An Educational Philosophy of Teaching from the Hearth (Heart + Earth): Overcoming the Failures of Environmental Education by Aesthetically Connecting with Nature I presented this at the New England Philosophy of Education Society in October 2013

1. An Educational Philosophy of T
eaching
from the Hearth (Heart + Earth)
Overcoming the Failures of Environmental Education by Aesthetically
Connecting with Nature
Kurt Love, Ph.D.
Central Connecticut Sate University
Annual Meeting of the
New England Philosophy of Education
October 19, 2013

2. Far Side
John Larson

3. The Problems: Environmentally
Melting of the ice caps which provides thermoregulation for the planet
Increase in globals water levels
Mass extinction
Increased severity of storms, droughts, floods
400 ppm of CO2, where 350 ppm is ideal maximum
100 billion tons of methane (CH4)(or 333 times the mass of all humans or 270 times the current
rate of emissions) trapped in the tundra/ice caps can escape if they melt -- 23 times stronger
than carbon dioxide (CO2). Methane release ended an ice age 635 million years ago.
Shutting down the jet stream and ocean currents, which control oceanic nutrition cycles

4. The Problems: Societally
Source: The Guardian

5. The Problems: Societally
Source: The Guardian

6. The Problems: Educationally
Public schools created so that rich people could have workers.
Environmental Education has failed.
Anti-sustainable textbooks, focus on consumers rather than producers, downplaying
global warming (Love, 2012)
Science creates an objectified, atomized nature that is without life.
Nature-nihilism, ego-centric, anthropocentric, humans over nature, “land management”

7. T
raditional Science Pedagogy
Earth/nature is here for inquiry-driven instruction
Isolate variables (decontextualize an objectified nature)
Form and function
Mechanization of nature
Decontextualized lab activities
Decontextualized contexts for learning and developing skills
Results:
Humans see themselves as disconnected from nature
& practice unsustainable living

8. Science’s Limited View of Sustainability
Far Side
John Larson
T
raditional environmental education based on the process of objectifying nature...
Continues the relationship of separation, human-domination, and mechanization
of nature
Often reduced to a behavior of closing loops or energy efficiency
Anthropocentrism of science will not call into question the anthropocentrism of
capitalism

9. A Society Separated from Nature
Modern religions (especially Christianity) colonize and dismiss earth-based
spiritualities in place for a human spiritual figure meant to be taken literally, led to the
removal of nature as an aesthetic context for joy, meaning, and fulfillment.
Colonization of indigenous peoples globally via capitalistic, technocentric mindsets
Industrial elitism = Egocentrism + Anthropocentrism + Capitalism (hyper-greed)
(See John Dewey)

10. European Colonizers &
American Indians
Clash of two peoples with two different
religious interactions with nature &
“ecological/technological selves”
Europeans often claimed that God favored
the death of the “savages.” Europeans
viewed nature as the source of evil.
European Colonizers: Christian, Nature for
profit, land ownership, enclosure, capitalist
mindset/values
American Indians: Nurturance, reciprocity,
sustainable mindset/values
Genocide: From up to 18 million in 1490’s to
190,000 in 1890, up to 200 million Indians
died in the Americas
Land Domination

11. European Colonizers &
West Africans
Clash of two peoples with two different
religious interactions with nature &
“ecological/technological selves”
Europeans built slave castles that included a
chapel, usually adjacent to the commander’s
quarters.
European Colonizers: Nature for profit, land
ownership, enclosure, capitalist mindset/
values
West Africans: Nurturance, reciprocity,
sustainable mindset/values
Slavery: About 12 million captured and/or
killed, 645,000 brought to the U.S., nearly 4
million slaves in the 1860 census
Domination for profit via capitalism

12. Christians &
Earth-Based Spiritualities
Movement out of nature and into
“Human” as separate from nature
Nature is where Satan resides
T
echnology is Godly & righteous
Christian missionaries with indigenous
peoples globally, views on nudity
Killing of at least tens of thousands of
“witches” from 1400s-1600s
Continued persecution of paganism,
neopaganism, and Wicca

13. Some Common Aesthetic Connections
Retaining of indigenous/pagan symbols in
modern religions and holidays
“Getaway” vacations to places focused on
the beauty of nature (Hawaii, Grand
Canyon, Caribbean Islands, Vermont, etc.)
Hiking, Skiing, Boating, Flying, Mountain
Climbing
Art
Equinoxes/Solstices
Autumn Fairs
Groundhog’s Day
Foodies & Farm-to-T
able Restaurants
“Leaf Peepers”
Nude beaches, resorts
Resurgence of earth-based religions,
neopaganism, individual spiritualities

14. A Pedagogy of Heart & Earth (Hearth)
T
raditional hearths are where there is a fireplace, but more and more, it is a special place
in one’s living space where one can display items of deep meaning and connection
Hearth is the symbolic connection representing place, emotion, and relationship.
The hearth in a home is often a semi-sacred space to display pictures of loved ones,
significant art work, etc.
Hearth is also often decorative in connection with the cycle of the year.
Where heat was used to protect against winter’s harsh conditions, as well as provide a
space for cooking (nourishment)

15. An Aesthetic Nature Leads to A
Mindset of Sustainability

16. An Aesthetic Nature Leads to a
Mindset of Sustainability
An aesthetic: A context that fulfills us, connects us to our higher selves
Sustainability: More than just the conservation of materials (“land
management” mindset); a balanced, holistic engagement with
interconnections of nature

17. An Aesthetic of Sustainability
At the Hearth:
A social, cultural, ecological, creative being in the context
of a social, cultural, ecological, and creative environment

18. Sustainable Farm School:
A Pedagogy of the Hearth

19. Sustainable Farm School:
A Pedagogy of the Hearth

20. Sustainable Farm School:
A Pedagogy of the Hearth

21. Sustainable Farm School:
A Pedagogy of the Hearth

22. Sustainable Farm School:
A Pedagogy of the Hearth

23. Sustainable Farm School:
A Pedagogy of the Hearth

24. Sustainable Farm School:
A Pedagogy of the Hearth
Little Sprouts (3-5)
Saplings (5-7)
Explorers (7-10)
Visionaries (10-13)
Solutionaries (13-18)
After School (13-18)

25. Sustainable Farm School:
A Pedagogy of the Hearth
Little Sprouts (3-5)
The Little Sprouts’ morning begins with farm
chores and creative free play. Circle time involves
music, verse, and movement. They learn to care
for the natural world by exploring local plants
and wildlife and working in their own garden. In
this stage, the curriculum is a gentle exposure to
understanding our relationships with each other
and the earth with authentic, natural contexts for
learning that enhance imaginations and build
excitement for learning. The instructor’s goals are
to provide a climate for exploration, cooperation,
and creativity. This is a 2.5 hour program that
meets up to 5 days/week.

26. Sustainable Farm School:
A Pedagogy of the Hearth
Saplings (5-7)
A supportive environment for the introduction of
academic concepts such as reading, writing, science,
math, and art often in the context of gardening and
farming when appropriate. Here, students begin to
investigate patterns and functions in nature, explore
introductory reading and writing skills, use mathematics
as a way to understand and observe patterns and
relationships, and use art as a medium for exploration of
and integration with these introductory academic skills.
The Saplings instructor’s goals are to provide a
supportive and curious environment with some selfguided, scaffolded learning experiences that lay a
strong foundation for independence and empowered
interdependence and a genuine excitement for lifelong
learning.

27. Sustainable Farm School:
A Pedagogy of the Hearth
Explorers (7-10)
Students explore the relationships of their content
area classes with relationships to the real world,
focusing especially on empowerment. Gardening and
farming experiences remain present, and act as an
important intellectual and aesthetic “anchor” for the
curriculum at this stage. To do so, instructors
continuously provide learning experiences that
involve students in connecting academic skills with
real world possibilities and first-hand experiences
that create a real sense of confidence with abilities
to work with others. The curriculum is deeply
contextualized to allow for meaningful work that has
a purpose because it is seen immediately in our
communities.

28. Sustainable Farm School:
A Pedagogy of the Hearth
Visionaries (10-13)
Support students in developing their visions of
communities of sustainability and wellness. As
students become more comfortable with critical
issues that affect sustainability and wellness
within these communities (local, as well as global),
they are encouraged to examine potential
solutions. Develop ever-growing visions of
healthy, happy communities that are working to
become more and more sustainable. There is an
increased focus on academic subjects within real
world, first-hand learning contexts such as farms,
gardens, and democratic experiences with local
municipalities.

29. Sustainable Farm School:
A Pedagogy of the Hearth
Solutionaries (13-18)
Students build their visions so that they can develop
skills and strategies for solutions that are sustainable,
peaceful, and democratic. Students intensify their work
in academics like literature, mathematics, art, history,
and science, but with a goal to use these as a base for
critical examinations and experimentations with creating
practices of sustainability in their own lives and working
with local and global communities. They learn public
speaking, debating, critical forms of analysis of social
and ecological issues, volunteering, and connecting with
public officials to share experiences and opinions.
Instructors in this program focus on developing deep
contexts for learning that are immediately connected to
the real world and provide first-hand experiences.

30. Courses at the Hearth
Sustainable Farm Economics
Geometry of the Natural World
Activism and Writing
T
rickster Myths and Other-World Fantasies
Norse Mythology
Greek Mythology
Permaculture
Herbology
Science, Nature, and Sustainability
Lifefoods Food Prep
Holistic Nutrition
Early Connecticut and American History
Civics
Permaculture
Critical Thinking and Moral Reasoning
Social Justice and Contemporary Oppression
Walking in Joy
Watercolor Painting
Art in Time

31. Sustainable Farm School:
A Pedagogy of the Hearth
After School (13-18)
A program offered to New Britain
High School Students through
C C S U ’s C o m m u n i t y C e n t r a l
(outreach) with a course developed
in partnership with the Sustainable
Farm School focusing on urban
gardening, sustainability, garden-totable cooking, and food security.

32. Sustainability Education
at the Hearth
Need for truly
transformational thinking
for public schooling
Sustainability as something
that we connect to
holistically
Sustainability education as
connected to aesthetics,
social justice, and ecojustice

33. References
Love, K. A. (2012). Politics and science textbooks: Behind the curtain of
"objectivity". In H. Hickman & B. Porfilio (Eds.), The new politics of the
textbook: Critical analysis in the core content areas (pp. 133-150).
Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense.
Love, K. A., Gill, K., King, A., & Love, K. L. (2013). A framework of Waldorf
philosophy and EcoJustice pedagogy at the Sustainable Farm School. In M.
Mueller & D. Tippens (Eds.), EcoJustice, citizen science, and youth activism:
Situated tensions for science education. New York, NY: Springer.
Saylan, C., & Blumstein, D. T. (2011). The failure of environmental education
(and how we can fix it). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Websites
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2013/
oct/11/climate-change-political-media-ipcc-coverage
http://www.uky.edu/KGS/coal/coal_mining.htm
Photos by Kimberly Gill & Kurt Love