Category: Environmental Justice & Global Perspectives in Education

Picture this scenario that plays out in classrooms worldwide: a teacher shows students statistics about global water scarcity, explains conservation techniques, and assigns projects about water-saving methods. Students complete the work, demonstrate understanding on tests, and then return home to take long showers and leave faucets running while brushing their teeth. Despite learning about water…

Educational institutions worldwide are experiencing a fundamental shift that many administrators and teachers are only beginning to recognize. Students are arriving at school doors not just from traditional catchment areas, but from communities hundreds of miles away that have become uninhabitable due to flooding, drought, wildfires, or rising sea levels. These climate-displaced students bring unique…

Environmental science educators face a puzzling paradox that neuroscience research is beginning to illuminate. Students can memorize complex ecological concepts yet fail to develop genuine environmental stewardship behaviors. They pass standardized tests while remaining disconnected from natural systems around them. Meanwhile, emerging brain research reveals that learning through multiple cultural knowledge frameworks triggers entirely different…

Walk into any middle school classroom where students are studying environmental justice and you’ll likely witness a scene that educators find both inspiring and deeply troubling. Bright, engaged students examine maps showing cancer clusters in low-income communities, calculate air pollution levels in different neighborhoods, and discuss how toxic waste facilities cluster around communities of color.…