Reflecting on the ethical and ecological implications of anthropogenic climate change, education for a sustainable future is no longer advised, but necessary. In response to the increased use of technology in the classroom, we are trying to convey the importance of ways of knowing through the body: i.e. drawing, sketching, painting in relation to environmental stewardship. In this presentation, I build upon work done at the University of North Texas's Environmental Philosophy with Children (EPWC) program in which a teaching methodology that focuses on critical, creative, and caring thinking towards natural spaces. Using methods from schoolyard ecology and the traditional Philosophy for Children (P4C) method, I argue that this educational platform can be used to promote a sense of moral agency and Earth stewardship for students by introducing them to themes such as biodiversity, community, logical decision-making, and ecosystems. These themes are meant to appeal to a broader understanding of decolonial thinking, ecological relationships, philosophy in the public sphere, and the use of art in STEM education. This is shown through the students' sketchbooks, recorded feedback, and final projects. More specifically, qualitative data in the form of observational notes from the facilitators was used to supplement the results.
Results/Conclusions
Using observational notes and examples of student work from the Environmental Explorers (EE) and Shaping Our World for Tomorrow (SWT) summer camps taught in 2019, I show that this methodology can be used to engage students with nature and that further research is required to determine how this methodology can be used to positively affect human-nature relationships. The preliminary quantitative data in the form of notes and observations were collected over a duration of two weeks with two different age groups. Although there is a participant age difference, curriculum using the community of inquiry (P4C method), stewardship applications, and schoolyard ecology was implemented which created a wide study set to get a general understanding of how students of different ages may react to the material. This curriculum included art in the form of painting, sketching and storytelling of Indigenous histories. The observations show that some students reacted positively towards being outside and to learning about the environment, but further work is necessary. Considering these results, it is important to continue funding educational opportunities for students to learn about community, ecology, and conservation to incorporate the 'A' in STEM (a.k.a. STEAM) and encourage education for students outside the classroom.