It was after reading “Curriculum Studies Gone Wild” (Hensley, 2011) that I really began to consider what ecoliteracy might look like in the public education system. While the term sustainability has a diverse history which continues to evolve and change, ecological literacy is a more recent term though like sustainability it is equally illusive in terms of a concrete definition.
As educators, we are all familiar with the critical importance of teaching our students literacy skills across the curriculum; digital, physical, cultural, scientific. So what is Ecological Literacy and how do we create ecoliterate youth?
"It is a way of thinking about the world in terms of its interdependent natural and human systems, including a consideration of the consequences of human actions and interactions within the natural context. Ecological literacy equips students with the knowledge and competencies necessary to address complex and urgent environmental issues in an integrated way, and enables them to help shape a sustainable society that does not undermine the ecosystems upon which it depends."(http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/cur/socstud/global_issues/ecological_literacy.pdf)
In education, critical thinking and problem solving skills are an integral part of any well developed curriculum. Ecoliteracy when infused across the curriculum would mean that students are taught to think about sustainability as it pertains to all subject areas and to develop the skills needed to enact change within their local communities and beyond.
If we as educators begin to value ecoliteracy as a skill to be woven into the pre-existing curriculums developed for schools, then it will become a focus for our students that is part of their everyday learning and experiencing rather than an additional subject to be taught and left behind. Just like learning a language comes naturally and with much more ease at a young age, so does instilling the importance of environmental stewardship and our interconnectedness.