Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Ecological religious education: new possibilities for educational practice

  • Published:
Journal of Religious Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The crises evident in today’s ecological context require the attention and action of Christian communities, including within the work of religious education. This essay describes a set of practices for religious education that integrate ecology as a constituent dimension of Christian formation and discipleship, organized around three key educational domains which holistically attend to students’ heads, hearts and hands. Narratives derived from Christian traditions, as well as scientifically-based stories about the natural world, can serve as vehicles of religious and ecological knowledge that can also inform students’ own lives and stories. Affectivity, or an embodied and “felt” type of knowing, is another important foundation for forming the whole person in relationship with nature. Finally, ethical education, with a particular focus on the virtues, links students’ character development with their actions towards the natural world. Altogether, this paper argues that by incorporating practices from these three areas into religious education, teachers can have an important and effective role in promoting students’ right relationships with the natural world.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Web links for these organizations are creationjustice.org, and greenfaith.org.

  2. Major recent projects involving seminaries and graduate schools of theology include The Green Seminary Initiative (https://www.greenseminaries.org) and The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development (https://www.interfaithsustain.com). For an in-depth report on schools’ efforts in this area, see the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development’s 2017 document, “Report on Ecologically Informed Theological Education,” available on their organization’s website.

  3. Among the many other works of ecological theology now available, a few robust examples which may serve as helpful resources include Edwards (2006), Johnson (2014), McFague (2008), Hart (2004), and Lane (1998).

  4. Examples of ecological exemplars from other religious or philosophical traditions include Thich Nhat Hanh (Zen Buddhism, b. 1926), Winona LaDuke (Ojibwe (Native American), b. 1959), Hsieh Ling-yün (Buddho-Daoism, 385–433 C.E.), and Henry David Thoreau (American Transcendentalism, 1817–1862).

  5. Further examples include Rachel Carson (1907–1964), Erin Brockovich (b. 1960), John Muir (1838–1914), and Aldo Leopold (1887–1948).

  6. Other writers who have explored the possibility of teaching the universe story in religious education include Chamberlain (2000), Price (2008), and Martin (2010).

  7. Ayres (2014) has also discussed the potential for teaching about local ecological knowledge in religious education.

  8. Religious educators can avail themselves of local resources for learning more about the story of their local ecologies; particularly useful community assets can include nature centers, environmental education centers, land trusts, university extension services, and interpretive staff at state and national parks, as well as quality online and print resources on local natural history.

  9. In addition to Orr, Wilson also highlights the ethical implications of an innate human capacity to affiliate with nature: “In my opinion, the most important implication of an innate biophilia is the foundation it lays for an enduring conservation ethic. If a concern for the rest of life is part of human nature… then on that basis alone it is fundamentally wrong to extinguish other forms of life. Nature is part of us, as we are part of Nature” (1994, p. 362). Wilson points here to the essential relationship between nature connection and nature conservation, or in other words between the affective and the ethical.

  10. For robust treatments of ecological spirituality, see Christie (2013) and Lane (2015).

  11. The practice of “reading the book of nature” traces back to early Christian spirituality; for an excellent essay dealing with some of the history of this tradition, see Lane (2008).

  12. Several other religious communities that are engaged in ecological projects can be found on the list maintained on the Yale University Forum on Religion and Ecology’s website, at: http://fore.yale.edu/religion/christianity/projects/. Additional community-based projects are described in McDuff (2010) and Taylor (2009).

  13. Justice and care for the earth are named in the community’s mission as posted on its website: https://benedictinewomen.org/about/mission/.

  14. To learn more, educators can make use of resources such as Creation Justice Ministries’ list of creation care practices for religious communities, available online at: http://www.creationjustice.org/blog/52-ways-to-care-for-creation.

  15. This priority also relates to a critique which has been made by ethicists of virtue-based forms of ethical education, in that virtues in themselves do not provide context-specific rules or guidance for informing moral decision-making on the ground (see for example Jordan and Kristjánsson 2017). A virtuous character, rightly so, must be complemented by the practical know-how for acting effectively for the good of human and ecological communities. Moral psychology researchers Darcia Narvaez and Tonia Bock (2014) have argued along these lines for an approach to ethical education that balances the development of ethical reasoning and judgment capacities in students with the cultivation of the more intuitive and habitual qualities of character that are proper to the virtues. This line of discussion in the field of moral education further suggests that in addition to helping students to cultivate ecological virtues, it is also important that ecological religious education incorporate ways of equipping students with the necessary practical knowledge to inform and guide their actions toward the natural world.

  16. The Healing Earth textbook can be found online at: https://healingearth.ijep.net/.

References

  • Albrecht, G., Sartore, G., Connor, L., Higginbotham, N., Freeman, S., Kelly, B., et al. (2007). Solastalgia: The distress caused by environmental change. Australasian Psychiatry,15, S95–S98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alphonso, H. (2001). Discovering your personal vocation: The search for meaning through the spiritual exercises. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ammons, E., & Roy, M. (Eds.). (2015). Sharing the earth: An international environmental justice reader. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ayres, J. (2014). Learning on the ground: Ecology, engagement, and embodiment. Teaching Theology & Religion,17(3), 203–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ayres, J. (2017). Cultivating the “unquiet heart”: Ecology, education, and Christian faith. Theology Today,74(1), 57–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bouma-Prediger, S. (2010). For the beauty of the earth: A Christian vision for creation care (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bouma-Prediger, S. (2016). What kind of person would do something like that? A Christian ecological virtue ethic. International Journal of Christianity & Education,20(1), 20–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bratton, S. (1990). Teaching environmental ethics from a theological perspective. Religious Education,85(1), 25–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buckley, M. (1975). The contemplation to attain love. The Way Supplement,24, 92–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chamberlain, G. (2000). Ecology and religious education. Religious Education,95(2), 134–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christie, D. (2013). The blue sapphire of the mind: Notes for a contemplative ecology. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clayton, S., & Myers, G. (2015). Conservation psychology: Understanding and promoting human care for nature. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalton, A. M. (1990). Befriending an estranged home. Religious Education,85(1), 15–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, D. (2006). Ecology at the heart of faith. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Francis, (2015). Praise be to you—laudato si’: On care for our common home. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Francis, Clare, Armstrong, R., & Brady, I. (1982). Francis and Clare: The complete works. New York: Paulist Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geger, B. (2012). What magis really means and why it matters. Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal,1(2), 16–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Groome, T. (1991). Sharing faith: A comprehensive approach to religious education and pastoral ministry: The way of shared praxis. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Groome, T. (2011). Will there be faith? A new vision for educating and growing disciples. New York: HarperOne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haight, R. (2014). Spirituality seeking theology. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hart, J. (2004). What are they saying about environmental theology?. New York: Paulist Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, G. M., & Phillips, C. (2009). Gerard Manley Hopkins: The major works. London: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoven, M. (2015). Teaching creation: Ancient belief meets modern science. Journal of Religious Education,63(1), 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ignatius of Loyola, Munitiz, J. J., & Endean, P. (1996). Saint Ignatius of Loyola: Personal writings. London: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Jesuit Ecology Project. (2018). Healing earth. Retrieved from https://healingearth.ijep.net/.

  • Ivens, M. (1998). Understanding the spiritual exercises: Text and commentary. Leominster: Gracewing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, E. (2014). Ask the beasts: Darwin and the God of love. New York: Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jordan, K., & Kristjánsson, K. (2017). Sustainability, virtue ethics, and the virtue of harmony with nature. Environmental Education Research,23(9), 1205–1229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lane, B. (1998). The solace of fierce landscapes: Exploring desert and mountain spirituality. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lane, B. (2008). Backpacking with the saints: The risk taking character of wilderness reading. Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality,8(1), 23–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lane, B. (2015). Backpacking with the saints: Wilderness hiking as spiritual practice. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Louv, R. (2008). Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manning, P. (2012). Invitation to discipleship: Educating for virtue in Catholic classrooms. Lumen et Vita,2, 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, M. (2010). Religious education and new earth consciousness: “Let us play”. Theoforum,41(1), 93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, M. (2015). The cry of earth and conflict with human cultures: A reflection for Christian religious educators. Journal of Religious Education,63(1), 25–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McAdams, D. (1997). The stories we live by: Personal myths and the making of the self. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDuff, M. (2010). Natural saints: How people of faith are working to save God’s earth. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • McFague, S. (2008). A new climate for theology: God, the world, and global warming. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGrady, A., & Regan, E. (2008). Ethics in a global world: The earth charter and religious education. British Journal of Religious Education,30(2), 165–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Narvaez, D., & Bock, T. (2014). Developing ethical expertise and moral personalities. In L. Nucci, D. Narvaez, & T. Krettenauer (Eds.), Handbook of moral and character education (pp. 140–158). Hoboken, NJ: Taylor & Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien, K. (2014). Balancing critique and commitment: A synthetic approach to teaching religion and the environment. Teaching Theology & Religion,17(3), 189–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orr, D. (1992). Ecological literacy: Education and the transition to a postmodern world. Albany: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orr, D. (2004). Earth in mind: On education, environment, and the human prospect. Washington, DC: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Price, E. (2008). Christian nurture and the new cosmology. Religious Education,103(1), 84–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rourke, N. M. (2010). God, grace, and creation: Shaping a Catholic environmental virtue ethic. In P. Rossi (Ed.), God grace and creation (pp. 222–234). Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rourke, N. M. (2012). A Catholic virtues ecology. In C. Z. Peppard & A. Vicini (Eds.), Just sustainability (pp. 194–204). Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandage, S., & Hill, P. (2001). The virtues of positive psychology: The rapprochement and challenges of an affirmative postmodern perspective. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour,31(3), 241–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swimme, B., & Berry, T. (1992). The universe story: From the primordial flaring forth to the ecozoic era—A celebration of the unfolding of the cosmos. San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swimme, B., & Tucker, M. (2011). Journey of the universe. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S. (2009). Green sisters: A spiritual ecology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thurmond, G. (2013). Ecology and Mary: An ecological theology of Mary as the new Eve in response to the church’s challenge for a faith-based education in ecological responsibility. Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice,11(1), 27–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Treanor, B. (2014). Emplotting virtue: A narrative approach to environmental virtue ethics. Albany: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wensveen, L. (2000). Dirty virtues: The emergence of ecological virtue ethics. Amherst, NY: Humanity Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wessels, T. (1999). Reading the forested landscape: A natural history of New England. Woodstock, VT: Countryman Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E. (1984). Biophilia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E. (1994). Naturalist. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wimberly, A. (2005). Soul stories: African American Christian education. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Wildlife Foundation. (2018). Living planet report 2018: Aiming higher. Grooten, M. and Almond, R.E.A. (Eds.) Gland, Switzerland: WWF International.

  • Zwinger, A., Tallmadge, J., Leslie, C., Wessels, T., & Orion Society. (1999). Into the field: A guide to locally focused teaching. Great Barrington, MA: Orion Society.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Theology, Boston University, 745 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    James Tomlinson

Authors
  1. James Tomlinson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to James Tomlinson.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tomlinson, J. Ecological religious education: new possibilities for educational practice. j. relig. educ. 67, 185–202 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40839-019-00087-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40839-019-00087-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation