Welcome Introductions Rationale: David Orr, Dewey & Sobel

Welcome • Introductions • Rationale: David Orr, Dewey & Sobel

http://www.bigpicture.tv/videos/watch/cfa0860e8 • Nature as Teacher David Orr 3:58

Sustainable Environments “For the most part, we are still educating the young as if there were no planetary emergency. It is an educational challenge. More of the same kind of education can only make things worse. We need an education that prepares people for livelihoods suited to a planet that operates by the laws of ecology” David Orr (1994) Stoney Creek 2006 Stoney Creek 2006 Community Relations Burnaby Mountain Secondary

The Future? Experiential & Place-based Learning …… is the process of making meaning from direct experience and draws on the work of Dewey and Piaget “We can’t solve problems by using the same level of thinking we used to create them.“ Albert Einstein Beyond Ecophobia & Orr’s Biophobia If we want children to flourish, says educator David Sobel, we need to give them time to connect with nature and love the Earth before we ask them to save it ……… what's emerging says Sobel, is a strange kind of schizophrenia. Children are disconnected from the world outside their doors and connected with endangered animals and ecosystems around the globe through electronic media. What then is the connection for them to global solutions and what hope are we offering with this disconnect?

Today therefore will be a time for the cross pollinating of ideas, an opportunity to dialogue about possibilities and think about action toward solutions

We will have 3 questions for you today, each will be answered in a timed discussion within your group

Question 1Given that the word “foodshed” means the production and distribution of food, Is it possible to bring food production back to a community level and if so what could that look like?

" Law is not a static system of rules, developed on high by a few and passed downto citizens without input or redress. Law in a democracy is meant to reflect the values, mores, and hopes of the society at large....As ideals and beliefs change and develop, so does (or should) the law. Often there is a tension between existing law and where society wants to go, but this tension and debate...is fundamental to an open and responsive society." (Cassidy, p 129)Cassidy, W. (2004). Law and social studies: Preparing students for citizenship. In A. Sears & I. Wright (Eds.), Challenges and Prospects for Canadian Social Studies (pp. 126-137). Vancouver, Pacific Education Press.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS6Ut17vMjc • David Sobel Educating for Sustainability

Question 2. What current laws or rules enhance or inhibit us from attaining our vision created from our last question?

Question 3. Given what we have discussed today, what ideas can we take away that will allow us to begin…so How will you begin to produce food at a community level?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmRnJoSQuLw • Michael Ableman Teaser #7 1:39 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_nXCOtJ7Jw&NR=1 Michael Ableman: Real Patriots :47

A Closing ReflexionAs ethical human beings we are called to improve the lives of others, our children and our communities, a vocation that requires not simply accepting things as they are, but imagining something better and working toward it. Author unknown

Some examples:Bees and Lavender projectFood production at a community level, the Urban Farm

Welcome Introductions Rationale: David Orr, Dewey & Sobel