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Overcoming “ecophobia”: fostering environmental empathy through narrative in children's science literature
Author(s) -
McKnight Diane M
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
frontiers in ecology and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.918
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1540-9309
pISSN - 1540-9295
DOI - 10.1890/100041
Subject(s) - narrative , empathy , magic (telescope) , key (lock) , psychology , sociology , public relations , computer science , political science , social psychology , art , literature , computer security , physics , quantum mechanics
Efforts to communicate with children about ecological themes often emphasize environmental threats. For some children, however, this approach can backfire, as they try to avoid continued exposure to problems they cannot solve. Another innovative approach is to promote the development of environmental empathy and environmental literacy through the use of narrative. Children's books that use narrative to convey key concepts about a given ecosystem could potentially reach a broad audience by making information about the books available on the internet. Examples of this approach are a special New York City edition of a book in the Magic School Bus series (Scholastic Press) and the Schoolyard Book series produced by the Long Term Ecological Research Network program.