He had me at the Introduction. There, he shifts the focus of education
for environmental solutions away from discipline-based training for
technological “fixes,” that prepares young people to compete effectively in the
global economy, and toward what he calls “ecological design
intelligence”—education for the ability to “think broadly, to perceive systems
and patterns, and to live as whole persons.” His basic argument is that the broad array of environmental
problems that we observe are all connected, and symptoms of the same malady,
and it will take a different way of educating future generations to cure
it. Orr calls for a complete
redesign of the education system, to achieve that goal. Coming from an integrative,
systems-based field of study, I couldn’t agree more.
Orr begins by naming the
problem of education. More is not
necessarily better; better might mean different—education that embodies standards of decency and human survival, and
not simply value-neutral technical training. He moves to unpack some of the myths underlying traditional
educational design: that “ignorance
is a solvable problem” (it isn’t; we’ll never know everything); that with
enough knowledge, we can “manage the earth” (the deep complexity of earth
systems never can be sufficiently understood for that); and that “good” human
knowledge and wisdom are increasing (some is growing, some is being lost).
Orr cites the development of
disciplines as one cause of the narrow perspectives of most graduates, and
suggests that instead of educating for success, we would do better to educate
“peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind…people
who live well in their places.” He goes on to outline his vision for a
reoriented educational system that educates for these outcomes.
Orr sees the dangers of our
current educational system as preparing young people for careers before and
rather than for callings; that disciplinary structures will become the way in
which graduates believe reality to be organized; and that education will
destroy their sense of wonder.
Although he sees education as an accomplice in cultural decline, he also
sees it as the institution best able to reverse that decline.
Among the problems of
education, Orr sees the current system as lacking a sense of urgency, a direct
connection with the world, and an orientation toward “book-learning” above all
other kinds, so that intelligence is defined solely by that metric.
What is needed from 21st-century
education, says Orr, is “a broader conception of science, and a more inclusive
rationality that joins empirical knowledge with the same emotions that make us
love and sometimes fight.” In
other words, the age of education for objectivity and neutrality is long over;
the age of education that serves the needs of the world is upon us. Education should no longer “separate
mind or body from its ecological and emotional context.” It should move us away from the notion
that humans are to dominate nature; teach about citizenship and responsibility
as much as individualism and rights; and challenge “technological
fundamentalism.” Orr also
implicates for-profit schools as embodying priorities that are antithetical to
those he espouses for education.
In Part 2 of the book, Orr
outlines his vision for revamping education. Reintegrate concepts of emotional bonds, fight, and love
into science. These are not
antithetical, he asserts; they are merely complexly interrelated, and we do not
understand them well enough to teach them. Ways of teaching about “biophilia” – our deeper affinities
for life—will have to be developed.
Orr reconsiders our notions of “intelligence,” proposing an expanded and
deeper view that incorporates innate human gifts of courage and
creativity.
The chapter on water and oil is
a creative framing of the connection between our natural affinity for water,
and the ways in which our relationship with oil resources has undermined our
intelligence. If young people
better understood these two dynamics, they might help to shift our priorities
in resource use. Ensuing chapters
address various dimensions of our world for which education is the key to
sustainability: biodiversity,
politics, and economics.
The third part of the book is a
proposal for restructuring education toward Orr’s goals. He espouses different ratings systems
for colleges, reorganization of disciplinary boundaries, rethinking tenure and
professionalism in the academy, promoting “design intelligence,” redesigning
learning environments, relocating agricultural education into the liberal arts,
and educating for long-term citizenship–of the earth.
In Part Four, Orr sums up where
he hopes all of this advocacy will lead.
He foresees a resurgence of “biophilia”—a return to “world that takes
its places seriously.” This is
music to a geographer’s ears. The
idea of, economies of, and politics of place matter, he says. He turns his attention to responsible
food consumption, calling for a shift to “an honest food system,” and then to
the rural population and economy, speculating on its future. Orr speculates on the possibility that
the urban/rural population dynamic might shift its proportions, due to energy,
pollution, health, or complexity issues, or simply because tastes will change
and people will seek a more rural lifestyle. He then makes a novel suggestion: that we might want to begin making that shift intentionally,
now, so that it can be accomplished in a rational and orderly fashion, given
the high likelihood that we will need to do it someday anyway.
After laying out the suggestion
that this move might be sensible, Orr then outlines a vision for a new rural
way of life that is sustainable in every dimension, and that preempts most of
the problems of environment that plague and threaten the human future.
This is a well-written and
intriguing book, which aligns well with holistic Christian educational philosophy. It will be a good read for anyone who
would like an uplifting vision of an alternative future, well within our grasp.
