READ THESE BOOKS:
1. Earth in Mind, by David Orr, Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics and Special Assistant to the President of Oberlin College.
Earth in Mind is a collection of essays from a decade of writing about sustainability education. It's a fantastic read guaranteed to make you look at your teaching in a different way! Here's the publisher's book description: In "Earth in Mind," noted environmental educator David W. Orr focuses not on problems in education, but on the problem "of" education. Much of what has gone wrong with the world, he argues, is the result of inadequate and misdirected education that: alienates us from life in the name of human domination; causes students to worry about how to make a living before they know who they are; overemphasizes success and careers; separates feeling from intellect and the practical from the theoretical; and deadens the sense of wonder for the created world. The crisis we face, Orr explains, is one of mind, perception, and values. It is, first and foremost, an educational challenge.
2. Blessed Unrest, by Paul Hawken, a New York Times Bestseller about the rise of the largest social movement in history and how it is restoring balance to a degraded planet. Read a NYTimes review here.
"When I am asked at colleges if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science that describes what is happening on earth today and aren't pessimistic, you don't have the correct data. If you meet the people in this unnamed movement and aren't optimistic, you haven't got a heart." (Paul Hawken, Blessed Unrest, p. 4)
Earth in Mind is a collection of essays from a decade of writing about sustainability education. It's a fantastic read guaranteed to make you look at your teaching in a different way! Here's the publisher's book description: In "Earth in Mind," noted environmental educator David W. Orr focuses not on problems in education, but on the problem "of" education. Much of what has gone wrong with the world, he argues, is the result of inadequate and misdirected education that: alienates us from life in the name of human domination; causes students to worry about how to make a living before they know who they are; overemphasizes success and careers; separates feeling from intellect and the practical from the theoretical; and deadens the sense of wonder for the created world. The crisis we face, Orr explains, is one of mind, perception, and values. It is, first and foremost, an educational challenge.
2. Blessed Unrest, by Paul Hawken, a New York Times Bestseller about the rise of the largest social movement in history and how it is restoring balance to a degraded planet. Read a NYTimes review here.
"When I am asked at colleges if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science that describes what is happening on earth today and aren't pessimistic, you don't have the correct data. If you meet the people in this unnamed movement and aren't optimistic, you haven't got a heart." (Paul Hawken, Blessed Unrest, p. 4)