Personal Ecological Identity and Actions
Before getting into what sustainability education looks like in theory and practice, take a moment to explore your own ecological identity. Who we are and what we often believe are complex expressions of our identity, and this identity is shaped by our history and our exposure to various philosophies. Specifically, our ecological identity consists of how we interpret our relationship with the earth and how that is expressed in our personality, our values, actions, and our sense of self (Thomashow, 1995).
In his book, Ecological Identity, Thomashow (1995) describes environmentalism as a tree, whose roots are the teachers, role models, books, etc. that laid the groundwork for philosophical ideas and morals, and that greatly influence later ideas. The branches are the evolution of these foundational thoughts and ideas, and their variations and controversies. The leaves are the ideas of the moment. And in the centre is the trunk, where ideas and actions interact, where present and past connect, where the self and the world meet. Ecological identity is developed here in the centre.
Our perception of our relationship with the environment influences our actions. Education can help shape ecological identity, which in turn affects the decisions we make about how we live our lives and what kind of future we work towards.
