A Pedagogy of Responsibility: Wendell Berry for EcoJustice Education

by Rebecca A. Martusewicz (Author)

Drawing on the theories of author and conservationist Wendell Berry for the field of EcoJustice Education, this book articulates a pedagogy of responsibility as a three-pronged approach grounded in the recognition that our planet balances an essential and fragile interdependence between all living creatures. Examining the deep cultural roots of social and ecological problems perpetuated by schools and institutions, Martusewicz identifies practices, relationships, beliefs, and traditions that contribute to healthier communities. She calls for imaginative re-thinking of education as an ethical process based in a vision of healthy, just, and sustainable communities. Using a critical analytical process, Martusewicz reveals how values of exploitation, mastery, and dispossession of land and people have taken hold in our educational system and communities, and employs Berry’s philosophy and wisdom to interrogate and develop a "pedagogy of responsibility" as an antidote to such harmful ideologies, structures, and patterns. Berry’s critical work and the author’s relatable storytelling challenge taken-for-granted perspectives and open new ways of thinking about teaching for democratic and sustainable communities.

Review
"Martusewicz’s celebrations of Wendell Berry in this book offer us priceless gifts and essential insights for healing all the damages of our destructive era. This book challenges us to put into practice Berry’s philosophy of living and learning inside as well as outside the confines of classrooms across the world."

―Madhu Suri Prakash, Penn State University, USA

"This book is long overdue. Berry is one of the ‘greats’; his writings still reverberate throughout all fields of education. This book contextualizes Berry’s writings in contemporary yet unsustainable times."

―Amy Cutter-Mackenzie, Southern Cross University, Australia

"This volume invites educators into a conversation with the work of Wendell Berry, one of America’s most revered writers on the themes of environment, culture, community, place, and what it means to be responsibly alive in the world. With careful attention to Berry’s novels, essays, and poems, Martusewicz shows how Berry’s work can inspire us to re-imagine our place in the world and to inhabit our roles as educators more responsibly."

―David A. Greenwood, Lakehead University, Canada

About the Author
Rebecca Martusewicz is Professor of Social Foundations in the Department of Teacher Education at Eastern Michigan University, USA



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