Environmental Education: The Need for a Perceptional Paradigm Shift

Although Environmental Education is central to efforts in Environmental Management and Conservation of Resources, it seems to have suffered a serious flaw in approach. The approach in Environmental Education had always been condescending - the urban intellectuals patronizing the rural illiterate. This very approach overlooks the fact that the latter are the genuine practitioners of environmental management, particularly for their livelihood and hence are more in touch with nature; the former inspite of their educational superiority, are highly alienated from nature and hence have a poor understanding of traditional practices in resource management. It is, therefore, a pressing imperative that this patronizing attitude is replaced with one of humility - of learning. The perception in Environmental Education, therefore, has to change from "teaching the rural mass" to learning from their rich experience and complementing that with appropriate scientific knowledge. Thus, the approach has to be complementary. In this discussion efforts are being made to highlight the lessons that can be learned from the rural mass, particularly in reducing the threat to the environment due to increased use of chemical pesticides, by looking at traditional pest management practices.