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This article was downloaded by: [Ams/Girona*barri Lib] On: 10 October 2014, At: 03:36 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Environmental Education Research Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ceer20 Formative Influences in the Lives of Environmental Educators in the United States PETER BLAZE CORCORAN a a Florida Gulf Coast University , USA Published online: 28 Jul 2006. To cite this article: PETER BLAZE CORCORAN (1999) Formative Influences in the Lives of Environmental Educators in the United States, Environmental Education Research, 5:2, 207-220, DOI: 10.1080/1350462990050207 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1350462990050207 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/ page/terms-and-conditions

Formative Influences in the Lives of Environmental Educators in the United States

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Page 1: Formative Influences in the Lives of Environmental Educators in the United States

This article was downloaded by: [Ams/Girona*barri Lib]On: 10 October 2014, At: 03:36Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Environmental Education ResearchPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ceer20

Formative Influences in the Livesof Environmental Educators in theUnited StatesPETER BLAZE CORCORAN aa Florida Gulf Coast University , USAPublished online: 28 Jul 2006.

To cite this article: PETER BLAZE CORCORAN (1999) Formative Influences in the Lives ofEnvironmental Educators in the United States, Environmental Education Research, 5:2, 207-220,DOI: 10.1080/1350462990050207

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1350462990050207

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoeveras to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Anyopinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of theauthors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracyof the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verifiedwith primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for anylosses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and otherliabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connectionwith, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Page 2: Formative Influences in the Lives of Environmental Educators in the United States

Environmental Education Research, Vol. 5, No. 2, 1999 207

Formative Influences in the Lives ofEnvironmental Educators in the UnitedStates

PETER BLAZE CORCORAN Florida Gulf Coast University, USA

SUMMARY The author obtained autobiographical statements and other data from 510US members of the North American Association for Environmental Education. Thisreport (1) presents findings regarding human and vicarious influences in their lives, and(2) presents excerpts from 34 of their statements, to illustrate the variety and richnessof their narratives.

Introduction

This study is based directly on the work of Joy Palmer (Palmer, 1993; Palmer &Suggate, 1996), and was undertaken with the assistance of Palmer and JenniferSuggate; I owe much thanks to both. In 1995, as part of Palmer's EmergentEnvironmentalism Research Project, I gathered narratives from 510 USenvironmental educators. A preliminary, partial analysis of their statementsappeared in 1996 (Palmer et ah, 1996). The present report is in two principalparts. First, a brief treatment of the more important findings presented earlier,focused on the influence of other people in these lives. Second, excerpts from 34of the narratives. In 1995, a conversation with fellow SLE researchers Palmer,Louise Chawla, and Tom Tanner generated unanimous agreement that to knowour subjects is to know much more than the numbers emanating from theirautobiographical statements; the stories themselves are so rich, varied, andprofoundly felt that they bear sharing with others. So I do that here.

The narratives from my respondents seem to confirm the findings of Palmerand the earlier, ground-breaking study by Tanner (1980). Tanner wrote of hisfindings that 'Youthful experience of the outdoors and relatively pristine envi-ronments emerges as a dominant influence in these lives'. The same proved truein Palmer's study. Examination of my 510 autobiographical statements revealsthe overwhelming importance of such experience.

1350-4622/99/020207-14 © 1999 Taylor & Francis Ltd

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208 P. B. Corcoran

I will focus on that which has proven in these and other studies to be the nextmost significant factor—the influence of other humans. My findings in thiscategory are based not upon the narratives, but upon a separate questionregarding heroes and heroines in the respondents' lives.

Methodology

I replicated the methodology of Palmer (1993), who had collected her data frommembers of the National Association for Environmental Education (UK). Imailed an outline of the study and its aims to those members of the NorthAmerican Association for Environmental Education having US addresses.Subjects were asked to indicate their approximate age and gender, and toprovide an autobiographical statement identifying those experiences that led totheir concern for the environment. The participants were also asked to statewhat they considered to be their single most significant life experience and towrite a statement indicating which, if any, of the years of their lives wereparticularly memorable in the development of positive attitudes andbehaviours towards the environment. The request to participate outlined onlythe aims and purposes of the research and gave no examples; thus subjectswere able to provide original and unbiased responses. In addition, I asked fora statement about the subjects' heroes or heroines. A list of activities relating topro-environmental behaviors was provided, and respondents were asked toindicate those in which they regularly engaged. This was done because I, likePalmer, wished to confirm the sample as a group of active and informedcitizens, who have knowledge about and act in a responsible way towards theenvironment.

Results

Of the 1500 or so mailed, 510 forms were returned as follows. Gender: female,277; male, 199; gender not identified, 34. Age: under 30 years of age, 54; 30-50years, 345; over 50 years, 111.

One question asked, 'Were there any particular heroines or heroes of anytype (your grandmother, an author, an environmentalist, a fictional character)who positively influenced you?' In response, 437 participants mentioned atleast one such person. A categorization and tally of the responses yieldednumbers ranging from 209 authors to 3 feminists, from 105 mothers to 13brothers. The results, listed by rank and number of times mentioned, are shownin Table 1.

It can be seen in Table 2 that these data for heroes and heroines are quitesimilar to the human and social influences found by Palmer in the contentanalysis of her 233 narratives (Palmer, 1993; Palmer & Suggate, 1996); she didnot ask participants to identify heroes and heroines. It is important to note thatthis is a comparison of only those factors relating to people; Palmer, like Tannerbefore her, found that the most important overall influence was early experienceof the outdoors, and my narratives suggest the same.

There are some interesting similarities between the data of the two countries.The ranks of all the human or vicarious factors are the same, and the over-whelming importance of the first two is true both in the UK and the USA. The

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TABLE 1. Heroes and heroines

1. Various authors, particularly Rachel Carson, Edward Abbey, John McPhee, Aldo Leopold,Ralph W. Emerson, John Muir, Sigurd Olson (209)

2. Father (139)3. Mother (105)4. Various teachers (63)5. Various activists, especially Martin Luther King, Ralph Nader, Jane Goodall (62)6. Friend or co-worker (55)7. Grandmother (38)8. Grandfather (36)9. Environmental professionals, especially naturalists, park employees (27)

10. Camp counselors or scout leaders (21)11. Various environmental groups, especially not-for-profit, e.g. Nature Conservancy (20)12. Political leaders (16)13. (Tie) Explorer or adventurer, especially Jacques Cousteau, Lewis & Clark (13)13. (Tie) Aunt (13)13. (Tie) Brother (13)16. Spouse or partner (12)17. (Tie) Uncle (11)17. (Tie) Religious figures or leaders (11)

greatest human influence in both countries is the family. The wording of theAmerican question about heroes and heroines might have led respondents awayfrom naming family members, yet many do.

The second most important of the human and vicarious influences is themedia, broadly defined to include TV, print media and, in the USA data,important cultural figures known through the media. These two groups ofinfluences are much more important than any of the rest. The next mostfrequently mentioned group was teachers, older friends, camp counselors, andother professionals. The comparisons made here suggest that family, media, andteachers have been prominent influences in contributing to concern for theenvironment among currently active environmental education professionals inboth nations.

Modeling Palmer, I gathered information on pro-environmental activitieswhich our respondents undertook regularly, and compared this to Palmer's

TABLE 2. Comparison of important human and vicarious influences in the UK and USA

Class

Family

Media

Older friends

FriendsReligion

n

84

76

39

2612

UK(n

%

36

33

17

115

= 233)

Rank

1

2

3

45

USA

n

356

314

111

6711

(n =

%

70

62

22

132

510)

Rank

1

2

3

45

Hero or heroine

parent, grandparent, aunt,uncle, brother, sister

author, explorer, activist,TV/film, celebrity

teachers, camp counselors,professionals

friends, spouse/partnerreligious figures/leaders

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210 P. B. Corcoran

TABLE 3. Activities reported by more than 90%, and fewer than 50%, ofparticipants

Over 90% of the sample engaged in the following activities:

In the UK Reading about environmental issues 91%Using alternative products 90%

In the USA Outdoor recreation 96%Recycling 95%Reading about environmental issues 93%

The only activities undertaken by less than half were:

In the UK Political activism on behalf of the environment 45%In the USA Political activism on behalf of the environment 47%

Practical land care 46%

findings for the UK. In both studies, respondents were asked to examine a listof seven activities and check those in which they engageTegularly. Although wedid not define 'regularly', respondents in both countries seem to indicate a highlevel of practical concern for the environment. Table 3 shows the most and leastengaged in of the seven activities in both countries.

Two of the activities show very similar percentages in both the UK and theUSA. Over 90% of the respondents in both countries (91% in UK, 93% in USA)read about environmental issues on a regular basis. At the opposite end of thescale of involvement, just under half (45% and 47% respectively) of the sampleengaged in political activism.

The distribution by gender was as shown in Table 4 in Palmer's UK study andin this one. In neither country was there much difference between males andfemales as to amount of involvement in most activities. In the UK, there is anappreciable difference in three activities, namely, curriculum development,practical conservation and political activism, in all of which men are moreinvolved than women. In the USA, the only class with a noticeable differenceis that of political activism, in which, again, men are more active than women.It is noteworthy that there are more and larger differences between genders inthe UK than in the USA.

The respondents were asked to give their age in one of three bands—under 30,30-50, over 50. There was comparatively little difference among the age groupsin the degree of participation. In most activities, the under 30s are slightly lessinvolved than the older age groups; the only cases where the reverse is true arerecycling and participation in some features of alternative lifestyle. In bothcountries, the involvement of the youngest age group in practical conservationand political activism is appreciably less than in older groups.

UKUSA

n

103199

TABLE 4.

Male

%

4439

Distribution by gender

Female

n %

130 56277 54

Gender not given

n %

0 —34 7

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Excerpts from the Narratives

The autobiographical descriptions written in response to the following promptevoked a remarkable set of responses—long, detailed, thoughtful:

Please describe the significant life experiences and formative influenceswhich have contributed to your concern for the environment and yourinterest in environmental education.

Through the words of my participants, I have intently followed frozen traplines in northern Minnesota, wandered wide-eyed through horse shows at theOhio State Fair, lovingly raised tadpoles in jars across the continent. I havepoignantly reminisced about the wetlands of Lake Pontchartrain, wistfullyremembered backyard explorations in almost every state, and I have relivedEarth Day 1970. It is all here—sensitive parents, eccentric biology teachers,college era epiphanies, scarring chagrin at strip mall destruction of the wildplaces of childhood.

The narratives are lengthy, rich, and multi-layered in their description ofexperiences. Even the prompt, 'Please indicate if there is a single most importantinfluence among them' did not elicit simple answers—indeed, many responsesexplicitly indicate multiple influences rather than single ones.

The following excerpts are representative of experiences and influences com-monly reported by the respondents. The 34 excerpts are from 34 differentpersons.

Childhood time outdoors.

When I was in 5th and 6th grade my family owned a small log cabinon a lake in the mountains of Colorado. My parents would take methere on weekends throughout the year. I spent a lot of time by myselfin the woods, building cabins, making up stories, and feeding birds andsquirrels. I would sit for hours waiting for animals to approach and eatfrom my hands. This was a flow experience. It made me an animaladvocate.

Unwrapping a daffodil. On this particular day early in Spring, I got offthe school bus and ran over to the ditch bank to see how the flowerswere doing. The day before, I had spotted buds of various sizes. Ithrew my books in the grass and started inspecting the progress ofthe buds. I could see a bit of yellow in the opening of a daffodilbud. I was impatient to see the flower. I wondered if I could help theflower along. I gently tugged at the outer green wrapping, hoping tobring the flower into bloom. I found that I could, indeed, get down towhere the yellow petals were encased. As I unwrapped the flower,though, I was horrified by what happened. The yellow petals did notunfold into a beautiful flower. They fell apart into my hands and onthe ground.

I realized in an instant what I had done. I had ruined that chance forthat daffodil to ever become a beautiful flower. I was saddened andshaken by the realization. While I knew that there were other daffodilsthat would bloom in our yard that Spring, the flower that was now in

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212 P. B. Corcoran

my hands and on the ground around me had been arrested in itsdevelopment. This flower never had a chance to bloom, and for this Ifelt bad. Yet, I feel that I learned an invaluable lesson that day. I learnedpatience, about nature's way of doing things, and about beauty thatcannot be captured or controlled. I am grateful for these lessons andknow that I'm different today because of my childhood encounters withthe world of nature.

As a very small child, my sisters and I and the local neighbor childrenspent hours, days, seasons playing in our local woods, fields, andstreams. There was little to entice us indoors as we had no TVs orVCRs or sophisticated toys. Instead, tree roots became enchantedkingdoms, sandboxes were foreign worlds, gardens were decorativepalaces. But we didn't know this was particularly special becauseeveryone we knew played outdoors. As we grew up, we connected bybicycles and our adventures became more sophisticated—sleepingovernight in a field with only a blanket; stealing baby birds from neststo watch them grow; fabricated elaborate romances in the woods—real and unreal.

I never thought how indelible my childhood was to be on my laterlife.When I was 4 years old, my mother died, and I was taken to live withmy aunt and uncle in a distant state. I had only met them briefly ona short visit before, so I found myself transported from a familiarworld to a strange one. The constant features were the natural world:sun, moon, trees, birds, night, dawn, rain. So I took these as my family,and they were the steady dependable world to a strange presence inmy life. And the outdoor world all around me as a child was secureand alluring. The back border of our property was a brook where Ispent countless hours. From its beginning in a small marsh at the topof the hill, to its disappearance under a culvert at the bottom, I knewits every rock, whirlpool, and miniature waterfall. Across the brookwas a woodlot, and above that an overgrown old orchard. At the topof the street was a long stretch of woods, where I could follow an oldcolonial road full of mystery for a mile and a half, until it came out intoa new road. Returning along it on late afternoons, with bands ofsunlight slanting through the trees, remains my image of the entry intoparadise.

I grew up in the inner city of St Louis. Our street was tree lined butthere was very little else that was green. The few homes that did haveyards and gardens were marvels to me. We did have a park that waswithin walking distance and it was a great source of enjoyment. Ourtrips to the zoo and the Missouri Botanical Gardens were very specialtreats that helped to foster my love for nature and my interest inenvironmental concerns.

Hope.

It took therapy for my children, and long, long walks through thewoodlands for me. Though talking out my pain was not as effective as

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Formative Influences 213

writing it, those quiet walks were really what cured me, gave mefortitude, gave me hope. The green shade became my cathedral, and thewind gentle answers to my prayers. In gratitude, I took a vow to fosterthe woodlands. I became their advocate, hoping to inspire others tokeep these threatened sanctuaries alive.

Heroic figures.

My biggest influence was Rachel Carson. Although her struggles andher death were before my time, the strength of her conviction and herlove of nature are certainly contagious. At times it seems difficult to getthrough to my audience, and when it is, I need only think back of thebattles that Rachel waged. She provides great strength in the entireenvironmental education arena.

Parents and grandparents as environmental educators and role models.

Another true influence on my life was my great-grandmother. One verystrong memory I have is concerning my playhouse in the wood shedwhen I was about 4 years old. I came running in to her about a lizardin my playhouse. She indicated to me I should question whose housethe wood shed really was! She said if you are going to be within an areaoutside your own, you would have to respect whatever else chose tolive there. It's really funny how wise she really was.

I have been very blessed to have family that taught me the greatestgifts from God are the things that we see everyday—trees, animals,plants, clouds, air, the sun, etc. I truly hold all these as gifts of gold!

I remember our vacations in a small old schoolhouse in Vermont. Mydad had bought it with a bunch of guys as a hunting cabin. But wewould go as a family sometimes and do wonderful things—skinny dipin the river for baths, sleep out in the field under the stars, forage forfood—as I write I know this was a great impact on developing mypassion for the environment. They also encouraged my interests in anatural resource degree and outdoor recreation. I think as a female itwas significant to have my mother as a role model!

My first important memory of my grandmother drying her hands afterfinishing the dishes at the kitchen sink, taking me by the hand, whenI was 5, and leading me outdoors to the forsythia bush just outside thekitchen window. She made this seem like the most amazing and specialphenomenon that we were about to see. She lifted me up with her armsso I could see a tiny hummingbird's nest with two tiny pea-sized eggsin it. It was so special to me!

My mother's insistence that as a woman in Mexican society I could goto college and have a job like any man made me learn that convention-alisms are not necessarily healthy and to everyone's benefit. I learnedto question the establishment.

Most important—swimming nude in the Rio Grande River with mygrandfather. I was 7 and nearly drowned in a small rapid. I've beendifferent ever since. Slept that night on a cot under the most starry

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214 P. B. Corcoran

night ever. My grandfather and his pal played dominoes and drankbeer under a brush arbor by the light of a Coleman lantern. I felt warm,secure and strongly attached to the earth.

Teachers and professors.

I knew by the time I entered high school I wanted a career inenvironmental issues. A high school biology teacher worked on acampaign to preserve a slough near town. I also took a class from himon field biology and thoroughly enjoyed it. I admired the teacher forstanding up for what he believed.

I was Catholic, and was quite amazed when I learned that thetranslation of 'dominion' over the earth was more accurately translatedas 'stewardship'. Then I went to college and, as a Freshperson, readThoreau's Walden. Since then I have discovered Rachel Carson,Edward O. Wilson, Lewis Thomas, Aldo Leopold, Loren Eiseley, ...and Al Gore; just getting to George Sessions and Bill Devall. I changedmy diet—main objective was to get off the top of the food chain (Dietfor a Small Planet). The metaphor of 'spaceship earth' during the 60sand 70s influenced me: we have limited resources—how do we changeour individual, personal lives to diminish the harm we cause? I wasalso a student of Native American and Buddhist traditions—thesereinforced the urge toward preservation, conservation, and, above all,simplicity and spirituality.

Scouting and camping.

I think the single most important influence in my life that contributedto my concern for the environment was the summer I spent at a girls'camp on the shores of Sleeping Bear Bay (northern Michigan). I wentfrom 10 years old through 20 years old, 8 weeks every summer. Iappreciated the strength and beauty of the lake, the fragility of thedunes, and through a counseling job, learned to appreciate the environ-ment as a key to helping children learn to care.I rarely answer questionnaires, even if I intend to get around to it. Butthe question you pose brought back a powerful memory, a changingpoint in my life. During my junior year in high school, I fully intendedto study art in college. Then during the summer before my senior yearI experienced a wilderness canoe trip in Quetico Park, Canada. Fromthat day forward I knew my life was dedicated to nature. At first Ithought I would be a wildlife photographer, but enrolled in a wildlifemanagement degree program because I felt I first needed to understandnature. I found the straight sciences stifling to my creative spirit anddiscovered the fields of environmental interpretation and education tobe the perfect blend of art and science.

The canoe trip was my first wilderness experience. Besides theobvious effects of spending a week living intimately with nature, therewas an introduction to the week which changed my way of thinkingabout the natural world. The night before heading out on our trip,Charlie, the outfitter, gathered the group (high school students from the

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Formative Influences 215

suburbs of Chicago) into a big teepee. I wish I had a copy of what hesaid to us. I have often wondered what elements of his talk—the wordsor how he said them—that triggered the change. I do remember that hesaid everything in nature was important, even a little leaf on a tree. Thetrip also had a closure to it ... a sauna dip in the lake at night listeningto tapes of wolf calls.

Hunting, trapping, fishing.

A conversation I well remember with my dad. I was telling him howawful he was to hurt deer and kill them. He explained overpopulationissues to me and a few days later brought home some pictures ofstarving/malnourished deer in a park. Responsible hunting took onnew meaning. This was reinforced many years later when I learned thatmany of the public lands I enjoyed for non-consumptive recreationwere purchased with hunter's license fees.

I grew up fishing. My best childhood memories are of fishing trips withmy family. Being outdoors in the mountains had a profoundly positiveimpact on intra-family dynamics. My father, who was generally a verygruff and impatient man, would become extremely patient and gentlewhile teaching us to fish and sharing his extensive knowledge about theoutdoor environment and wildlife. This is perhaps the most importantinfluence.

Time spent alone during adolescence hunting, fishing, and trapping theKankakee River in northern Illinois—feeling an identity with the en-vironment, watching gorgeous sunrises, and gaining an enormousrespect (perhaps even affection) for the creatures I was pursuing.

The destruction of landscapes.

Growing up in the 'Silicon Valley' (Santa Clara Valley, CA) during the1970s-80s, I witnessed the rapid transformation of natural to pastoral tosuburban to urban landscapes. Some of my favorite places to play in'retreats' were destroyed; actually, all of them were. I've always had asense that people need wild places to build a sense of connection to thelarger world, really for their own sanity. People need a place wherethey can be free from rules/responsibilities of society—a place todevelop their own moral and spiritual centers.

The single most important influence toward my concern for theenvironment was simply watching the things I loved disappear.

After returning home from a summer spent as a counselor at anExplorer Scout (BSA) wilderness camp in the Adirondacks, I discoveredthat my favorite piece of wild land had been completely bulldozed inanticipation of the building of a shopping center. Unlike my friends andneighbors who were excited about economic growth, new shoppingopportunities, and the glitz and glamour of the project, I was greatlydisturbed about the disappearance of a small pond and its inhabitantsas well as the loss of the raccoons, rabbits, birds, snakes, and other

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216 P. B. Corcoran

animals that I had come to appreciate. I had my first adult thoughtsabout what constituted progress.

A simple event in my life stands out as a kind of turning point inbecoming an environmental activist. While in college (1968-1972) Ifrequently saw beautiful posters of desert scenery by (I believe) ElliotPorter with the title: Glen Canyon: The place no one ever knew. Mysenior year, I finally suggested to a friend that we go backpacking therefor spring break and was shocked to learn that Glen Canyon no longerexisted because it had been flooded to create Lake Powell. That summerI read Desert Solitude by Edward Abbey. My transformation to environ-mental activist was complete.

Perhaps the most important influence was the destruction of the naturalareas of San Diego. Or perhaps it was my freedom to roam thosenatural areas freely. The very fact that our neighborhoods containedsuch unpaved open areas invited children's explorations. We spenthours in the Universe that grown-ups referred to as 'vacant lots.' Wewould have called them magic places. I still have a scar on a fingerfrom an encounter with a broken jar—the result of trying a little toohard to capture a butterfly, I think. But even now I hold this scarproudly, along with those created by various small injuries—bikeriding through the brush, falling off a horse, running barefoot on thebeach, tree climbing and conversations with the wrong end of a cactus.My parent's best gift to me was freedom. The earth itself taught melove for it.

So, as I grew older, watching each open space die was hellish. I hadan affinity for reptiles, amphibians, and insects then that I can no longerconnect to. I remember one particular special back lot being burnedprior to paving and transformation into a car dealership. I don't knowif I've felt the depth of grief I felt then, at 10 years old, finding,mourning, burying the bodies of the creatures caught in the blaze.When the pavement followed, it was as if my heart itself had beenpaved over.

A call to activism and social problems.

I remember wanting to protect the Earth very early. I still have thereply from a letter I wrote when I was nine to the Governor ofWyoming asking him to clean up the Green River, because I wanted tovisit someday and see it.

Early views of poverty and realization that poor were forced to periph-ery of 'Human Habitat.'

I came of age during the civil rights movement. My life's work ismotivated by the ongoing fight for social justice. More specifically, inmy current job, I am motivated by the dream that young people of colorwill grow to feel the same level of entitlement to the outdoor environ-ment—to use and enjoy it, to make decisions about how it is managedand to feel like full participants in its future—that often seems to be theexclusive domain of wealthy, white males.

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Formative Influences 217

Awareness of plight of farm workers. Awareness of plight of farmfamilies. Awareness of profiteering chemical companies, and timbercompanies.

Fear of the effects of environmental problems.

I grew up in a world of tremendous natural beauty and insidiousenvironmental degradation. The beauty decayed before our eyes, but soslowly that we couldn't see it. We took the natural world for granted,and with hubris the human world taught my generation that we werethe center of the universe and the crown of creation. I played the gameof education through high school and college, but I felt something wasmissing. I enjoyed the promise of knowledge and understanding, but Icouldn't wait to get out of school. I wanted, I told myself, the realworld. As a college graduate I created subsistence manual work formyself, lived simply, tried my hand at gardening. The process ofplanting and nurturing and weeding and thinning, of dwelling withgrowing things, was somehow realer than school. I began, too, to noticewhat was being lost, what had degraded in the South Carolina country-side since my childhood. I loved to have my hands in the soil. I foundan old bottle of pesticides in the shed and realized there was no awayto which I could throw it—I pondered that bottle for a long time. I sawdead birds in the rows of orchards after the poisons were sprayed. Ibegan to work for the environment. Many years later, on an OutwardBound course, I realized that my true education began after college. Iput environmental education experience in these words: 'Love of theland is the beginning of learning.'

Later, in high school, I was being 'initiated' into the senior Girl Scouttroop. We lived in Appleton, and the initiation consisted partially ofbeing thrown into the Fox River. This was the same river that my dadhad taken us fishing in but wouldn't let us eat that fish (and some ofthe fish were obviously deformed). Several days after the dunking,many of us had rashes, and the clothes I had worn gradually aftermany washings, had pin prick holes in them. Several large factorieswere sited across the river from where I had been thrown in; Iremember thinking that they were the cause of the problems and beingappalled that they could do that.

Worldview, faith and spirituality.

I really think the most fundamental formative influences have been ...forming relationships I experienced as a female child. That is to say, Igrew up knowing in a thousand ways that my main responsibility inlife was forming and facilitating relationships among myself andothers. Not only forming and facilitating, but also knowing that I wasresponsible for making them be caring ones, enduring ones, happy onesand so on. Of course I also learned at a very young age, this meant agreat deal of sacrifice on my part and of placing my needs, desires, etc.,secondary to those of others—especially men, and especially men withproverbial positions. As an adult, what I had to rework, rethink, and

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remake was my own place, role and degree of responsibility in thiswhole issue of 'relation' making. I eventually came to a place where itwas clear to me that the concept of 'relationships' was very important,as well as the activity involved in making 'relationships.'

Having grown up bilingual and bicultural—Mexican/American—Ialways had a strong sense that there is not one way to see things. Thisis important considering that the roots of our environmental crisis arein our worldview—our perception of ourselves and the world aroundus. A strong pull toward, and exposure to, mystical literature allowedme to draw a connection between the inner and outer elements ofhealing the planet.

There, in dim light before me, a beaver clearing as if descended fromabove. Pointed Aspen stumps were littered everywhere to the left andright, some with full stems lying grounded nearby. The stream, whichhad become little more than a trickle, here opened into a broad pondof three or four acres behind the first beaver dam. As I continued alongthe edge, picking a way among the fallen trees and undergrowth, Icame to another dam, and then a third. There must have been close toten acres of beaver-built pond here, tiered behind dikes of intertwinedtrees and twigs and brush, all created out of the slowly swishingfingerling stream.

Why, I wondered, out of the silence and awe? Why these dams, theseponds, this work? What motive had the beavers, brown creatures ofGod; what force moved inside their furry frames? Impulse, intuition,divinely inspired attunement with this Northland's great hoary dance?This energy, miles removed from normal human contact; this coopera-tive act, with little evident or obvious leadership; this vibrant show ofpure, strong, natural life was medicine and message for my aching anduncertain self. Feeling lost but wanting to be found, the earth hadresponded with epiphany. Darkness was imminent and I could see notrail, yet I moved confidently ahead and out of the November night ofthe wet woods.

My grandmother was insatiably curious, particularly about the naturalworld. Rock collecting, gardening, wildlife watching, canoeing, hiking,birding, and more were her favorite activities. I think exposure to thatcuriosity, backed by looking up more information in books was partic-ularly important in shaping my values.

The importance had even more reinforcement in that she also connec-ted that natural world to her spirituality. I consider her an extremelyconservative Christian, but in contrast to the common belief of 'multi-ply and subdue,' she believed the natural world was God's handiwork,a gift for us to cherish. Hers was the philosophy of stewardship ratherthan dominion. This is a very important bridge in valuing that naturalworld and making its wonder even more awesome.

We might not have seen eye to eye in the case of evolution vs.creation, but none the less there were Bible passages that supported mythinking. Genesis' creation story talks about the birds filling the skies,fish and animals of all sorts filling the seas, animals of the field and

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Formative Influences 219

wildlife of all kinds. Job also has an important passage for environ-mental educators—'Ask now the Earth and it will teach thee.'

The responses run to almost 1000 pages of narrative. Some reveal the painand anguish of unhappy childhoods, but, overwhelmingly, they report the joyof happy ones. They are deeply reflective and serious. I feel each time I readthem that I have been given a precious gift of insight by my colleagues. Theirstories of lives dedicated to environmental education reveal an array of forma-tive influences.

Conclusion

Is the exploration of the natural world just a pleasant way topass the golden hours of childhood or is there something deeper?I am sure there is something much deeper, something lasting andsignificant.

In her final written work, Rachel Carson (Carson, 1965) eloquently reminds usof the enduring value, across a human lifetime, of connectedness with nature.Again and again, research into the formative experiences of environmentaleducators reminds us of the centrality of time-in-nature as an essential influenceupon those who have chosen to commit to professional work related to theenvironment. All types of experiences in relatively pristine settings are reportedas key—time with adult mentors, 'unadulterated' time alone at certain ages,family time, time with peer adventurers.

If Carson and years of significant life experiences research are correct inidentifying such experience in natural places as a profound influence in adultrecollection, we must worry, it seems to me, as access to natural placesdiminishes. Once so taken for granted, even in rapidly industrializing andurbanizing spaces, these 'wild' places of childhood are being lost, like so manyother habitats. Indeed, destruction of the remembered landscapes of childhoodis reported as a significant influence as both the landscapes and the culture ofchildhood change.

There was a child went forth every day,And the first object he looked upon, that object he became,And that object became part of him for the day or a certain part of the day,Or for many years or stretching cycles of years ...These became part of that child who went forth every day, and who

now goes, and will always go forth every day. (Whitman, 1855)

It is an unsettling time, I believe, for American youth, with the death of natureas we have known it and the loss of places and forces beyond human influence.If Whitman was right—that we become what we behold—we must also worryabout what most young people are beholding in video games, computers, andtelevisions with such violent and warped views of nature and human nature.

My worry is for the young, who in the brief span of time of this new field ofresearch, have already been limited in the ways of life and the kinds of placesso many, across cultures, have previously found so lasting and significant. I amconcerned that such landscapes and such environmental education might be-come increasingly available primarily to the economically privileged.

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I am convinced of the efficacy of this research in getting at the importantevents that echo across lifetimes—those experiences, as they are remembered,both positively or negatively, that drive us to certain life decisions and behavior.My research indicates access to natural places, to family experiences, to positivemedia experiences (including books), and to teachers are both of lastingsignificance and greatly considered to be privileges by those in this study.

I surely have not done justice to the magnitude of material offered in responseto my questionnaire. However, I derive great inspiration from the likelihood thatmy respondents are now, in turn, providing opportunities for the kind ofsignificant life experiences they themselves so vividly and appreciatively de-scribe as having been provided to them. Perhaps in this way our fortunate livesas environmental educators truly become 'lasting and significant'.

Notes on Contributor

PETER BLAZE CORCORAN is Professor of Environmental Studies and Environ-mental Education at America's newest university, Florida Gulf Coast University,which has a commitment to ecological literacy for all students. He is ImmediatePast President of the North American Association for Environmental Education.His international efforts in EE extend to the South Pacific island nations, theCentral Asian republics, and Western Europe. Correspondence: College of Artsand Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, Florida 33965-6565USA. E-mail [email protected]

REFERENCES

CARSON, R. (1965) The Sense of Wonder (New York, Harper & Row).PALMER, J. (1993) Development of concern for the environment and formative experiences of

educators, Journal of Environmental Education, 24(3), pp. 26-30.PALMER, J., CORCORAN, P.B. & SUGGATE, J. (1996) Formative experiences of environmental educa-

tors: overview and comparison of empirical research in two nations, Environmental Education,52, pp. 5-8.

PALMER, J. & SUGGATE, J. (1996) Influences and experiences affecting the pro-environmentalbehaviour of educators, Environmental Education Research, 2(1), pp. 109-121.

TANNER, T. (1980) Significant life experiences: a new research area in environmental education,Journal of Environmental Education, 11(4), pp. 20-24.

WHITMAN, W. (1855) There was a child went forth, Leaves of Grass (from Selected Poems of WaltWhitman [1942]) (New York, Walter J. Black).D

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