C.A. Bowers

(SUNY Press, 1993)

Two main concerns underlie the essays of C.A. Bowers: One, that we are, as a species, in real danger of destroying our life-sustaining ecosystems, and two, that the scope of this problem challenges the adequacy of the belief systems and ways of thinking of the “developed” world. Bowers takes on the most cherished assumptions of liberal humanism, modernism, and progressivism, with his critique of such taken-for-granted core beliefs as individualism, abstract rational thought, emancipation, progress, and the elaboration and extension of technology.

Drawing upon complex ideas from the sociology of knowledge, cultural anthropology, and linguistics as well as ecological theory, Bowers guides us into an understanding of the multi-layered connections between culture, language, behavior, and thought. Reading these critical essays, we begin to develop a clearer picture of how the school curriculum functions as a reality-constructing process, and how teachers, as primary transmitters of language and culture, socialize students to a way of conceptualizing the world that most often does not foster an ecologically sensitive worldview.

One section of this book is devoted to an analysis of the cultural effects of educational computing. Here, Bowers challenges conventional thinking about the use of information technology in the classroom, suggesting that computers are not “neutral tools,” but machines with a unique power to shape the conceptual framework of students. He raises serious questions about the adequacy of such a conceptual framework to respond to the deepening ecological crisis.

In another section, Bowers looks at the connections between addressing the ecological crisis and the challenges of cultural diversity. He explores reasons why the knowledge of traditional, ecologically oriented cultures has been marginalized, and presents a thoughtful and realistic appraisal of ways in which urban teachers might incorporate the wisdom of premodern cultures into the classroom. The scope of his ideas extends well beyond much of the contemporary writing about both multiculturalism and environmental education.

These essays cover over twenty years of scholarly work. Few writers have achieved such a synthesis of thought or such a clear vision of the roots of the ecological and cultural crises that we find ourselves in. At times, Bowers has been a lone voice in the world of educational theory, with his insistence that we must take the state of our planet into account in our theorizing about curriculum, instruction, and educational policy. This volume is must reading for anyone who is deeply concerned about these connections.

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