“Oh. My. That is a fantastic sentiment, of course, it doesn't relate to why I’m reading this article in the first place, but this will be great for something else… I’m not sure what, but let's just go ahead and highlight this little nugget and store it over in this little corner just like a little Bob-Ross-painted-tree”.

Is this you when trying to read something important (or even something of little importance)? This was me recently while attempting to read some research articles for a sustainability graduate course. Two articles that lit the fuse for this posting included one by Marilyn Palmer, Peta White, and Sandra Wooltorton (select for article link), and the other by Affrica Taylor (select for article link). As I read these I continued to ask myself “where does e-STEM fit within these arguments”?

If you’ve read the articles and are asking WTH was this guy thinking, I’ll refer you to the photo on the left… That’s my brain ALWAYS… A complete mess of fraying yarn pieces held together by whatever is closest to stab into the corkboard. Side note if you like uplifting social media (besides politics j/k) I recommend The Dissertation Coach on Instagram.

The Palmer, White, Wooltorton (2018) article discussed ecojustice and oppression within higher education while trying to be ecologically sustainable. Taylor (2016) called for a paradigm shift in how we view humans in relation to nature when addressing environmental sustainable needs.

Before diving in, I’ll pose a question to the community… How do the humanist principles mentioned by Taylor (2016) and poststructural ecofeminism mentioned by Palmer, White, Wooltorton (2018) fit within the domain of e-STEM?

Real quick - poststructural refers to the concept that everything, in reality, is operated through some form of power-dynamic and ecofeminism is the union of feminism and environmentalism and stands on the ground “that the domination of women and the degradation of the environment are consequences of patriarchy and capitalism” (Wright 2015).

Let’s begin with Taylor’s article. This article resonated with my beliefs and experiences of practicing and reading about environmental education. Essentially, Taylor’s argument was, how are humans going to solve environmental issues if we approach these issues in a disconnected manner? More specifically, humans (specifically those trying to fix the environmental issues we caused… which is another area needing addressing) work independently from nature in trying to fix the issues we caused without considering maybe instead we should be working with nature to solve these issues. Often is the case, humans view themselves as connected to the natural world because it’s the reality in our faces, but we don’t truly envision ourselves as part of nature. How often have you asked kids during a food web activity “are humans animals”, and you get the response “no”?

Palmer, White, Wooltorton examined the concept of sustainability through a poststructural ecofeminist paradigm (select the links for a quick description of those terms) as it relates to their academic identities. Admittedly, besides the amazing work of Annette Gough and colleagues, I haven’t seen much environmental education literature using a feminist approach. This article was incredibly refreshing from that perspective. Similarly to Taylor’s article, the authors provided additional support that if we are going to work on fixing these issues, that YES the environment is the focus but there are so many other factors that should be considered when developing solutions and standing up on our soapboxes.

So with that being said… is e-STEM the answer to these concerns? Is the concept of teaching STEM through the lens of the environment the answer to these concerns? I have my opinions, but I would like to hear yours.

Palmer, M., White, P., & Wooltorton, S. (2018). Embodying our future through collaboration: The change is in the doing. The Journal of Environmental Education, 49(4), 309–317.

Taylor, A. (2017). Beyond stewardship: common world pedagogies for the Anthropocene. Environmental Education Research, 23(10), 1448–1461.

Wright, J. D. (Ed.). (2015). International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Elsevier.