundamental to how they relate to their natural and social environment” (Salvo, 2008, p.113). 55 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED CHAPTER 5 DISCOVERING THE NATURE OF ECOLOGICAL TOPICS IN HOME ECONOMICS The critical incidents in this chapter occurred when I tried to introduce ecological questions in my teaching. They incident raised the question “in what way should controversial issues related to ecology be taught?” Identifying and Describing Two Critical Incidents One morning, I decided I would casually bring up the news report of pesticides in the water in class. I wasn’t sure how to go about it, because it seemed like such negative news, but I felt I was one among them, so it might be all right to discuss it. When the students arrived, I hesitated. I began to doubt my place in exploring this issue and bringing up something so personal to the students. Would it be unethical of me to explore the topic with the knowledge that it may have already impacted their personal physical health? How could the information potentially affect their emotional well-being? Realizing I had not thought enough about the right approach to discussing the issue, I stayed silent. In mulling over how- or whether- to address the story, I realized just how controversial it was. Another time, I decided to show a film called Island Green (McNeill & Clarkes, 2013). The film highlights the experiences of Island organic farmers in their quest to learn and to share their knowledge about the benefits and realities of organic farming on PEI. I chose the film because I wanted to expose my students to another perspective on agricultural systems in PEI than the industrial model that uses chemical fertilizers and pesticides that is so prevalent on the island. On the first day, I showed it to a class of grade seven students. I thought that students were so used to seeing commercial industrial farming practices highlighted in our province that it 56 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED would be good to open their eyes to the realities of a different, organic, approach. I handed out slips of paper to students to write comments, questions, or ideas they had about the film as they watched it. I also asked them to think about the questions: what is the filmmaker’s message to her audience? Do you agree? Disagree? Why? I knew the film highlighted a single perspective on the topic of farming in PEI: that PEI farmers should consider transitioning towards organic farming. Although opposing points of view were contrasted in the film with a historical perspective, e.g., “How did we get here?”, the film did not feature any voices from commercial family farmers. One account from the film discussed how commercial farmers were now more open to dialoguing with peers about organic farming than in the past. During our discussion after the film, one student who usually would not be the first to respond, quietly but confidently challenged the filmmaker’s message. He said: “Not all farming can be organic,” and went on, “Just because it’s organic doesn’t mean that it is better.” “People need money, and regular farming makes it easier to do”. I observed that the body language of this student was tense and showed some frustration. He seemed offended. I wondered if he thought that by showing this film, I was suggesting the class should think organic farming is better than other commercial farming. I thought I had taken an unbiased approach, but began to doubt my choices. I asked him and the class to think about what industrial farming made easier. They suggested: it takes less time and less work to produce a crop, farmers did not need to hire as many people, more money could be made, faster. It was clear to me that students had grasped these points, in part, through the messages in the film, and had focused on the challenges and choices made in organic farming in contrast to industrial, commercial farming. The class seemed convinced “regular” farming was, indeed, better. When the class was over, I was so upset that the lesson might have had an unintended negative impact on some students who farm, and 57 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED disappointed that they and others did not seem to notice any benefit from organic farming. After some reflection, I realized that I was not adequately equipped to explore the topic of PEI farming properly. I feared that this topic was too controversial. I resolved to take another look at my approach, to be careful before resuming the lesson. The Back Story – Background to the Incident I have been teaching in rural and semi-rural schools in PEI for ten years. I enjoy my scenic drive to work filled with farms and fields, woods, waterways and bridges. I follow the changes in the seasons, observing the stages of agricultural practice in action in the fields. One of my former teaching assignments was at a school located across from a large farmed field. I recall being surprised the first time I saw the farmer spraying something on the field during the morning; at the same time teachers and students were scheduled to arrive. Pesticides (including herbicides) are sprayed on crops or the soil in fields to prevent or treat diseases in the plants or insects that could damage the crops. Pesticides are considered to be toxic to humans and local laws are in place to ensure agricultural practices limit the exposure of pesticides to the local population according to guidelines. On a number of occasions, I could smell the scent of a chemical in the air as I walked into the school and waited for the students to arrive. I presumed it was pesticide drifting from the sprayer and was concerned that the spray in the air would be considered a toxic level of exposure to the school children and me. I often thought I would articulate my concerns to the principal, however, being a new teacher at the school and on a temporary teaching contract I chose not to. I was worried of offending local resident teachers and students, related to the farmer, who was likely just trying to earn a livelihood, a key part of which would be ensuring a productive crop 58 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED for sale by using pesticides. I worried that challenging the daytime use of pesticides on the nearby field might limit my own chances of being hired to teach in that community again the following year. Six years later, I was teaching at a different school and on my way to work when I heard a local news report announcing government water test results. They revealed pesticides had been detected 35 times over a 10-year period at my former school, the one that I suspected was exposed to pesticides during my time there. The news story reported that the levels of each of the six chemicals detected in the school drinking water were below national health guidelines. This issue brought a renewed sense of injustice for me, and a moral sense that I had to take action to challenge an unfair imbalance of power, especially when the provincial government stated that, despite pesticides detected in eleven schools, and three seniors’ homes, the water is ‘healthy’ (CBC, 2014b). I was frustrated on so many levels: that the health of these school children, my colleagues and I was not being protected from unnecessary harm such as pesticide exposure; that our provincial government unnecessarily allows these agricultural practices (spraying synthetic pesticides) to continue when other forms of agriculture such as organic farming are providing a viable approach to farming, just as they once had before synthetic pesticides came into use on PEI in the 1960s; that narrow considerations of effects of these pesticides and their cumulative effects on human health were being accepted without question. Part of my intense reaction came from knowing that same morning I would greet the faces and call the names of former students of the school that had the 35 detections of pesticides in the water. Now in Grade 7 at the middle school where I teach, I had a close connection with them, often sharing stories of what is happening back in their community and our days together at their former elementary school. 59 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED Reflecting on these Critical Incidents This critical incident highlights a problem: how should the controversial nature of topics that might be covered in developing in students an ecological perspective be addressed in the classroom. Through my studies in HEE2 I have become more aware of the ways what we do in our classes can have a lasting positive and negative impact locally and globally. I have worried about whether students will see their daily living as contributing to a culture of care for life in their homes and community and the world. I am concerned that as a home economics professional I am not fostering the development of critical and ecological perspectives enough to ensure students’ thoughts and actions are based in care for all living systems. A critical perspective is something I value and have been encouraged to develop in my students through our study of global education in HEE2. It is a perspective that will ensure my students and I are prepared to examine our own taken-for-granted assumptions about everyday life and the ways the systems we live in are meeting our expectations for socially and ecologically just living. The news report about the contaminated school water made me realize that discussing a local issue could be too controversial, unethical, or overwhelming if the students were too personally connected to it. In the words of Puk and Behm (2003), “[we] must be ever vigilant of the emotional impact that stories about the suffering environment can have on developing minds. This curricula should be age- and maturity-sensitive” (p.229). However, I recognized I had a strong interest in finding ways to encourage students to think critically about our food system, our role in it and the potential for exploring topics related to local agricultural practices. I knew I would need to be mindful that my pedagogical approach and choice of curriculum serve to 60 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED inform, and invite inquiry into the topic of our PEI food systems and hopefully inspire some form of action for change, rather than bombard students with local and global issues, causing them to suffer what Puk and Behm (2003) call, “ecophobia”; “when too much responsibility for global problems is introduced at too early an age” (p. 229). Commercial industrial farming is the prominent method of agriculture in PEI. In particular, potato crops have seen the most intensive industrial farm practices that have been detrimental to the health of local ecosystems, and potentially, human health. For example there have been multiple fish kills (or better stated, river kills) in PEI streams and rivers due to chemical runoff from agricultural fields (CBC, 2014a). The Canadian Asthma Society confirms that pesticide exposure early in life is a direct contributing factor to the development of asthma later in life (Asthma Society of Canada, n.d.). The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment also advocates for better protection for children through the careful management of contaminants in their near environment (“Canadian”, 2000). Shott (2012) has identified a culture of cognitive dissonance in PEI as contributing to a slow response by government to change policies and laws that continue to support or ignore this issue. This has led some people living on PEI to push for it to become an organic island. My interest in this film stemmed from lessons I was preparing for my home economics classes. The PEI intermediate level home economics curriculum guide for the Foods module, states, “Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the history and evolution of food technology and of its social and cultural implications” (Prince, 2002, p.28). I immediately had the thought of exploring the range of farming practices that exist in PEI with my students. However, when I read the suggested content, it offered a single perspective on farming which I believe had the potential to foster a relationship of human dominance over 61 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED nature, instead of an ecological perspective that humans are a part of nature and thus our relationship is interdependent. The guide suggested students come to know that: “Through genetic engineering, scientists have improved food production, for example a disease resistant potato” and “Bio-related technologies have changed farming. They have allowed the farmer to produce more food per acre than at any other time in history” (Prince, 2002, p.28). I felt these examples described the necessities of genetic engineering for reducing diseases in plants and the unquestioned benefits of scientific advances that increase the capability of producing more food- without asking at what cost. In the absence of opposing perspectives, these examples could perpetuate unquestioned acceptance of industrial farming practices known to be damaging to local, PEI ecosystems and public health. The worldview inherent in the official curriculum for PEI home economics did not reflect an ecological perspective. The metaphor “world as our home” (Vaines, 1994) interconnectedness, critical thinking and social responsibility were missing and thus the curriculum remained in conflict with what is considered as contemporary home economics (Smith & de Zwart, 2010). Both of these critical incidents were classroom examples that took me by surprise. The second incident describes my attempt at a lesson on environmental issues related to food systems in PEI and demonstrates again that there is potential for controversy in most topics when you are looking to develop an ecological perspective. Analysis: The Nature of Ecological Topics in Home Economics Education In my analysis of this critical incident, I realized it occurred the way it did for some key reasons: I didn’t tell my students my overall plan to span several classes focusing on the 62 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED different PEI agricultural practices (and perspectives). I did not attempt to scaffold learning through introductory activities to frame the lesson content as a whole. I did not know the background perspectives of the students, e.g. how many are farmers? What do they already know? What do they already think or believe? Students were not involved at all in planning what we should explore, nor the ways we could explore the topic. Instead, I jumped into the topic of organic farming and asked for their reactions. I needed to better articulate my aim: to explore many perspectives on farming in PEI for the purpose of meeting curriculum outcomes as well as developing an ecological perspective, and have them actively participate in planning for reaching those learning goals. I feel the lone student was not only reacting to content but to pedagogy. It became clear that “Students react to teaching practice and not teaching intent” (Gravett, 2004, p. 263). I believe that unconsciously I wanted students to see the film without much preparation because I thought it would open up their eyes to a new way of thinking about how food is produced – and then choose it, like an advertisement. This could be considered a form of indoctrination. My student was right, the lesson was biased and I wasn’t admitting it. Teachers need to remove bias from lesson preparation, but should recognize their own biases, be up front about them, and be prepared to articulate it well to students at an appropriate point in learning. Another important lesson for me was the need for including multiple perspectives within the same class. Unfortunately, my approach to exploring content about farming practices in PEI did not balance perspectives. I showed the film Island Green about organic farming in PEI and the possibility of PEI as an organic island (farming as living in harmony with ecosystems/providing for future generations of life). I realized I could have presented the opposite perspective (farming as productive positive economic activity/providing for future 63 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED generations of family farm members and consumers) equally in the same lesson. The voices of industrial farmers, food processors, retailers, consumers, etc. were missing and this could have led some students to feel defensive or even alienated. Lesson content can cause emotional reactions and be(come) controversial. This experience made me realize how hard it could be to discuss a local ecological issue when there were so many perspectives, and personal, social, economic and political interests at stake. The teacher’s pedagogical comfort level plays a large part in the success of lessons. Even when a topic doesn’t seem like it is controversial, it can be, so teachers need to think and plan ahead for this phenomenon. My analysis of this incident highlighted my naive assumption that students didn’t already know anything about lesson content. My analysis of this incident highlighted how personal the film could be for students. I had assumed that students aren’t passionate about learning. In contrast, the critical incident showed me that students can be passionate about learning, especially when their beliefs are being challenged. Asking students to create, contribute or suggest content for lessons, including their own lifeworld stories, may alleviate tensions when what is known by the student is being challenged and new understandings and perspectives are being formed. Connecting with Theory: Transformative Learning and Critical Thinking In exposing students to different perspectives, students’ ideas about issues can change even when the topics are emotionally-charged. First you have to understand what incorporating controversial topics into home economics lessons might mean, I felt I needed to know whether students in grades seven, eight, and nine are developmentally ready to critically think about controversial issues. If students’ beliefs are being challenged, what does the literature on 64 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED transformative learning say about this age group? And, what is it like for other teachers to teach with controversial issues? My students are affected by having these issues brought to their attention in class and through the ways the issue is framed and presented. The ways they are challenged to critically think about the issue will affect some students more personally and potentially more emotionally than others if they perceive that their core values and beliefs are being challenged. This experience could potentially become too unsettling for students to handle on their own. However, if controversial issues are approached in the right ways, and experienced in a safe and caring setting, becoming emotional may not be harmful but rather a shift in beliefs may result. This is transformative learning, a phenomenon described in the literature as “a process by which learning may result in changes of one’s normative ideologies and it is when (and if) learning reaches this point that it is transformative” (Kerton & Sinclair, 2010, p. 402). Long held beliefs are challenged and replaced with new beliefs considered to be more compatible with new knowledge. Transformative learning most often occurs “when people consciously try to learn from the experiences of their everyday life through individual or group reflection and dialogue” (Kerton & Sinclair, 2010, p.403). Kerton and Sinclair (2010) examined the potential for transformative learning to occur in adults from the Canadian Atlantic provinces (including PEI) as a result of purchasing local organic food. They state: “Reflecting on the food system may not seem like a classically disorienting situation, however being faced with the idea that our life’s sustenance is unsustainable and is causing harm can have a major impact on normative ideologies” (Kerton & Sinclair, 2010, p.114). 65 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED My research has led me to seek a better understanding of transformative learning, seeing it as a necessary component of fostering the development of critical and ecological perspectives in home economics in part by bringing controversial issues to the forefront of classroom discussion. Literature relating to transformative learning for children, identified as such, was difficult to find. However, an article by Mezirow outlined the differences between adult, child and adolescent transformative learning: [A]dults learn to be critically reflective and to participate in rational discourse in ways that are different from the ways children learn. I argue that children must learn the rules of society before they can raise questions about the principles upon which the rules are predicated. Adolescents become able to identify and critique principles as the result of acquiring formal operations. (Mezirow, 1992, p. 250) Mezirow (1992) does not suggest outright that adolescents are as developmentally capable of responding to transformative pedagogy as adults. I however realized that I needed to better understand the current educational perspectives on developmental attributes that would signify students are ready to participate in critical analysis of controversial issues and have their beliefs challenged. Adolescents, roughly between the ages of 11 and 18, are generally understood as having the capability of the formal operational thought that Mezirow (1992) had referred to. Formal operations refer to “the ability to think in an abstract manner, the ability to combine and classify items in a more sophisticated way, and the capacity for higher-order reasoning” (McLeod, 2010, np). What is missing though is a reference to the ways social understanding and moral development for this age group should be considered before venturing into transformative pedagogy. 66 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED In my practice I have experienced the ways “issues and questions related to food are often also moral questions” (Smith, 2009c). Thus, moral questions have a place in home economics lessons. As Smith (2009c) suggests, “students need some way to test the adequacy of their decisions or choice. They would need to be initiated in moral reasoning since there are consequences for other people” (p.13). For teachers, understanding how to support middle school students’ early adolescent moral development may require additional professional learning about how to engage them in discussions about social and moral issues. From my reading of McDevitt and Ormrod (2004) on early adolescent development and Mezirow’s (1992) explanation of the adolescent approach to transformative learning, it seems what we are asking students to do in home economics education intended to develop their moral reasoning is have them challenge their own knowledge of society’s conventions concerning right and wrong, known as “conventional morality” (following well established rules and norms) (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004, p.441). Critical inquiry into social and environmental issues involving food would challenge students to “develop their own abstract principles to define what actions are right and wrong”, known as “postconventional morality” (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004, p.441). This form of morality is seen in content from other subject disciplines in middle school, which incorporate abstract concepts such as human rights related to “life, liberty, and justice” (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004, p.441). I believe the teacher’s role would specifically include assessing the levels of moral reasoning held by students in a particular class or grouping in a pre-learning activity and then carefully reflecting on and deciding the best ways to challenge their moral reasoning gradually with slightly more advanced reasoning (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004). 67 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED Implications for home economics curriculum and pedagogy. Even when at first it doesn’t seem like it, adapting an ecological perspective can be controversial. But that does not make the issues being addressed less important. These issues can help students develop critical thinking skills – and the ability to make up their own minds using moral reasoning. Firsthand experience with critical analysis of controversial issues is one way of developing a critical perspective and if the content is based on an ecological issue an ecological perspective will be developed in the process as well. Clarke (2000) proposes an inquiry approach to teaching controversial issues that supports a teacher’s desire to incorporate controversial issues as a form of global education in an educationally defensible way while offering students a “way of making sense of a complex and confusing world” (p.30). Clarke’s (2000) “de-mystification strategy” is a framework of questions; “a method of analyzing an issue, considering the merits of an argument and forming an opinion on the basis of critical analysis” (p.30). It is “ an essentially inductive process [that is] student centred, and the teacher’s role is primarily that of a monitor or resource person” (p.30). In my opinion, the meaning of “monitoring” and providing access to “resources” would need to be considered carefully to ensure teachers’ biases have minimum impact. Clarke’s (2000) framework is based on four steps or elements providing sets of questions to encourage taking multiple perspectives and to prepare students to make a sound judgement about the controversial issue. The first step helps students identify the key question at the heart of a controversial issue by asking “What is the issue about?” (p.30). There are three categories for categorizing issues, they include: value issues, information (truth) issues, or concept issues. This is meant to allow students to overcome the complexity of the issue and to analyze it without becoming emotionally involved or distracted by personal views. Clarke (2000) tells us most 68 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED controversial issues are value issues, identified by asking “what should be?” and “what is best?”. In this chapter, I have illustrated how organic versus industrial farming, and water being contaminated by agricultural pesticides are examples of many ecological topics are controversial. I have identified these both as value issues which could potentially become topics in my classes. Therefore, I will focus mainly on this type of issue in Clarke’s examples. In step two students must analyze the content of the arguments presented by the various positions on the issue and judge the merit of these arguments based on the sort of controversial issue it is. For home economics the criteria for this judgement could be based on moral criteria, with concern for how all people (and I would add, interrelated living systems) will be affected. The other is a prudential criterion, which considers how “I” or “my group” will be affected (Clarke, 2000). This is followed up with universal questions such as “How would you like that done to you? What if everybody did that? Are there any situations where you would feel different or disagree with this value?”(p.31). It is this step in the de-mystification process that gives students opportunity to make judgements especially for issues that could outline problems with long-held beliefs or cultural practices (Clarke, 2000, p.31). In step three, the process of critical examination of the underlying assumptions in the arguments is where I can see students beginning to develop the postconventional morality described by McDevitt and Ormrod (2004). Students must determine the validity of the position based on an abstract consideration of principles such as whether human rights are being ignored. It is also important to consider whose voice is behind each position and what is their interest in the argument? Are they affected directly by the argument or uninvolved and objective to some extent? 69 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED The fourth and final step in the process is to have students judge the quality of the information they have received and how it is being manipulated. What is the reason for this person to hold this position on a particular issue? The degree to which the parties involved are acting in self-interest and use information only to support that self-interest could affect the legitimacy of a position. On the other hand, a strongly supported position or one with strong moral reasons could add credibility to an argument. (Clarke, 2000, p.31) This last point might be relevant for teachers as they seek to bring particular controversial issues into a lesson. They need to reflect on their reasons for choosing it. Does their intent reflect a strong moral reason or self-interest? I am considering this closely because I do have strong feelings about the issues I chose to present to my class that could impact my ability to be an effective moderator or resource provider for my students without reflecting my own biases. I can also use Clarke’s article to examine where my biases come from. What was the quality of the information that is fuelling my point of view? Clarke warns us to be concerned and remind students to be critical of the extent to which the media are involved in issues they are reporting. They have been capable of fuelling controversy through several methods of manipulating arguments, e.g. either-or tactic, irrelevant appeal, scapegoating, or polarized thinking. Controversial Issues in Developing Ecological Perspective in Home Economics The suggested ways of ‘examining’ controversial issues in home economics classes would support the development of critical and ecological perspectives and global perspectives of food literacy learners whom Smith (2009c) conceives as “ones who can make reasoned decisions and take defensible action given a depth of knowledge and the opportunity to experience various 70 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED perspectives on food” (p.12). She states that food literacy learners would be able to: - select and prepare food that maintains health, social and cultural connectedness, and supports the welfare and fair treatment of others and sustainability, - anticipate complexity, - understand systems (the food system and how it is part of the ecological system), - identify ideological oppression (e.g., the power of corporate capitalism), - distinguish fact from opinion (e.g., related to GMO’s, fish farms, factory farming, etc.); - recognize stereotypes and clichés, - recognize bias, emotional factors, propaganda and semantic slanting; - recognize different value orientations; - determine which information is relevant; recognize the adequacy of data; check consistency; - formulate appropriate questions; predict probable consequences; and identify unstated assumptions. (Smith, 2009c, p.12). In my study I realized how many of these abilities might also be fostered in home economics programming that incorporates the ideal of development of critical and ecological perspectives as educational goals. Smith (2010) also advocates for adopting the educational goal of developing a global perspective in students who might then be considered citizen consumers, one “who makes choices based on ethical, social, economic, and ecological considerations [and] actively contributes to the maintenance of just and sustainable development by caring and acting responsibly on family, national and global levels” (n.p.). Global education is a widely accepted approach in home economics education 71 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED (McGregor, 1997; Smith, 1994, 2008). Smith (1992, 1994) proposes we focus on global education, and seek to develop a global perspective. She has used an approach called ‘lesson plan remodelling’ (Smith, 1994), a way of remodelling content and pedagogy/techniques during lesson planning to support a global perspective including improving capabilities for critical thinking. I found that a global perspective reflected many of the same characteristics I had considered essential to an ecological perspective and consider lesson plan remodelling as a potential tool for a strong pedagogical approach. However, I was able to highlight the need for an increased focus on contexts, and content that could develop a greater understanding of ecological principles. These ideals are overlapping, interrelated and complementary. Each in its own way serves to better inform home economics teachers such as myself who seek to “move from instrumental modes to reflective, transformative modes of practice” described by Vaines (Smith, 2009a, p. 16) and develop the confidence to “problematize consuming and consumption in ways that students may never have thought of before when they shop and maximize opportunities for critical inquiry into social issues related to consumption” (Smith, 2010, p.11). In particular, Smith (2010) emphasizes the need for such inquiry to highlight the effect of consumption on the environment and its connection to human suffering. When we are faced with controversial issues we can become more aware of the ways we are interconnected and thus directly impacted by them. By placing students’ lives in the context of a planetary ecosystem students can see themselves as elements of a food system, food cycles and food webs and thus they can begin to reconsider and care about the ways our cultural ways of thinking and acting are in cooperation with or in competition with the living systems we rely upon for survival. I believe that the 72 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED “culture of cognitive dissonance” in P.E.I. regarding our relationship with the land, air and water identified by Shott (2012) has made it even more difficult to transform our ways of thinking about these relationships. The controversial issue in this chapter highlights some relationships through which “cognitive dissonance” may be cracked open and deconstructed to consider: a) its social impact such as reconsidering commercial family farming traditions interconnected with b) economic impact, such as the history and effects of investments and monetary income in agriculture interconnected with c) the political impact, such as considering the source of pressure to increase and maintain particular types of jobs, interconnected with d) environmental impact such as recognizing the failure of ecological systems to remain flexible enough to handle intensive farming practices and locating the root of assumptions about the capability for ecosystems to return to “a healthy fluctuating state” (Capra, 2009, n.p.). I have identified several key ways for teachers to do so in a careful approach: • Providing a foundation of content • Attempt an unbiased, balanced approach through multiple perspectives • Think things through as a teacher (plan, prepare and consider worst case scenarios, asking what if?) • Recognize these are topics are controversial; therefore, explicit teaching about the moral imperative of discussing these issues may be necessary for students to navigate the process comfortably. • Ask students to do the talking 73 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED It is also important to consider the nature of a teacher’s comfort level in addressing potentially controversial issues. Tan and Pedretti’s (2010) study revealed that experienced teachers who have excellent rapport with their students are better able to accommodate and question challenging and opposing views in their classes, “[h]owever, this may not always be the case for more novice teachers or teachers who are uncomfortable with discussions that involve taking up value positions and/or advocacy”(p.70). The comfort level of the novice teacher (or one who is new to teaching with controversial topics) should increase in tandem with an increase in experience, knowledge of content, and understanding of ways issues will affect their particular students in the context of their learning. Smith (1992, 1994, 2008) has been a proponent of incorporating a global perspective in home economics since the nineties. Chapter Five of this paper focused on using ecological topics to considering everyday life within wider local and global contexts. Due to the potentially controversial nature of ecological topics, home economics teachers also need to make a specific effort to help students critically examine our relationships to those contexts. As with the example of the Island Green film about organic farming in PEI, I thought learning about local food, businesses, farmers and neighbours and bringing up issues related to sustainable farming practices would be a way to help students situate themselves in the local and global food system. They might become thoughtful about the myriad of agricultural fields in the local area and consider them as important sites where a reverence for nature and its bounty could reconnect them to the land, and care about its health and their own. Instead, this incident stood out for me because it made me doubt my ability to teach about local agriculture without knowing how to navigate the potentially controversial nature of the topic. Even so, I noticed controversial topics seemed to be engaging and that while many ecological topics are inherently controversial, 74 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED exploring them may be necessary for developing an ecological perspective. Teachers may empower students by helping them critically work though controversial ecological issues to know what to think and/or do about them. For example, I believe a discussion about the ways farming and our food system, including ground water in PEI, impacts individuals and how individuals are part of the food system will potentially cause students to have an emotional reaction, and maybe a shift in behaviours and attitudes that impact those around them. Incorporating controversial ecological issues in home economics education echoes several the capacities of food literacy and ecoliteracy, in particular the ability to think critically. For example, ecoliteracy “head (cognition)” capacities include being able to “assess the impacts and ethical effects of human technologies” (Stone, 2009, p.154) or, “envision the long term consequences of decisions”, such as, buying organic, versus non-organically produced foods (Stone, 2009, p.154). Food literacy abilities are centred around critical, ecological and global perspectives, assuring home economics teachers that exploring controversial ecological issues such as these are in concert with the mission of this field (Smith, 1992; 2009c). As I outlined earlier, Clark’s (2000) inquiry approach relies on teachers to act as guides, moderators, facilitators, while students do the talking, thinking, debating. As a result, students may gain the confidence and skill to contribute meaningfully in conversations with their families at home. I think it will lead them to critically think about their family’s views, gaging new or conflicting information. Overall this could be seen as a way to support them to be more adaptive to global issues felt locally such as climate issues, unstable markets and changing societal norms, than had we not discussed these issues in school. As a form of transformative learning, controversial issues may provide students with opportunities to get used to their new understandings, or even to feel like they have the power to lead or join efforts to make positive 75 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED changes for a more healthy and just ecosystem. Conclusion In this chapter I have shared two critical incidents from my own practice. These incidents helped me to realize that many of the topics that would be covered in order to develop in students an ecological perspective are controversial, so teachers must be prepared to deal with controversial issues in an ethically defensible manner. I learned this requires further research. I have learned that I needed to address two aspects of adopting an ecological perspective as an educational goal in order to research my own practice more effectively. The first, covered in Chapter Four, was not to assume that students do not have a sense of place, therefore to learn what they do know and foster a sense of place from that knowing. The second was the importance of teachers being able to anticipate and handle the potential controversy surrounding ecological topics in their classrooms. This is important that students are able to discuss, analyze and then make up their own minds on controversial issues; and be able to defend their position. In Chapter Six I summarize the points I have presented in this research, outlining what adopting the goal of developing an ecological perspective means for home economics education- in terms of both curriculum and pedagogical processes. I present my conclusions about its potential impact on future teaching and research, as well as my own personal reflections on what I have learned in the research process and next steps for my professional practice. 76 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED Chapter 6 Informing Practice through Reflections and Implications for Home Economics The food web is a complex and interrelated living system. Our current North American perceptions of our food system are based on a consumer culture of convenience that encourages us to treat it as a commodity “to be rationalized, manipulated and taken for granted” (Vaines, 1994, p. 61). This type of system encourages a progress oriented, business approach to agriculture and ignorance about the ecological impact of our food choices. This widely-held consumer perception surrounding food is concerning. A home economics teacher can challenge that perception by approaching studies from an ecological perspective. Vaines (1994) argues that it is important that we make the food web visible and recognize when our actions contribute to environmental degradation, “a degradation which both involves and threatens families” (p.62). As Vaines puts it, “[p]eople can come to feel distanced from living systems on which they depend for survival”(Vaines, 1994, p.61). She believes that when we choose to see ourselves as a part of the environmental degradation through an integration of knowing, seeing, being, and doing, we become more in tune with a deep ecology that guides action. As a home economics teacher, I can see the ways our Foods program has the potential to either condone ignorance of our ecological impact or to support students to develop the capability to choose more ecologically responsible roles for humans in the food web. The context of our learning, in agricultural PEI, makes the focus on food systems especially important for social, economic, and environmental reasons, not to mention, relevant and engaging for students. In this paper I have proposed that an ecological perspective in approaching these topics could transform the way students view their world. 77 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED Research Findings In this narrative self-study I have suggested that the foundation of ecology in home economics links it to the global movement for greater sustainability, and, in particular, alternative approaches to sustainable development in education (McGregor, 2012, 2013, 2015). This means that home economics classes are a valid way to support teachers and students in developing an ecological perspective for making and understanding decisions that support the flourishing of all living systems on Earth, our home. Drawing on the literature in the fields of home economics education, education for sustainable development, environmental education and ecological education, I have framed an ecological perspective for home economics education that includes: ● a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of all living systems in the web of life recognizing the intrinsic value of nature, including human and non-human beings; ● a readiness to perceive patterns and relationships as foundational to thought; ● a strong sense of place; ● the virtue of caring about the future of our planet; ● a propensity towards seeking wisdom through seeing, sensing, feeling, seeking many forms of knowledge and apply it to solve problems related to ecological sustainability; ● a critical consideration of moral, ethical, social, and ecological implications of our actions in order to choose a personal course of action placing sustainability of all life to the forefront as part of living a just and meaningful life; and, 78 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED ● seeing human and ecological health as interdependent. Through my analysis of critical incidents teaching home economics, I have shown that home economics education can potentially support the development of an ecological perspective in several ways. The first incident supported taking multidimensional approaches to place-based education, such as, learning in local outdoor contexts and incorporating narrative and lifeworld ways of knowing. These can be used as a means to engage students with prior experience a strong sense of place. A strong sense of place is integral to gaining essential knowledge of key ecological principles as understood in local contexts. In particular, the principle of interconnectedness can form the foundation to place-based explorations of food in the local community, for example as mapping local food sources for humans and sharing stories of personal experiences, considering their environmental, cultural, and social impact. Place-based approaches such as these have the potential to help students develop relationships consisting of trust, care, respect, dignity and empathy with teachers, fellow students and local others. Researchers believe that fostering these meaningful relationships is likely to lead students to love and desire to care for the wellbeing of their local natural and built places (Ardoin, 2006). My second critical incident described how this curriculum and pedagogy centered on the the lifeworld experiences of students and their social and emotional connections to local places, can cause students to react to ecological topics in home economics in unique and unexpected ways. This can be surprising and concerning for teachers if they are not prepared to navigate this phenomenon, as it was for me. I found that the teacher’s role of highlighting multiple and balanced perspectives in content and through pedagogy are important for developing an ethical approach to an ecological perspective. This is essential when students of home economics are 79 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED learning to make choices that consider the deeper impact of their actions in everyday life. Clarke’s (2000) critical inquiry approach to learning about controversial issues is a useful example for teachers to use in exploring the local agricultural food system. It can support teachers to navigate potentially controversial ecological topics that are important to local people and their places. In this way, students can be given opportunities to develop critical thinking capabilities and to have the potential to transform their understanding of how living systems are impacted by human food systems. Through my analysis of the literature supporting these suggested approaches for curriculum and pedagogy, it is clear that an ecological perspective should and can be one of the central goals for home economics education today. Reflections Choosing an ecological perspective as my research focus. My interest in researching ways to incorporate an ecological perspective in my practice began when I learned that the PEI Ministry of Education had joined with the rest of Canada to develop a response to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development final report(Council of Ministers of Education, 2014). PEI had committed to incorporating education for sustainable development (ESD) in all K-12 official curriculum as it was renewed (Council of Ministers of Education, 2014). This commitment opened up the possibility for teachers like myself to begin their professional development, forging a path towards critical and ecological perspectives that rightfully include “social, cultural, environmental, and economic perspective, and exploring how those factors are interrelated and interdependent” (Prince, 2012, p.20). The PEI Intermediate Home Economics Curriculum document (Prince, 2002) has not yet been renewed, however, new curriculum for secondary level courses suggests all teachers, including 80 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED those in career and technical education, (e.g. culinary arts, foods and nutrition, etc.), attempt to incorporate key themes of sustainable development, such as, poverty alleviation, human rights, health, environmental protection, and climate change in their subject areas through active, relevant, interdisciplinary learning into the education system (Prince, 2012, p.20). I had originally planned to analyze the current PEI intermediate home economics curriculum document for evidence of an ecological perspective using content analysis and critical discourse analysis research methods. I had hoped to make suggestions for curriculum and pedagogy, but did not feel comfortable doing so as a new home economics teacher. After careful consideration, I decided a narrative self-study of critical incidents in my teaching experience would offer the opportunity to deeply consider how to shift curriculum and pedagogy towards developing an ecological perspective and what the implications would be in the classroom and the lives of the students and teachers. Through, analysing critical incidents I was able to realize that my weak understanding of sense of place and just how controversial ecological issues can be, hurt my chances for effective implementation of ecological material. This inspired me to do further research. I think what I found can help other teachers adopt an ecological perspective. Next fall I begin my third year teaching home economics and will now have several new pedagogical understandings from which to start building a sustainable community within my program, my school, the local community and our PEI society. My narrative, self-study, reflective practice approach. Through the HEE2 program my growing awareness of issues in our food system and raising a family has inspired new beliefs about teaching as a political and moral act and I saw this research as a fascinating way to explore these beliefs and the topic of environmental 81 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED sustainability. Now, as a new home economics teacher and a student of transformative pedagogy, I have learned to use critical reflection to recognize the impact of key transformational moments and the value of a pedagogical approach that considers many ways of knowing (Vaines, 2004d) and learning from and among students as power equals. It is through the HEE2 program that I have come to discover the importance of transformative pedagogy in reshaping education for the good of our planetary home. Choosing narrative self-study was the most effective way for me to align my pedagogy, my ontological and epistemological positioning, my beliefs about education and the research paradigms for this paper using a reflective approach. Navigating the research process. I began this study by exploring Vaines’ (1994) concept of ecology as a unifying theme, and the eco-centred reflective practitioner (Vaines, 1990). Vaines (2004d) maps personal narrative, recognizing it as “micro-micro”, a close examination of the lifeworld of the self. In this self-study the narrative perspective has brought insight from the lifeworld perspective of my childhood, my parenthood, being a learner, teacher, student and researcher, and being me, someone who cares and who values wisdom. I have deeply felt the “struggling, feeling, experiencing [and eventual] becoming (from the soul)” (Vaines, 2004d) that is characteristic of the combining of personal and family narratives. I worked long days and nights, alone or with my critical friends (my husband and sister-in-law), figuring out this graduating paper. This has also meant saying goodbye to my husband and two sons more times than I can count as I headed back to do “my work”. Through these private inner, unknown and unknowable spheres, I have learned what being empowered by others truly means and I am humbled by the unconditional love of my family. 82 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED The narrative perspective has also encouraged knowing from the head through the critical interpretive analysis of my own pedagogy in an attempt to form rational, cognitive and linear thought; though, sometimes I felt quite irrational during the process. For me, the more I learned about the topic, the deeper I delved into surrounding theory and philosophy, the harder it was to write this paper. How can I include this and not that? Despite the incredible challenge in bringing this together, it’s been positively moving and rewarding. I’ve never in my life spent so much time thinking about something with such breadth and in such depth. Vaines (1997) tells us, “Choosing your mode of practice includes many processes. Three of these interrelated processes are central to your choosing: enlightening, empowering and emancipating” (Vaines, 1997, n.p.). For me, ‘enlightening’, like turning on the lights to see better, came in the form of HEE2, but also in the form of this paper. This process, HEE2 and this graduating paper, were also empowering in tandem because they have moved me from powerful learning and to powerful confidence building from within, a re-growing from my own roots, as Vaines (1994) might say, to the emancipating stage where I believe I am now on the cusp of taking action to pursue a more enhanced ecological perspective in my classroom. Though I realize these three are cyclical and multidirectional and not linear I feel motivated by the thought of taking informed action to better myself as a person and as a teacher/reflective practitioner where my beliefs, my research and my practice are aligned. The past and the future of my practice. When I began the process of exploring my research interest, I was a teacher who tried to present the broad topic of sustainability as an underlying theme in my Foods lessons and labs. I was never satisfied that my pedagogical approach was effective enough to spur students to transfer their learning to new contexts (i.e. outside the home economics classroom walls). HEE2 83 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED and researching for this graduating paper helped me to understand and support the need for educationally defensible approaches to curriculum and pedagogy that supports students to develop critical and ecological perspectives, to feel equipped to choose to a more ecologically sustainable path in a rapidly changing world. I feel better equipped in my role as a teacher and my role as a parent and citizen to locally support PEI agriculture, and a transition towards more ecologically sustainable farming. Shott (2012) suggests that a full transition to organic farming in PEI would increase the potential for a government mandate which would encourage all other supporting government services to chime in and do their part. This would mean primary and secondary education would include “educational resources in organic agriculture and its health benefits”(p.60). I have noticed this mandate is already becoming a reality provincially through curriculum renewal. It is my hope that through the transition toward more communicative and emancipatory action in PEI Home Economics curriculum that students will have more opportunity to develop critical and ecological perspectives, global perspectives, food literacy and ecoliteracy called for in the literature. I also hope that part of the process will include students experiencing and developing the spiritual (connectional) competencies of wonder and awe toward nature, revering the Earth, feeling kinship with the natural world and the desire to to invoke those feelings in others (Stone, 2009). Some resources and research I intend to use to help guide my pedagogical journey include Smith’s (1994) lesson plan remodelling; Smart by Nature, a guide to implementing ecoliteracy (Stone, 2009), Smith’s (2009c) framework for food literacy, Clarke’s (2000) controversial issues and research about narrative, place-based approaches. 84 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED Implications for the Future In this paper I chose to weave together relevant research about potential content and curriculum changes that could be made by teachers to support the development of ecological perspectives in home economics. A limitation of this research is that a full picture of the potential of an ecological perspective in home economics requires an in-depth study of the different sources and types of content and curriculum for it to be of most benefit to teachers and students in ecological contexts. Potential barriers to incorporating an ecological perspective or elements of environmental education need to be explored as well, something that Ruff (2013) has tried to examine. My research is a response to Ruff’s call for an increased awareness of the possibilities for incorporating topics such as these in home economics education. Another limitation of this research could be the lack of comparison with other examples of home economics teachers’ experiences with place-based educational approaches in Chapter Four. The topic of school gardens has already been explored in home economics literature (e.g., Ashman, 2013; Peterat, Mayer-Smith, Sinkinson, & Tsepa, 2004) and would be a logical path for further inquiry to support incorporating place-based educational opportunities into a Foods program. However, I chose not to focus solely on school gardens in this paper because I wished instead, to highlight the latest interdisciplinary research by Ardoin (2006) regarding the benefits of considering the multidimensionality of sense of place in place-based education. Perhaps this will inspire creativity in the ways home economics teachers seek possibilities for implementation in the context of their particular program. Another limitation could be the absence of a discussion about the role of assessment and 85 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED evaluation of students’ development of an ecological perspective. How can this be done? For example, Chapter Four could be supported by offering a catalogue of appropriate place-based education assessment and evaluation criteria, centering on the premise that “[a]s an educational program becomes more flexible and participatory, it reflects greater contextualization and is more responsive to local interests and needs” (Taylor, Duveskog, & Friis-Hansen, 2012, p.729). Recommendations This paper demonstrates a phenomenon whereby I have experienced elements of transformative pedagogy and transformative learning but was not aware or able to comprehend them as such. Being a part of the HEE2 program has brought a deeper awareness and a capability to perceive these elements that gives me hope I will someday feel prepared to bring a transformative, wholistic view (Vaines, 2004d) to everyday life and teaching and embrace the eco-centred philosophical orientation at the core of good reflective home economics practice (Vaines, 1990). I recommend that teachers take the time to explore Vaines’ writings on the eco-centred practitioner (Vaines, 1990; 1997b). The ecological paradigm she draws upon in her theorizing automatically establishes an ecological lens and framework from which to consider professional practice; however Vaines did not often address practical considerations for home economics teachers and education. I did not find a lot of research presenting ways home economics teachers can practically pursue a broader ecological perspective, however, some have focused on incorporating related elements such as critical perspectives, global perspectives and social justice in curriculum and pedagogy which would be useful for understanding these in more depth. I’d love to find more action research from other teachers who have tried to direct their lessons from an ecological 86 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED perspective. How did they do it? How did it go? What did they learn? Further research by home economics teachers exploring the realities of incorporating the suggested approaches to developing an ecological perspective would be helpful for others in the field. Whether the research were action research, narrative, self-study, or empirical analytical, it would provide further insight upon which new home economics curriculum or programming may be based. I am partial to the ways narrative self-study research can allow the reader to, in a sense, accompany the researcher through the depth of experience, thought, and findings in research, gaining wisdom for planning next steps in a teacher’s own pedagogy. Other possibilities for future study would include a curriculum content analysis and/or a critical discourse analysis of current curriculum guides, such as the PEI Intermediate Home Economics Curriculum document (Prince, 2002), to explore the ways an ecological perspective is or isn’t already present and recommendations for incorporating this perspective in two ways, 1) throughout the language of the document, and 2) as foundational to the aims of the outcomes and the teaching examples presented there. McGregor (2012) has identified a broader and crucial role for home economics education in supporting learners experiencing the stresses that come with coping with climate change, depleted resources, and unsustainability: Home economics has a lot to learn from alternative approaches to sustainable development, with sustainable contraction serving as a powerful example. One important lesson is that many people will resist accepting that humanity is facing many crises associated with unsustainability. Because this resistance may thwart people’s acceptance of the idea of contracting their activities so as to ensure restitution and restoration of 87 AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IN HOME ECONOMICS ED humanity and earth, home economists need to remain aware of, and plan for, this phenomenon. (McGregor, 2012, n.p.) Conclusion In final conclusion, this paper is an example of my commitment to the belief that home economics education should provide rich everyday life contexts which enable students to develop and apply critical thinking skills and an ecological perspective in order to consider their connection to problems facing a Canadian consumerist society. 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Nurturing an ecological perspective in PEI home economics education : a narrative self-study
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