Promoting ecological consciousness in the classroom : a search for spiritual union

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Richard Byron Thomas (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
David E. Purpel

Abstract: The necessity of promoting an ecologically based curriculum is examined from both an educational and spiritual perspective. Beginning with a reflection upon the people, events, and experiences that have shaped my acceptance of Catholicism, my interest in the study of nature, and my decision to chose teaching as a career, this dissertation attempts to seek within the Catholic spiritual tradition a valid position from which I can address, as an educator, questions concerning humanity's ethical treatment of nature. Chapter One provides an historical perspective on the moral and ethical position Western societies have adopted towards the natural world. I suggest that because of an anthropocentric interpretation of Christian theology and the rise of modern science during the Enlightenment, Western societies have distanced themselves from moral and ethical questions concerning humanity's relationship with nature.

Additional Information

Publication
Dissertation
Language: English
Date: 1994
Subjects
Teaching $x Moral and ethical aspects
Environmental responsibility
Church and social problems $x Catholic Church

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