M.S. Ecological teaching and learning

Reading Towards an Ecologically Literate World

The following annotated list of books is far from complete and is continually being updated and refined. We have not included the countless articles in journals which also contribute greatly to our eco-literacy. The following authors are scholars, poets, activists of all genres, teachers, professors, theologians, male and female, and common everyday people. We are grateful that in a busy world they have taken the time to put their great thoughts on paper. We honor those who have passed, and we welcome the new and fresh voices that are represented here. Anyone who would read and understand this entire book list would, in fact, be quite eco-literate. And they would have keen insight into how our educational, political, and social systems need to change to allow us a sustainable future. Happy Reading!!!

Author's last name begins with:
A-B | C-D | E-F | G-H | I-J | K-L | M-N | O-P | Q-R | S-T | U-V | W-X | Y-Z

Abbey, Edward. Desert Solitaire. One of the classics. A delightful rendition of a radical, environmental writer and activists' connection to the Southwestern Deserts. Many profound thoughts and descriptive writings about place and our role in the grand scheme of things.

Ackerman, Diane. A Natural History of the Senses. NY, NY: Vintage Press, 1990. Ackerman is a narrative writer who takes the reader on a grand tour of the realm of the senses. She writes about the evolution of the kiss, the sadistic cuisine of 18th century England, the chemistry of pain, the melodies of the planet earth. She touches on biology, anthropology, art, human consciousness and mystery.

Adams, Cass, Editor. The Soul Unearthed: Celebrating Wildness and Personal Renewal Through Nature. NY, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1996. An anthology of people from all walks and vocations sharing their love of the places they live, the wild within and around us.

Andruss, Van, et al, eds. Home! A Bioregional Reader. Philadelphia, PA: New Society, 1990. A collection of articles, stories and poems written by individuals of various backgrounds, which illustrate and celebrate the importance of Bioregionalism. It is organized into easy to use sections which include: What is Bioregionalism?, Living in Place, Nature, Culture and Community, Reinhabitation and Restoration, and Bioregional Organizing and Politics. It also includes the Bioregional Quiz.

Atkisson, Alan. Believing Cassandra: An Optimist Looks at a Pessimist's World. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 1999. Atkisson explains the real potential for sustainability in a way that will silence critics who have assailed the fundamental concepts of limits to growth since the warning was raised back in 1972. He has created a lively and believable look at our future.

Barkman, Robert. Science through Multiple Intelligences - Patterns that Inspire Inquiry. Tucson, Arizona: Zephyr Press, Inc., 1999. A great resource for teachers in meeting science standards through multiple intelligences approaches - geared for middle and high school teachers. Each activity is tied to an ecological principle, a scientific objective, and a national science standard.

Berry, Thomas. The Great Work: Our Way Into the Future. NY, NY: Belltower Books, 1999. Berry has called for us to enter into the ecological era and forsake the technological trance we are in. In this book, he lays out the transition that he feels is necessary for us to be a benign presence on the earth.

Bowers, C.A. Critical Essays on Education, Modernity, and the Recovery of the Ecological Imperative. NY, NY: Teachers College Press, 1993. A major contribution to the literature of environmental and ecological education, Bowers makes scholarly reflection on our crisis in education while we miss the ecological crisis worldwide.

Brookfield, Stephen D. Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1995. This book, although written for faculty in higher education, has much to offer to any teacher whatever grade they teach. It illustrates how teachers can develop themselves as educators by introducing critical reflection into their lives and the lives of their students. A great introduction to transformative teaching and learning with a variety of practical examples from which to draw.

Brower, Michael and Leon, Warren. The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from The Union of Concerned Scientists. NY, NY: Three Rivers Press, 1999. In a world where making good ecological choices is sometimes hard, these men have tried to decipher some of the confusion and aid us in understanding how to make good consumer choices.

Caine, Renate N. and Geoffrey Caine. Education on the Edge of Possibility. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1997. This book represents a new way to look at learning and change. Forming the foundation are brain/mind learning principles that describe how the brain, mind and body work together. The book details the Caine's work in the schools, reports the results and introduces surprising conclusions about how educators will have to think, act and function to succeed in the 21st century.

Cajete, Gregory. Look to the Mountain. Skyland, NC: Kivaki Press, 1994. An introduction to his model of indigenous education and the value it holds within modern practices. This model is more deeply illustrated in his follow up book Igniting the Sparkle: An Indigenous Science Education Model. Skyland, NC: Kivaki Press, 1998. Provides a more in depth understanding about the real indigenous model that he is proposing. When a lot of people are struggling with the problem of how to meld Eurocentric ways to the thought world of Indigenous People. This book strikes a central chord and provides needed models. It also shows that Native epistemology and application to everyday life has a place in the modern world.

Callenbach, Ernest. Ecology: A Pocket Guide. Berkley, CA: U. of Cal. Press, 1998. This book is an excellent easy to read and easy to understand resource filled with detailed explanations of 60 basic ecological concepts.

Capra, Fritjof. The Web of Life. NY, NY: Anchor Books, 1996. In this book, Capra speaks about various theories and breakthroughs in science such as Systems Theory, Gaia Theory, properties of organisms, social systems, etc. and how they influence the natural world and our place in it as resources diminish and we search for more sustainable living practices.

Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1962. A history changing manuscript where Rachel eloquently presents her understanding of the effects on the food chain etc. from pesticide use. It is really the book that founded and solidified the modern environmental movement.

Clark, David. Schools As Learning Communities. Herdon, VA: Cassell Pub, 1996. A new model of learning based on key ideas of inclusivity and openness. Bringing community and education together, he gives us hope for the potential for schools to become role models for society.

Cornell, Joseph. Sharing Nature With Children. Nevada City, CA: Ananda Publications, 1979. A classic book used by teachers and parents for introducing their children to the natural world. It is as relevant today as when it was written.

Costa, Arthur L. and Rosemarie M. Liebmann. Envisioning Process as Content: Toward a Renaissance Curriculum. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, A Sage Publication, 1997. This book proposes a radical revision of curriculum - the heart and soul of teaching - too often an overlooked component of school reform and restructuring. For those people who want to be administrators, staff developers, curriculum specialists and faculty for teachers.

Gibbs, Jeanne. TRIBES: A New Way of Learning Together. Santa Rosa, CA: Center Source Publications, 1994. A fabulous sourcebook for teachers who are working to have classrooms become learning communities.

Goldsmith, Edward. The Way: An Ecological World-view. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1993. A unique, extraordinary and profoundly challenging book for working out the presuppositions and implications of ecological theory, from epistemology to economics. May be seen both as an attempt to exhibit the ecological world-view itself and to put it to work in current dilemmas of policy.

Goodall, Jane. Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey. NY, NY: Warner Books, 1999. Dr. Jane Goodall's revolutionary study of chimpanzees in Tanzania's Gombe Preserve forever altered the very definition of humanity. Now, in a poignant and insightful memoir, she explores her life and extraordinary spiritual journey as a scientist. At one with nature and challenged by the dangers of environmental destruction, inequality, materialism and genocide, Dr. Goodall offers insight into her perceptions of these threats and celebrates the people who are working for Earth's renewal.

Griffin, Susan. Woman and Nature : The Roaring Inside Her - This book is one of feminism's most unread classics. Griffin made the connections to all the ways Western religion and philosophy has used language and dichotomies to bolster the power of men over women and nature. Her analysis is brilliant, clear, and persuasive.

Hinchman, Hannah. A Trail through Leaves: The Journal as a Path to Place. NY, NY: W.W. Norton & Co, 1997. A beautiful book to inspire the keeping of a nature journal as a way to know the place where you live. Good instructive techniques and ideas.

hooks, bell. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. NY, NY: Routledge, 1994. An in depth account of both personal and observed conflict with racial, sexual and class boundaries as both a student and teacher in the classroom. Discusses the importance of teaching students to come to terms with their feelings of rage, grief and betrayal by modern educational practices and strive to "transgress" against the system as it stands and find their freedom in education.

Kaner, Sam et al. Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers, 1996. An excellent resource with valuable tools and skills to encourage full participation, promote group understanding as well as guidelines to improve group support and improve sound decision making practices.

Kaza, Stephanie. The Attentive Heart: Conversations with Trees. Shambhala Publications, Boston, MA. 1993. A heartfelt celebration of trees and a graceful call to let their patient wildness grow back through the openings in our minds.

LaChapelle, Delores. Sacred Land, Sacred Sex: Rapture of the Deep. Silverton, CO: Finn Hill Arts, 1988. The Elder woman of the Deep Ecology movement takes practices from around the world and presents a scholarly and dense writing about the ways in which our lives interconnect to the living planet. Her depth of knowledge is inspiring.

Leopold, Aldo. Sand County Almanac. One of the classics. This book illustrates the beginnings of the conservation movement and offers a language of land ethics that continues to be unimproved.

Leslie, Clare Walker and Roth, Charles E. Nature Journaling: Learning to Observe and Connect With the World Around You. Pownal, VT: Storey Books, 1998. A wonderful book which inspires and instructs us to keep a living journal of the world in which we live. A guide for people of all ages and interests that encourages observing, sketching, appreciating and writing about life's beauty and mysteries.

Lovelock, James. Healing Gaia: Practical Medicine for the Planet. NY, NY: Harmony Books, 1991. The author of the revolutionary Gaia Hypothesis, applies medical science to our planet as a whole, and offers a more complete understanding of Earth systems and how they work and what makes them healthy.

Macy, Joanna and Molly Young Brown. Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect our Lives, Our World. Gabriola Island, BC,Canada: New Society Publishers, 1998. Joanna is one of the most inspiring voices calling us to power and healing. She sees the pain we're in; she understands the anguish of today and is one of the truly wise and compassionate leaders of our time. In this book along with her co-author, Molly Young Brown, we are guided step by step, into the discovery of what we can do to restore wholeness, harmony and peace in our lives and in our world.

Merchant, Carolyn. Ecological Revolutions: Nature, Gender and Science in New England. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1989. She explores the stages of ecological transformation that took place in New England as European settlers took control of the land. Over 10 years old in its printing, it is an extraordinary integration of history and ecology and has its merit in that it uses history to inform present and future options in the human-nature relationship.

Nabhan, Gary P. and Stephen Trimble. The Geography of Childhood: Why Children Need Wild Places. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1992. They define why children need contact with the wild for full development of their understanding of the place we live. Great for parents and teachers.

Odum, Eugene P. Ecology-A Bridge Between Science and Society. Sunderland,MA: Sinauer Associates, 1997. A basic text, easier to read than most, introducing you to the science of ecology and language that is commonly used.

Oliver, Donald and Kathleen Gershman. Education, Modernity and Fractured Meaning: Toward a Process Theory of Education. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1989. This book explores the profound paradigmatic differences that exist among the world's people and describes a rich theory of knowing and being, commonly known as "process philosophy." The promise being in its potential to allow us to participate more fully in the flow of time and nature.

Oliver, Mary. New and Selected Poems. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1992. A master poet whose poems capture the essence of the normal, the mundane and turn it into magic. You are compelled to read them over and over again. A collection that should be in every persons library.

Orion Society, Nature Literature Series. Stories in the Land: A Place-Based Environmental Education Anthology. Great Barrington, MA: The Orion Society, 1998. Great examples of people who are cultivating place-based learning in their communities. Opens up new prospects for curriculum that is ecological at its roots.

Orr, David. Earth In Mind: Education, Environment and the Human Prospect. Washington DC: Island Press, 1994. A collection of Orr's essays which covers various topics in economics, ecology and education and the role these play within the overall picture as we strive to reach more sustainable living practices.

Orr, David. Ecological Literacy: Education and the Transition to the Postmodern World. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1992. A collection of Orr's essays which looks at sustainable living practices and how this effects educational facilities and what they teach and how they do it.

Outwater, Alice. Water: A Natural History. NY, NY: Basic Books, 1996. This book takes you on the journey of water beginning 500 years ago in the King's Court of Medieval Europe. She discusses how the land and its inhabitants clean the water systems and the impact modern technology and living have had on the balance between these systems.

Palmer, Parker. The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1998. and Reflection Guide by Rachel C. Livsey and Parker Palmer This book helps teachers to reconnect with their inner selves and their students, reaffirming themselves as educators, their vocation and its future. Fantastic book.

Peterson, Brenda. Living By Water: Essays on Life, Land and Spirit. Bothell, WA: Alaska Northwest, 1990. Beautiful nature writing that inspires the reader to pick up the pen and record their own experience and relationship to the natural world.

Rezendes, Paul. The Wild Within. NY, NY: Berkeley Books, 1998. Tracking and the Art of Seeing. Charlotte, VT: Camden House Publishing, 1992. Paul's brilliance as a tracker spills over into challenging each of us to explore our own wild within. His photography is an added bonus to these books.

Rogers, Pattiann. Firekeeper: New and Selected Poems. Mpls, MN: Milkweed Editions, 1994. An accomplished poet takes science and nature and turns them into provocative poetry. She beautifies the natural world with language unmarred by clichés.

Sauer, Peter. Finding Home: Writings on Nature and Culture from Orion Magazine. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1992. A wonderful collection of articles from Orion Magazine which illustrate the connections between nature, culture and the importance of discovering and honoring your sense of place within it all.

Senge, Peter. Schools That Learn: A Fifth Discipline Resource. NY, NY: Doubleday, 2000. The author of the Fifth Discipline has brought his theories to the practice of education and reorganizing schools. Many descriptions of practices that are meeting with success around the country. A wealth of practical tools, anecdotes and advice.

Shaffer, Carolyn R. and Kristin Anundsen. Creating Community Anywhere. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., 1993. This book looks in detail at the various forms community takes in modern society and provides guidelines for achieving that which is right for you.

Smith, Gregory A and Williams, Dilafruz R. Ecological Education in Action, On Weaving Education, Culture, and the Environment. Albany, NY: State University of NY Press, 1999. A good book documenting the various programs that are working to make ecological education a recognizable educational model in the US.

Smith, Gregory A. Education and the Environment. Albany, NY: State University of NY Press, 1992. Talks about the conceptual needs of contemporary education and how it reflects our culture - one berift of a sustainable future. Great analysis of future challenges to education.

Suzuki, David and McConnell, Amanda. The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature. Vancouver, BC: GreyStone Books, 1997. A fine work by Canada's leading environmentalist and one of the world's leading conservation writers. Concrete suggestions for how we can meet our basic needs and create a way of life that is ecologically sustainable.

Thomashow, Mitchell. Ecological Identity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995. A detailed description of what Ecological Identity is and how it can be used to enhance your teaching and the learning which your students engage in. Also provides practical models and activities, which can be used at all, levels of education with slight modifications.

Wackernagel, Mathis & Rees, William E. Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact On the Earth. Philadelphia, PA: New Society Publishers, 1996. This book cuts through all the rhetoric about sustainability and introduces a means to look at humanity's impact on the earth.

Williams, Terry Tempest. Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place. NY, NY: Pantheon Books, 1991. Explores the delicate bonds that hold an ecosystem and a family together. A loving story of about the transformation of trajedy into renewal and spiritual grace, how one family learns to inhabit this landscape of grief. Nature writing extraodinaire!

Wilson, E.O. and Kellert, Stephen. The Biophilia Hypothesis. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1993. A scientific hypothesis that points to the need humans have for communion with the natural world.