Environmental Education as a Lived-Body Practice? A Contemplative Pedagogy Perspective
February 1, 2017 Jani Pulkki, B. Dahlin, Veli-Matti Värri
Environmental education often focuses on knowledge and rational understanding, but this paper argues that the lived-body is a neglected but crucial site for learning ecological action. It calls for a biophilia revolution where refined bodily experience and enhanced sensing complement knowledge-based approaches. Alienation from the physical environment is linked to alienation from one's own body, rooted in Cartesian dualism. Overcoming this dualism through contemplative pedagogy—such as yoga or mindfulness meditation—can reconnect people to the material world, cultivating intrinsic valuation and care for the environment. Using Merleau-Ponty's concept of the flesh, the paper suggests that experiencing oneself and the world as one fosters meaning and value for all life.