Greg William Misiaszek

Building on Paulo Freire’s educational theory and critical pedagogy movements, this book provides a short and accessible introduction to ecopedagogy – Freirean environmental teaching and environmentalism overall. Ecopedagogy offers a political and educational vision that strives for a critical, culturally relevant forms of knowledge centred on sustainability for securing the future of our planet, ending all forms of oppression, and ensuring peace globally. Using examples from around the globe, Misiaszek shows how different populations (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity) are affected in unbalanced ways by ongoing environmental destruction and argues that these systematic socio-environmental inequalities are ignored in much of environmental teaching. He argues through reinventing Freire’s work that environmental justice is inseparable to social justice and should be seen as part of wider debates around, for example, globalization, development, citizenship, racism, feminism, neo/colonialization, and linguistics. The book calls for global and local approaches to understanding socio-environmental issues beyond anthropocentric models (beyond humans) and epistemologies of the North (e.g., Western knowledges). Written for anyone with an interest in environmentalism this book offers news ways of thinking and teaching about environmental crises we are living through.

Building on Paulo Freire’s educational theory and critical pedagogy movements, this book provides a short and accessible introduction to ecopedagogy – Freirean environmental teaching and environmentalism overall. Ecopedagogy offers a political and educational vision that strives for a critical, culturally relevant forms of knowledge centred on sustainability for securing the future of our planet, ending all forms of oppression, and ensuring peace globally. Using examples from around the globe, Misiaszek shows how different populations (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity) are affected in unbalanced ways by ongoing environmental destruction and argues that these systematic socio-environmental inequalities are ignored in much of environmental teaching. He argues through reinventing Freire’s work that environmental justice is inseparable to social justice and should be seen as part of wider debates around, for example, globalization, development, citizenship, racism, feminism, neo/colonialization, and linguistics. The book calls for global and local approaches to understanding socio-environmental issues beyond anthropocentric models (beyond humans) and epistemologies of the North (e.g., Western knowledges). Written for anyone with an interest in environmentalism this book offers news ways of thinking and teaching about environmental crises we are living through.

To stop the downward spiral of intensifying environmental violence that inevitably leads to social violence we, as humans, need to better understand what is at stake and to determine how to make changes at the root levels. Ecopedagogy is centered on understanding the struggles of and connections between human acts of environmental and social violence. Greg W. Misiaszek argues that ecopedagogies grounded in critical, Freirean pedagogies construct learning that leads to human actions geared towards increased social and environmental justice and planetary sustainability. Throughout the book he discusses the need for teaching, reading, and researching through problematizing the causes of socio-environmental violence, including oppressive processes of globalization and constructs of “development”, “economics”, and “citizenship”, to name a few, that emerge from socio-historical oppressions (e.g., colonialization, racism, patriarchy, neoliberalism, xenophobia, epistemicide) and dominance over the rest of nature. Misiaszek concludes with ecopedagogies’ challenges within the current post-truth era and possibilities of reimagining UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

To stop the downward spiral of intensifying environmental violence that inevitably leads to social violence we, as humans, need to better understand what is at stake and to determine how to make changes at the root levels. Ecopedagogy is centered on understanding the struggles of and connections between human acts of environmental and social violence. Greg W. Misiaszek argues that ecopedagogies grounded in critical, Freirean pedagogies construct learning that leads to human actions geared towards increased social and environmental justice and planetary sustainability. Throughout the book he discusses the need for teaching, reading, and researching through problematizing the causes of socio-environmental violence, including oppressive processes of globalization and constructs of “development”, “economics”, and “citizenship”, to name a few, that emerge from socio-historical oppressions (e.g., colonialization, racism, patriarchy, neoliberalism, xenophobia, epistemicide) and dominance over the rest of nature. Misiaszek concludes with ecopedagogies’ challenges within the current post-truth era and possibilities of reimagining UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Misiaszek examines the (dis)connection between critical global citizenship education models and ecopedagogy which is grounded in Paulo Freire’s pedagogy. Exploring how concepts of citizenship are affected by globalization, this book argues that environmental pedagogues must teach critical environmental literacies in order for students to understand global environmental issues through the world’s diverse perspectives. Misiaszek analyses the ways environmental pedagogies can use aspects of critical global citizenship education to better understand how environmental issues are contextually experienced and understood by societies locally and globally through issues of globalization, colonialism, socio-economics, gender, race, ethnicities, nationalities, indigenous issues, and spiritualties.

Misiaszek examines the (dis)connection between critical global citizenship education models and ecopedagogy which is grounded in Paulo Freire’s pedagogy. Exploring how concepts of citizenship are affected by globalization, this book argues that environmental pedagogues must teach critical environmental literacies in order for students to understand global environmental issues through the world’s diverse perspectives. Misiaszek analyses the ways environmental pedagogies can use aspects of critical global citizenship education to better understand how environmental issues are contextually experienced and understood by societies locally and globally through issues of globalization, colonialism, socio-economics, gender, race, ethnicities, nationalities, indigenous issues, and spiritualties.