| Environmental Education as a Common Curriculum |
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Hyang Suk Seo |
| 교양기초교육으로서의 환경교육 |
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서향숙 |
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| Abstract |
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As environmental problems increase its severity recently the area of environment in the liberal education of university has become crucial and come to the fore newly. It is probably because environmental education is closely related to human survival in the future and ‘education’ is expected to perform a central role in all the areas as a long-term and fundamental countermeasure of solving environmental problems. However, the reality of environmental education in the public sector of education, such as schools or universities, presents the phenomenon of marginalization and reveals clear discords or gaps between the philosophical aims and practical programs of environmental education.
The growth of modern education system has been based on the paradigm of classical physics, which has been developed in the modern scientific era. If so, to which direction does environmental education, as basic liberal education of university in the society of industrialization and civilization, proceed? With a critical mind about this question, this study suggests following methods and alternatives: First, this study indicates and criticizes that fundamental blame for the environmental crisis of today is in methodological individualism as the paradigm of separatism, namely a dominant and mainstream world view of the West,and presents an educational method of methodological holism as the paradigm of modern physics which has the characteristic of connectivism. Second, focusing on J. Miller, a proposer of holistic education that is connected with methodological holism, this study examines the philosophical, psychological and social contents of holistic education and then establishes the base of direction and necessity of environmental education. In addition, among ‘organic body holism’ and ‘organic holism’, classified by Han Myeon-hui of Korea, this study indicates that holistic environmental education must proceed with organic holism. Third, as the contents of holistic environmental education, this study attempts to apply the interdisciplinary connection method of which ideology is eco justice and the eco-sensibility to which Emmanuel Kant’s sensibility theory is applied. Fourth, as the aim of environmental education, this study presents the practice education of ecological new method of living according to the model of Lucas who systematically categorized environmental education in 1972 on the basis of the definition of NAAEE (1996).
All the global community members’ conversion of consciousness via their self-awareness of environmental problems can be possible when they are mature via education. Therefore, the direction of environmental education must be based on holism of which core contents are rationality education that can cultivate ecological consciousness and the value system/world view of nature-friendly paradigm that cultivates ecological wisdom of including sensibility and spirituality. |
| Key Words:
Environmental problems, Scientific paradigm, Methodological individualism, Methodological holism, Environmental education, Holistic environmental education |
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