@inbook{1db01143c16140a3bac1b3b82d904bc0,
title = "Education in the Anthropocene: A sober assessment",
abstract = "This paper offers a reflection on the implications of the ecological crises of the Anthropocene for education. The premise of the paper is that we—as concerned educators and researchers—tend to be too quick to turn to education as a solution to the problem. Before we can think well about how education might contribute to a transition towards a sustainable society, we need to seriously consider the ways in which education has contributed to the development of the ecological crisis. Failure to do so is bound to lead to unrealistic expectations about what {\textquoteleft}education{\textquoteright} can do, as well as to leave us blind to some of the problematic aspects of education. The purpose of the paper is to challenge the confidence with which education tends to be put forward as a solution to our ecological predicament. The paper does so by challenging three fundamental implicit assumptions that underlie the idea that environmental education (of the right kind) can help us attain a sustainable mode of living: 1) That education is separate or separable enough from the society in which and by which it is organized to be used, in some sense, as a lever for change; 2) That we can take charge of the future of our planet; 3) That adults{\textquoteright} sense of responsibility (or even the notion of responsibility) is—or can be made—up to this task. The first assumption is challenged by introducing a deep-historical, anthropological and sociological perspective on education; the second and third are addressed in a discussion of four interconnected themes (abstraction, responsibility, hypocrisy and hope) that highlights some philosophical implications of this perspective change and illustrates the depth of our predicament.",
keywords = "education, Anthropocene, ecology, environmental education",
author = "Anders Schinkel",
year = "2022",
doi = "10.1007/978-3-662-63376-2_5",
language = "English",
isbn = "9783662633755",
series = "Kindheit - Bildung - Erziehung. Philosophische Perspektiven",
publisher = "J.B. Metzler",
pages = "73--96",
editor = "Johannes Drerup and Franziska Felder and Veronika Magyar-Haas and Gottfried Schweiger",
booktitle = "Creating green citizens",
}