Towards Ecopedagogy: A Fiction-Based Approach to the Teaching and Learning of the Environment
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| Title: | Towards Ecopedagogy: A Fiction-Based Approach to the Teaching and Learning of the Environment |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Shoaib, Muhammad, Mubarak, Sobia, Khan, Shahzeb |
| Source: | Bulletin of Education and Research. Dec 2020 42(3):147-158. |
| Availability: | Institute of Education and Research. University of the Punjab Quaid-i-Azam Campus, Lahore, 54590 Pakistan. e-mail: ber.ier@pu.edu.pk; Web site: http://pu.edu.pk/home/journal/32 |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 12 |
| Publication Date: | 2020 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Environmental Education, Fiction, Novels, Reading Materials, Foreign Countries, Neoliberalism, Social Systems, College Instruction, Instructional Materials |
| Geographic Terms: | Pakistan |
| ISSN: | 0555-7747 |
| Abstract: | The contemporary world faces imminent environmental crises perpetrated by industrial and technological advancements, lethal warfare and neoliberal modes of development. The ecological concerns are gaining great academic attention all over the world. In this pursuit, the role of literature especially literary fiction in making visible as well as offering solutions to the escalating environmental crises cannot be overemphasized. This article, by showcasing and analyzing Uzma Aslam Khan's novel "Thinner than Skin" (2012) as an ecopedagogical text, explores the implications for an education system that is mindful of the changing ecological conditions and offers the students a model for encountering and solving environmental issues afflicting the ecologically vibrant northern areas of Pakistan. The article advances an educational philosophy that, by employing literary models and by using classroom as a forum, strives to give birth to an environmental consciousness that can provoke in the students a better understanding of the issues plaguing the physical and the living environment, paving the way for environmental praxis. As college and university students study literary characters' interactions with the phenomena of nature, they become more aware of their own developing or deteriorating relationship with their physical and living environment. The paper examines how militarization and ecocidal development projects have disrupted the tranquil environment of northern Pakistan. It further explicates the rationale and repercussions of the modern neoliberal and capitalist economy by examining the following processes: material and ideological co-optation of the environment within the rhetoric of development, deforestation, erosion of grazing land, shrinking and contamination of water bodies, and the impact of tourism on environmental stability. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2021 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1291067 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | The contemporary world faces imminent environmental crises perpetrated by industrial and technological advancements, lethal warfare and neoliberal modes of development. The ecological concerns are gaining great academic attention all over the world. In this pursuit, the role of literature especially literary fiction in making visible as well as offering solutions to the escalating environmental crises cannot be overemphasized. This article, by showcasing and analyzing Uzma Aslam Khan's novel "Thinner than Skin" (2012) as an ecopedagogical text, explores the implications for an education system that is mindful of the changing ecological conditions and offers the students a model for encountering and solving environmental issues afflicting the ecologically vibrant northern areas of Pakistan. The article advances an educational philosophy that, by employing literary models and by using classroom as a forum, strives to give birth to an environmental consciousness that can provoke in the students a better understanding of the issues plaguing the physical and the living environment, paving the way for environmental praxis. As college and university students study literary characters' interactions with the phenomena of nature, they become more aware of their own developing or deteriorating relationship with their physical and living environment. The paper examines how militarization and ecocidal development projects have disrupted the tranquil environment of northern Pakistan. It further explicates the rationale and repercussions of the modern neoliberal and capitalist economy by examining the following processes: material and ideological co-optation of the environment within the rhetoric of development, deforestation, erosion of grazing land, shrinking and contamination of water bodies, and the impact of tourism on environmental stability. |
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| ISSN: | 0555-7747 |
