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Date Permissions Signed

5-11-2020

Date of Award

Spring 2020

Document Type

Masters Field Project

Department or Program Affiliation

Huxley College of the Environment

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

Department

Environmental Studies

First Advisor

Stanger, Nicholas

Second Advisor

Darby, Kate J.

Abstract

Within this project I applied an ecofeminism framework to the tangible practices of place-based education regarding issues of social justice-based sustainability efforts. In order to recognize the impact of identity-based privileges, I explore how place-based education promotes the development of problem-solving skills, critical-thinking techniques and building meaningful relationships within a community. These goals were achieved by shifting the white settler colonist understanding of human conquest and subjugation over land and bodies from an anthropocentric lens to an androcentric lens. In other words, illuminating the oppressive role the patriarchy has continued to play in exploiting natural "resources" and the bodies of marginalized peoples for capitalistic gains. I presented and delivered relevant content to the Methow Valley Community, middle school students from The Bush School, and at the Dimensions of Political Ecology Conference at the University of Kentucky. From these experiences, I reflect on the importance of identity representation within the classroom, a positionality and personal biases analysis, and the power of an ethic of care as a teaching tool.

Type

Text

Keywords

place-based, education, environmental justice, privilege, settler colonialism, land education, decolonizing, ethic of care, critical thinking

Publisher

Western Washington University

OCLC Number

1156718938

Subject – LCSH

Ecofeminism; Environmental education; Environmental sciences--Study and teaching; Nature study; Outdoor education; Human ecology--Study and teaching

Format

application/pdf

Genre/Form

masters theses

Language

English

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

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