Theory in, theory out: NCSE and the ESS curriculum

The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) has played a prominent role performing empirical research on the environmental studies and sciences (ESS) curriculum over the last 10 years and in significant ways has helped define the “new normal” of the ESS curriculum—for instance, in foregrounding sustainability as its core theme. Greater attention to the conceptual assumptions and implications of this effort—i.e., how theory informs and follows from NCSE’s empirical research—may help us better interrogate this “new normal” as we collectively chart the ESS curriculum of the future. In this paper, I examine one key recent NCSE report, titled “Interdisciplinary Environmental and Sustainability Education on the Nation’s Campuses 2012: Curriculum Design.” Its theoretical dimensions are summarized via three key steps: (a) the ideal ESS curriculum builds on diverse forms of knowledge, (b) this diverse knowledge can be organized into major curricular models, and (c) sustainability integrates these curricular models. The final step, presented without empirical justification, appears to derive both from earlier NCSE-related publications and theoretical assumptions from the first two steps. I conclude by rephrasing these three steps as questions for continued discussion and debate. Ultimately, theory and empirical research both matter in discussions over the ESS curriculum, which would ideally be informed but not constrained by NCSE’s contributions. Copyright AESS 2015