The M(East) ward of Mumbai is home to one of Asia’s largest open landfill sites. Waste, therefore, is a source of livelihood for millions of people living in the vicinity of this landfill site. In this article, we analyze the educational discourse on waste in the schools of the M(East) ward to understand how it is positioned with respect to the concerns, experiences, and out-of-school knowledge of the students of that community. We employ a critical discourse analysis framework to examine the textbook chapter on waste, classroom teaching practices, and participant teachers’ interviews. The educational discourse is read against the data from focus group discussions with students in out-of-school settings. Our analysis reveals that the curriculum approaches the topic of waste in a reductionist manner with a focus on “scientific” management of waste, while connections between the generation of waste, consumerism, and the nature of economic growth are sidelined. The curriculum and teachers’ discourse exhibits a class and caste character when they emphasize the aesthetic effects of waste management and certain kinds of proenvironmental behaviors and actions. It remains silent about the immense contribution of sanitation work to easing the environmental burden. The teachers’ efforts to contextualize the subject matter and connect to students’ life worlds are also limited. The out-of-school interactions with the students reveal a rich understanding of the recycling economy and, when provided with the opportunities, the resourcefulness to critically evaluate their living conditions. Finally, drawing on scholarship that discusses environmentalism and critical pedagogy in the Indian subcontinent, we envisage possibilities for transformative science education for the students of the M(East) ward.

孟买的 M(East) 病房是亚洲最大的露天垃圾填埋场之一。因此，垃圾是生活在该垃圾填埋场附近的数百万人的生计来源。在本文中，我们分析了 M(East) 病房学校中关于浪费的教育话语，以了解其在该社区学生的关注、经历和校外知识方面的定位。我们采用批判性话语分析框架来检查关于浪费、课堂教学实践和参与教师访谈的教科书章节。根据与校外环境中的学生进行的焦点小组讨论的数据来阅读教育话语。我们的分析表明，课程以还原论的方式处理废物主题，重点是“科学”的废物管理，而浪费的产生、消费主义和经济增长的本质之间的联系则被搁置一边。课程和教师的话语在强调废物管理的美学效果和某些类型的亲环境行为和行动时表现出阶级和种姓特征。它对环卫工作对减轻环境负担的巨大贡献保持沉默。教师在将主题语境化和与学生的生活世界联系方面所做的努力也是有限的。与学生的校外互动展示了他们对循环经济的丰富理解，以及在有机会时对他们的生活条件进行批判性评估的机智。最后，利用讨论印度次大陆环保主义和批判性教学法的学术成果，