Page 56 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

32 M.L. Bentley

A Strong Foundation for EcoJustice Education

Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in. (Leonardo
Da Vinci)
Martusewicz, Lupinacci, and Schnakenberg offer a compelling framework for
ecojustice education based upon a sound epistemological foundation that should
resonate with educators who are familiar with a constructivist epistemology
(Bentley et al. 2007). I offer a concept map in Fig.1 of this proposed framework for
ecojustice education. The graphic illustrates the foundations of epistemology on the
one corner of the triangle and of our situated ecosystem context on the other, both
focused on the apex, the teaching-action component, which is the outcome of a
cultural–ecological analysis process.
I have labeled the bottom-left corner of the graphic, “The Sacred Unknowable,”
because Martusewicz, Lupinacci, and Schnakenberg emphasize such a space in
their argument that scientific knowledge will be incomplete. This corner could just
as well have been labeled, “The Nature of Science” (NOS). The NOS, properly
understood, includes the proposition that scientific knowledge is ultimately limited.
An excellent resource about a postmodern view of the NOS is McComas (1998).

Epistemological Support from Modern Science

Martusewicz, Lupinacci, and Schnakenberg do not draw upon science itself in
their argument for the limits of science, but they well could have. In mathematics,

protect-revitalize cultural &
place-based education environmental commons
TEACHING-
ACTION FOR
SUSTAINABILITY
FRAMEWORK
FOR
ECOJUSTICE
EDUCATION

situated in local
epistemological contexts
pluralism
THE SACRED EMBEDDEDNESS
UNKNOWABLE IN ECOSYSTEMS
negotiating our lives with
²nature of science²
the world
Fig. 1 A graphic representing the ecojustice education framework