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	<em>Our two-part conversation between Sara Wyse, Assistant Professor of Biological Science at Bethel University, and Jonathon Schramm, Assistant Professor of Sustainability and Environmental Education at Goshen College, looks at the state of environmental education -- where are we headed and how might we improve it? &nbsp;In Part 2, Sara and Jonathon continue their conversation with a discussion of ways to improve environmental literacy at Christian colleges and universities. &nbsp;In <a href="/news_and_resources/blog/the_conversation_new_science_standards#.UIU8icXA-p0">Part 1</a>, Sara and Jonathon note a bright future for science education by analyzing the recommended Next Generation Science Standards for primary and seconday science education. &nbsp;&#39;The Conversation&#39; &nbsp;brings together experts in their field to discuss topics near and dear to them.</em></p>
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	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Headshot_Wyse-250pxl.jpg" style="font-weight: bold; width: 175px; height: 233px; float: right; " /></p>
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	<strong>Sara Wyse:</strong>&nbsp;Jonathon, while we wait for the effects of the new Next Generation Science Standards to trickle upstream, one area of interest is how we can engage in building better environmental &amp; science literacy during the college years. &nbsp;There is certainly a strong research body in this area, but one angle I am particularly interested in is building better environmental literacy in Christian institutions. &nbsp;In many cases, this is an area where our secular peer institutions are exceeding our commitment to stewardship - both in scientific literacy outcomes and in deed. &nbsp;What are your thoughts? &nbsp;And, if you could recommend three things that Christian institutions can do to build better environmental literacy and action, what would you choose? &nbsp;</p>
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	<strong><span class="float-left"><img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Jonathon-Schramm-BioPhotoPlants-250pxl.jpg" style="width: 175px; height: 233px; float: right; " /></span>Jonathon Schramm:</strong>&nbsp;It does seem like the trendsetters in this area tend to be secular institutions (although it&rsquo;s good to remember that many Christians work in those settings and are doubtless a part of the movement towards literacy). The reasons for our sluggishness as Christian institutions in developing environmental literacy are probably numerous, but if I had to boil it down to one idea, I think it would be the way in which we have effectively marginalized creation in our theology, and subsequently downplayed the role of creation care in our ethics. So one of my chief recommendations for where we as Christian institutions might work to repair our knowledge of and love for creation is to work at giving it prominent billing as often as possible in the &ldquo;big picture&rdquo; talk that frames so much teaching and activity on campus. Convocations, chapel services and the like should be full of not just praise to God for this beautiful creation, but also lament and repentance for the carelessness with which we&rsquo;ve treated it.</p>
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	<strong>Sara:</strong> Your thinking aligns well with my own. &nbsp;I find it interesting how many songs we sing where the backdrop to the screen are beautiful images of God&#39;s creation, yet little attention is given to talking about His world and the carelessness we&#39;ve demonstrated toward it. &nbsp;I think of Romans 8:19-22 as a passage of Scripture to re-acquaint ourselves with. Briefly, the passage describes that not only are humans subject to the consequences of the fall, but that creation is too, and that it also waits for restoration and redemption that comes through Christ. &nbsp;It&#39;s clear here, to me, that our restoration theology is not solely about restoring relationships with each other and God, but also about restoring relationships with the things that God has made.</p>
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	<strong>Jonathon:</strong> But I also feel strongly the very style of learning we&rsquo;re using needs to be embodied (incarnated, if you will!) and situated in real situations around us that reveal the complexity of interaction between humanity and creation. For instance, why not have all of our seniors studying a current social/environmental issue in their city in an interdisciplinary group (business majors, art majors, science, education, etc), and also try to generate some real, actionable responses or recommendations for that issue in their community? That step would break down many of the fairly artificial barriers between disciplines, but maybe more crucially for learning, help students to see how concepts in one field are often vitally linked to approaches or concepts in another. In particular for environmental literacy, how every issue truly does have an environmental component at its core. In this way, I hope that students would see the fact that their Christian college is harping on creation care is not just greenwashing or a liberal dogmatism, but reflects the pivotal truth that God&rsquo;s redemptive purposes will always be situated in a real creation.&nbsp;</p>
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	<strong>Sara:</strong>&nbsp;Contextualizing creation care is essential, and using the local environment as a backdrop to educational endeavors is cheap (it&#39;s in your backyard) and relevant (this is a problem that really matters to your local community). &nbsp;Not only that, but it propels students (and dare I say, faculty too!) to become acquainted with their local ecology. &nbsp;</p>
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	I think we also need to give students a chance to get outside and engaged with creation; specifically, learning the names of organisms in their local environment. &nbsp;When God charged Adam to name the animals, it gave them meaning and value because humans became acquainted with the rest of creation. &nbsp;In the same way, fostering connections between humans and their environment can spark value and appreciation, as well as literacy related to their &quot;space.&quot; &nbsp;Many students can&#39;t identify species of trees, but have no trouble naming &quot;species&quot; of cars. &nbsp;It&#39;s not that a student needs to memorize numerous scientific names, but students need to develop a working vocabulary related to their natural environment. &nbsp;When a student knows the name of a plant or animal, a connection has been established. &nbsp;It&#39;s not just a &quot;tree&quot; any more, and a connection with something makes it harder for us to ignore. &nbsp;This can easily be accomplished in college-level instruction across disciplines, and of course, can start in even younger grades. &nbsp;</p>
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	One example at the campus level would be for campuses to highlight &quot;what&#39;s on campus&quot; not just by sharing a map of where the buildings are, but what&#39;s in the woods? &nbsp;Who lives here (besides the students)? &nbsp;Simple signs labeling plants or habitats. &nbsp;It says that as a community the creation we are situated on is meaningful and has value.</p>
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	<strong>Jonathon:</strong>&nbsp;I agree. &nbsp;This would be a simple and effective way to help students begin to see the &ldquo;natural backdrop&rdquo; to their lives as a more of a living, breathing part of the creation, praising the Creator by its flourishing. It strikes me that this also addresses in part another common problem when trying to discuss environmental problems in Christian settings: the sense that the world&rsquo;s problems are too big for us to take much effective action. This is definitely an issue in non-Christian settings, too, and in either case it seems common when people acknowledge that our way of life is destroying the capacity for abundant life of many other creatures. But for Christians, in particular, it has always surprised me, since we don&rsquo;t accept that sort of inevitable acquiescence to the problems in other areas of life where human-human or human-God relationships are in question. I think it must go back to the point you made about the restoration of creation to healthy relationship with humanity not usually being a part of our eschatology.</p>
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	I&rsquo;m becoming more and more convinced that teaching people about creation care in a way that allows them to put real hope into action is crucial. By this I mean that we need to teach about the incredible vitality that God has instilled in creation even as we also present the problems our selfishness has caused, and we need to provide students with some sound strategies for creation care that they can use that are appropriate to their situation in life. And I&rsquo;m convinced that the more connected these approaches are to students&rsquo; local situations and environments, the more they are likely to build a deeper empathy and see that, yes, these things can make a difference. It&rsquo;s for this reason that I like your &ldquo;know your neighbor species&rdquo; idea &ndash; it&rsquo;s a good step towards building that firsthand connection. This general approach also seems like a good way to build allies in other disciplines on our campuses. Whatever our fields of expertise, we can see that most of the pressing issues facing our society and environment are interconnected with each other. Poverty is tightly related to environmental degradation, for instance. In other words, if we can ignite a compassion in our students, whatever their major and field of study, to see their surroundings as holistically as possible, we can hope that they will be better stewards of the creation even if they wouldn&rsquo;t self-identify as &ldquo;that kind of person.&rdquo;</p>
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	One of the conclusions this leads me to is that we could stand to revisit the way that we as faculty communicate on our campuses, and our expectations for professional development. I think we need to learn a lot more about the approaches our colleagues are taking in their fields, and carve out more time for dreaming together, not to mention actually working in each other&rsquo;s courses more often. Of course, there are a number of hurdles there, with tradition and time being chief among them. If we&rsquo;re convicted that this sort of approach is promising though, maybe we&rsquo;ll need to cut out some of our traditional uses of time (and rewards for those!) in order to promote this different way of thinking and teaching.</p>
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	What do you think? Am I wandering pretty far afield?</p>
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	<strong>Sara:</strong> The ideas we&#39;ve discussed over the last series of emails bring to me the point of suggesting some action items for those of us who are teaching in higher education. &nbsp;</p>
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	I&#39;d like to suggest that within the realm of our courses, we do what we can to: (1) use local, real-life problems in the context of our courses, (2) get students outdoors - there is much learning to be had there, and, (3) engage students in the act of restoration; this can be as simple as getting them to recycle (which, is harder than it sounds). &nbsp;I love your suggestion as well of talking about teaching in an interdisciplinary nature. &nbsp;What I love about teaching where I do is that faculty do enjoy collaborating together, and jump at the opportunity -- but, we need to know who to ask! &nbsp;For example, I teach a course about the science, technology and societal issues related to using plants as food. &nbsp;In order for me, a plant ecologist, to be successful in teaching this course, I need to bring in expertise of others - economists, nutritionists, food scientists, graphic designers, advertisers, retailers, and chefs. &nbsp;As students work to think about how we acquire our foods and the impact on our natural world as a result of our choices, their experience is enriched by the perspectives of others. &nbsp;So, I&#39;m right there with you in terms of collaboration. &nbsp;Our environmental studies &amp; science programs often engage in cross-discipline discussion, planning and teaching -- and I love the strength and richness that brings to the students in these courses. &nbsp;I would love to see it spread. &nbsp;Maybe that&#39;s a 4th action step: dialog and brainstorm with colleagues, engaging in one another&#39;s courses where appropriate. &nbsp;</p>
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	I don&#39;t know about you, but I&#39;m sure willing to take these 4 steps -- are you with me? &nbsp;</p>
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	<strong>Jonathon:</strong> Count me in, Sara! May God give us the vision, perseverance and joy for the long work ahead.</p>
