Educator’s Forum: From despair to empowerment

How do we as educators process anxiety and grief about environmental damage? How can we help our students honestly and constructively deal with the same issues?

As a community deeply connected to the wonders of nature, how do we also handle our feelings about the incredible scale of loss on the planet? And what do we do when anxiety, sadness, or despair are articulated by a student in one of our classes? During this week’s session of the Educator’s Fourm, Ayesha Ercelawn will guide us in trying out a few exercises and prompts based on Joanna Macy’s work, and brainstorm ways we might use/adapt these in our classes.

Joanna Macy, the author of Active Hope, is a scholar of deep ecology, Buddhism, and systems thinking. Ayesha has had the good fortune to participate in a few of her guided workshops and will share what she learned from those experiences.

About Ayesha

Ayesha Ercelawn is a naturalist, environmental educator, and gardener in California. She has been exploring, teaching, and journaling about the natural world of the Bay Area for 20-plus years. She taught K-5 students for many years and is currently teaching adult workshops. While her teaching focus has primarily been on joy and connection with the natural world, Ayesha feels that we need to address, and not downplay, our deep emotions about the environmental collapse we are experiencing. She is, therefore, exploring tools to help her and other educators incorporate this angle.

All ages and experience levels are welcome. No registration is necessary. If you are new to Zoom or are having trouble with the meeting controls, please see these notes and suggestions on Zoom Tips for Online Classes with John Muir Laws to help you get more out of the online workshop. When possible I will also make a recording of the workshop and post it on my blog. I look forward to seeing you there!

NOTE: Start time is 12 PM Pacific, 1 PM Mountain, 2 PM Central, 3 PM Eastern Time