Review: éduquer par la Philosophie et le Conte au Développement Durable: 12 Ateliers Pédagogiques (Education through philosophy and tale for Sustainability development: 12 pedagogical workshops)

摘要

This interdisciplinary book in French is mainly for teachers in primary schools, philosophers, and creative writers who want to educate for sustainability using stories and tales for children. éduquer par la Philosophie et le Conte au Développement Durable: 12 Ateliers Pédagogiques uses some very original approaches that have been tested with more than 150 pupils across various schools in France. Its title means “educating with philosophy and tales for sustainable development: twelve pedagogical workshops”. The coauthors have penned twelve original stories — or rather, modern tales or fables — that metaphorically refer to environmental issues, avoiding fear, extreme dangers, insoluble hazards, Manicheism, over-dramatization, and promoting instead respect for life, optimistic perspectives, empowerment, and ethical values (see pp. 101-212). All these tales (with characters, situations, dialogues) address the underlying question “Why should we care about nature?” In terms of their theoretical framework, the authors aptly refer to many sources, charters, and international agreements related to the environment, but they also invoke works by Serge Boimare, a French educational psychologist and theoretician who wrote extensively on the side effects of fear and the ways to avoid fear in stories and tales targeting young readers. Fear is often considered by educators as paralyzing and unproductive (pp. 13-14, 62- 68). Just like myths, tales and fables about nature and the environment should rather enable children to think, learn, understand complex issues, and feel competent for action and social change.