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INTRODUCTION
Everyone, young and old alike, loves a good story. Besides its entertainment
value, a good story has the capacity to attract and hold our attention
as it teaches us important lessons, often from the past, but of direct
relevance for living today.
In her book, Earth Tales: Storytelling in Times of Change, Alida
Gersie (1992) notes that storytelling is very relevant to current concerns
about the environment. This is because many stories focus on the earth,
how it was created, ways that we can live in harmony with it, and the
problems that can arise when we forget the importance of living in harmony
with the earth.
This module provides a series of activities about the importance of
stories and storytelling as a teaching method and about ways in which
storytelling can be used to achieve the objectives of environmental
education.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this workshop are:
- to develop an appreciation of the importance of stories as educational
resources;
- to develop an appreciation of the importance of traditional, indigenous
and contemporary stories as sources of environmental education themes;
- to develop skills in locating stories to use in teaching and integrating
them constructively into teaching units; and
- to develop an appreciation of the value of guest storytellers and ways of using them effectively as co-teachers.
WORKSHOP OUTLINE
1. We all have Stories
The workshop is introduced by an activity which helps participants recognise
the importance of stories in their own lives and how such stories can
be sources of themes for lessons in environmental education.
2. Stories for the Environment
This activity involves a group discussion of a short article about the
importance of stories as one way of helping students respond positively
to environmental problems and to develop a commitment to solving them.
3. Finding Good Stories
This activity provides suggestions on sources of stories that may be
used in environmental education. This is based upon a collection of
stories that facilitators bring to the workshop and a brainstorming
exercise.
4. Using Indigenous Stories
Indigenous stories are a culturally and environmentally rich resource
for teaching. In this activity, participants work in small groups to
make a list of indigenous stories and categorise them according to a
range of environmental education themes.
5. Using Success Stories of the Environment
This activity helps participants to recognise the inspirational value
of hearing stories about groups who have been successful in solving
environmental problems in their communities. In this activity, participants
also recognise the importance of integrating stories into a teaching
unit. The example is a story from Sri Lanka.
6. Using Guest Storytellers
This activity suggests that local elders, parents and other members
of the community could be invited to class to tell their stories - or
to sing, act, dance, perform puppetry, etc. - as guest teachers. After
brainstorming a list of possible guest teachers, participants discuss
the importance of carefully preparing both guests and classes so that
the visit is a successful educational experience.
7. Conclusion
Participants are asked to review the workshop and indicate how confident
they feel about various skills for using stories in environmental education.
NOTES FOR FACILITATORS
1. The degree of curriculum choice and flexibility for teachers can
be very high in certain education systems and countries. However, syllabus
and examination requirements can exert a strong influence in other education
systems, especially for secondary schools. Workshop facilitators will
need to adapt activities and emphasise different aspects of the workshop
according to the curriculum contexts and needs of participants.
2. The depth of treatment and amount of time allocated to each activity
will vary according to the background experiences of participants in
classroom teaching and in environmental education. The activities may
need to be adjusted according to whether participants are experienced
environmental educators seeking to update their appreciation of environmental
education, experienced teachers who are relatively new to environmental
education, or pre-service trainees relatively inexperienced in teaching
and environmental education.
3. Facilitators should analyse all resources and activities in this
module for educational and cultural relevance and adapt and/or replace
any ideas with local examples.
4. Facilitators should also review their national and local curriculum
guidelines to identify the place of storytelling methods in them.
MATERIALS REQUIRED
A. Provided
Overhead Transparencies
OHT 1 Objectives of the Workshop
OHT 2 Workshop Outline
OHT 3 The Importance of Storytelling
OHT 4 The Objectives of Environmental Education
OHT 5 Causes of Environmental Problems
OHT 6 Mechanisms for Denying Environmental Problems
OHT 7 The Purposes of Traditional Stories
OHT 8 Powerful Lessons Stories can Teach
OHT 9 Why Indigenous Stories?
OHT 10 Indigenous Stories and Messages
OHT 11 Objectives and Activities for Using the Monk's Story in Teaching
OHT 12 The Monk's Six Principles for Living Sustainably
OHT 13 Principles for Using Guest Storytellers Effectively
OHT 14 Reviewing the Workshop
Resources
Resource 1 Stories for the Environment
Resource 2 The Monk's Story
Resource 3 Activities Based on the Monk's Story
Resource 4 Plan for Using a Story in Teaching
Readings
Reading 1 Telling Stories Well B.
To be obtained
This workshop requires the facilitator to select a range of local stories. It is important that this be done at the local level to ensure the local cultural relevance of the workshop.
The facilitator should prepare a personal story about an experience from his/her life in which the environment has been significant, e.g. memories of childhood places, the place where you grew up, holiday places, etc., and changes to such important places. The story should be selected and told in order to help participants think of the importance of stories about the environment in their lives. Alternatively, a guest storyteller (e.g. a skilled colleague, an indigenous elder, or a member of a local cultural group - see Activity 6) could be invited to tell such a story to help begin the workshop.
The facilitator should make a collection of different sorts of stories and story forms to display at the workshop. Colleagues such as educational librarians and lecturers in language studies, history, culture, religion and social studies have always proven to be most helpful in compiling collections of stories. These may be stories about local society and environments, traditional or indigenous stories or stories from other cultures. These stories could be in book form - or comics, poems, videos, films and audio-cassette. These should be brought to the workshop and set up as a display for participants. If such a collection is not possible, facilitators should select at least 3-4 stories - preferably expressed in different forms such as tales, poetry, etc. - to use in this activity.
The facilitator could provide examples of indigenous stories - or, using the suggestions in Activity 6 - invite the assistance of indigenous guest story tellers.
This activity is based upon a contemporary story of Sri Lankan village that developed a sustainable lifestyle with the assistance of an ecologically-minded monk. A local success story could be selected to replace this story to bring increased local relevance if the facilitator wishes.
Indigenous storytellers, singers, dancers, puppeteers, etc. could be invited to assist with this and other activities in the workshop.
ADDITIONAL READING
Bardwell, L. (1991) Success stories: Imagery by example, Journal of Environmental Education, 23, 5-10.
Barton, B. (1986) Tell Me Another, Pembroke Publishers, Toronto.
Campbell, J. (1988) The Power of Myth, Doubleday, London.
Gersie, A. (1992) Earth Tales: Storytelling in Times of Change, Green Print, London.
Gersie, A. and King, N. (1990) Storymaking in Education and Therapy, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London.
Kane, S. (1994) Wisdom of the Mythtellers, Broodwin Press, New York
Knudston, P. and Suzuki, D. (1992) Wisdom of the Elders, Unwin and Allen, Sydney.
Livo, N. and Rietz, S. (1986) Storytelling: Process and Practice, Libraries Unlimited, Englewood, Colorado.
Livo, N. and Rietz, S. (1991) Storytelling Folklore Sourcebook, Libraries Unlimited, Englewood, Colorado.
Sawyer, R. (1986) The Way of the Storyteller, Penguin, Harmondsworth.
De Young, R. and Monroe, M. (1996) Some fundamentals of engaging stories, Environmental Education Research, 2(2), 171-187.
The facilitator should make a collection of local and national stories, perhaps with the assistance of an educational librarian, to make a display for participants.
ACTIVITIES
1. We all have Stories
The purpose of this introductory activity is to help participants identify the important roles that stories play in everyone's lives and the reasons for using storytelling as a teaching method.
It is best to begin the workshop by telling the group a story about the significance of some aspect of the environment to you. This could be a story about the place where you were born and grew up - and how you felt when you returned to it after many years away. It could also be a story about a favourite holiday place, or tree, or forest, or bird or animal - and how it came to be important to you. This story needs to be prepared or practised in advance. Reading 1 provides some general guidelines on how to tell stories confidently.
Facilitators who do not feel confident to tell such a story could invite an experienced colleague (or a guest story teller) to tell such a story or maybe play an audiotape of a story to the group.
- Begin the workshop by telling the story you have prepared.
- Ask participants to think silently for three minutes about a similar
story of their own, from their own experiences.
- Group participants into threes and ask each person to tell his/her
story to the other two people.
- When this is completed, ask the groups to identify:
A. How they felt telling their stories
B. The topics and messages from their stories
C. One way in which at least one of the stories could be used to teach a topic in their curriculum.
- Ask each group member to take responsibility for reporting on A,
B or C for his/her group.
- Form three new groups - one for all the 'As'; one for all the 'Bs';
and one for all the 'Cs'. Give each of these groups an OHT or a piece
of chart paper to record all the answers from the smaller group -
and to appoint a group reporter.
- Hear group reports, making a summary of key points about storytelling
as a teaching method as you go along. For example, some points that
may be made include:
- At first people often feel embarrassed telling a story - but get a lot of satisfaction from the positive response of listeners and from having their life experiences confessed.
- There is a limitless number of topics for stories but the best stories are those that have a theme or message from which we can learn an important lesson.
- Many classroom topics can be illustrated by a story that simplifies a complex process, reminds us of important lessons, or develops speaking, listening, writing and memory skills.
- Display OHT 1 and OHT 2 to provide participants with an outline of the objectives and activities of the workshop.
2. Stories for the Environment
- Show OHT 3 which contains two quotations about
the importance of stories for environmental education.
Ask participants to identify the key points being made in the two quotations - and how these points relate to the five broad objects of environmental education (OHT 4).
- Distribute Reading 1 and ask participants to read this in their
original groups of threes. Ask participants to answer the questions
at the end of the reading.
- Hear group reports - and use OHTs 4-8 to summarise
the important points in their answers:
OHT 5 Causes of Environmental Problems
OHT 6 Mechanisms for Denying Environmental Problems
OHT 7 The Purposes of Traditional Stories
OHT 8 Powerful Lessons Stories Can Teach
Stories can be found in all sorts of places - and may take many different forms. Stories may be found in books, novels, poetry and songs. Stories are also told through cultural forms such as dance, puppetry and theatre. The purpose of this activity is to help participants recognise this great range of sources of stories.
Unfortunately, in a module such as this which has been written to be adapted for use in many different countries, it is not possible to provide a list of such sources. This is why it was suggested in the introductory part of this module that facilitators should make a collection of stories and story forms in order to set up a display at the workshop.
- Present an overview of the range of stories that you have collected,
telling participants where you obtained them and the people who helped
you find them. The aim is to encourage participants to realise that
all sorts of stories can be used in teaching and that a range of colleagues
can help collect them. A small collection of 3-4 stories is suitable
if you do not have a large collection.
- Conduct a brainstorming session for participants to list sources
of stories that they think could be used in teaching environmental
themes. During brainstorming, list all suggestions on a chart or display
board.
- Then, when no more ideas are forthcoming, ask participants to suggest
2-3 headings for categorising the sources. Some categories may be:
- local cultural - other cultural sources;
- traditional stories - contemporary stories;
- written sources - oral sources;
- stories - poems - dances - movies, etc.
- Explain to participants that one special sort of story that often
has environmental education implications are indigenous stories. Indigenous
stories often contrast with the anti-environmental messages of modern
culture received from television, movies and advertising. Contemporary
stories of human relationships with the environment often come from
the West. However, there are other stories that are equally important
- even in Western countries. Keith Taylor (in Neidje 1989, p. v) encapsulates
this position well in his comments on the stories from Bill Neidje
of the Bunitj Clan in northern Australia (OHT 9):
In a world where our vision becomes even more blinkered by the dominance of a single cultural way and where such dominance threatens the survival of other ways of thinking and being, there is an urgent need for more stories like this.
Such ideas are not new, but they have only recently come to be more widely accepted. As Sithembiso Nyoni from Zimbabwe in Africa (in Williamson-Fien 1993, p. 65) explains (OHT 9):
Western-style education has taught us that the old ways are 'primitive' but we are now learning the wisdom and value of them. We are listening to the knowledge of the old people and setting up documentation centres in the villages.
The purpose of this activity is to explore strategies for developing awareness of indigenous stories of the environment and human inter-relationships with it, and ways of incorporating these strategies into teaching and learning activities for environmental education.
- Ask participants to name some traditional or indigenous stories
they know and the environmental messages they carry.
- It might be possible for participants to categories these stories
into stories about:
- the origins of the earth and the formation of natural features;
- the importance of plants, animals, birds and fish and insects;
- ways of farming or fishing sustainably;
- ways of caring for special places or species;
- ways of caring for other people;
- ways of using resources wisely; etc.
- Once participants have identified some stories, use OHT 10 as a chart to record and categorise the stories (Column 1) and their messages (Column 2). In column 3 of OHT 10, participants can be asked to identify relevant school topics or subjects where these stories could be used in teaching.
Note to Facilitators
- Alternatively, small groups could be given a copy of OHT
10 as a resource and asked to complete this task and then report
to the whole group.
- This activity provides a very good opportunity to introduce guest
story tellers to the workshop if this is in your workshop plan. Indigenous
guests could be invited not only to tell some environmental stories
that are important to them, but also to explain the significance of
various forms of storytelling (including dance, song, puppetry, etc.)
within their culture. See Activity 6 for suggestions
on using guest storytellers effectively.
- It is important not to 'romanticise' traditional cultures or peoples but to help participants understand that many indigenous peoples have lived - and continue to live - by a sustainable ethic and thereby use resources to satisfy their economic and cultural needs but within the limits of the resources and technology available to them.
5. Using Success Stories of the Environment
Traditional societies are not the only ones who care for the earth. Many contemporary groups are working actively to protect and conserve the environment also. It is important in environmental education that students hear the success stories from such groups in order to learn the tactics they use and to derive inspiration for their own activities.
The purpose of this activity is to provide an example of one such success story and to provide an example of ways in which the story could be integrated into a sequence of learning activities.
- Present the story about a monk's experiences of village reform in
Sri Lanka on Resource 2 to participants. The story
could be presented in one of several ways, for example:
- as a spoken story told by the facilitator or experienced storyteller-colleague;
- as a participant reading; or
- as a video (This story is one of five success stories on the video, Only One Earth, produced by WWF (UK), Panda House, Godalming, Surrey, United Kingdom. It is available for sale at £20.00. The accompanying teaching pack costs £15.00).
- Ask the group to suggest the school subjects and topics where this
story might be used.
- Display OHT 11 which provides an overview of
the objectives and activity sequence for one way of using this story
as part of a teaching unit on sustainable agriculture or forest conservation
in a junior secondary social science, geography or science class.
- Display OHT 12 which shows the "message" of
the monk's story in the form of the six principles the village followed.
Ask participants to suggest if these six principles are relevant only
to the monk's culture (Buddhism) or if any (or all) are relevant to
theirs as well. Ask for explanations.
- Distribute a copy of Resource 3 and ask participants
to work in their small groups to complete the empty third column to
compare the activities the monk and villagers undertook with what
they could do in their communities to live by the six principles.
- Conclude this part of the activity by asking participants to comment
on:
- whether they enjoyed the story, and why;
- whether they thought the follow-up activities were valuable, and why; and
- other ways they could use the story in their teaching.
Note to Facilitators
If time is available, an optional activity now would be to ask participants to select one of the stories you identified in Activity 3 or one of the indigenous stories from Activity 4; and to plan an outline of a series of lessons using the story. Headings for the outline are provided on Resource 4.
- Explain to participants that the community is a rich source of storytellers
who can be invited to tell their stories to students, e.g. parents,
grandparents, elders, nurses, doctors, monks, nuns, priests, etc.
Many of them - and certainly many cultural groups - will be able to
tell their stories with great effect, dramatically, or through dance,
theatre or puppetry.
- Ask participants to individually write down three persons or cultural
groups who could be usefully invited to a class as a guest co-teacher
of environmental education. Then ask individuals to share their lists
in small groups to compile a full list (minus any repetition or overlap).
Ask one group to report as you write the suggestions on chart paper
or a chalkboard. As you hear each suggestion, try to clarify it so
that you write them up in 2-3 categories, for example:
- Individual people - identified by name or position;
- Recognised local storytellers, singers, performing artists;
- Local cultural groups, etc.
- Use OHT 13 to explain that using guest storytellers
(or poets, dancers or other artists) as co-teachers requires careful
planning by the teacher. Thus, it is important always:
- to brief guests on the objectives of the study unit to which they will be contributing; and the background knowledge, skills and attitudes of students;
- to provide students with a sound conceptual, skill and attitudinal background in order to gain maximum benefit from the guests - and how to behave when guests are visiting a class; and
- to debrief students after the guests have left to help them to clarify and consolidate what they have learnt from the guests.
Review the key themes of the module using OHT 14. It is based upon the objectives of the module.
- Ask participants to either individually, in small groups, or as
a whole group to evaluate the outcomes of the workshop by categorising
each objectives as one which:
- I/We feel confident about doing this; or
- I/We would need to learn more about this before feeling confident.
OHT 1
Objectives of the Workshop
- To develop an appreciation of the importance of
stories as educational resources.
- To develop an appreciation of the importance of
traditional, indigenous and contemporary stories as sources of environmental
education themes.
- To develop skills in locating stories to use in
teaching and integrating them constructively into teaching units.
- To develop an appreciation of the value of guest storytellers and ways of using them effectively as co-teachers.
OHT 2
Workshop Outline
- We All Have Stories
- Stories for the Environment
- Finding Good Stories
- Using Indigenous Stories
- Using Success Stories of the Environment
- Using Guest Storytellers
- Conclusion
OHT 3
The Importance of Storytelling
Source: Adapted from Gersie, A. (1992) Earthtales: Storytelling in Times of Change, Green Print, London, p.1; Livo, N. and Rietz, S. (1986) Storytelling: Process and Practice, Libraries Unlimited Inc., Colorado, p.2.
Storytelling is currently experiencing a considerable revival of interest. This has led many educators to think about ways in which storytelling can be used to explore important shared themes and visions . . . The current concern about environmental issues is connected with this revival, since folktales about the relationship between the earth and its human inhabitants have been at the heart of storytelling since earliest times. Not only do such stories offer a source of inspiration, they also contain a potential for understanding the many ways in which we value and devalue our beautiful green and blue planet. Stories provide us with practical insight into approaches to our most pressing environmental difficulties.
(Adapted from Gersie 1992)
Stories have the power to reach within us, to command emotion, to compel involvement, and to transport us into timelessness. Stories are a way of thinking, a primary organiser of information and ideas, the soul of a culture, and the consciousness of a people. Stories are a way in which we can know, remember and understand.
(Livo and Rietz 1986)
OHT 4
The Objectives of Environmental Education
Source: Adapted from UNESCO-UNEP (1978) The Tbilisi Declaration, Connect, III (i), p. 3; and UNESCO and Australian Association for Environmental Education (1993) Final Repot of UNESCO Asia-Pacific Region on Overcoming the Barriers to Environmental Education through Teacher Education, Griffith University, 4-9 July, p. 34.
- Awareness
- To help social groups and individuals acquire an awareness and sensitivity
to the total environment and issues, questions and problems related
to environment and development.
- Knowledge
- To help individuals, groups and societies gain a variety of experience
in, and acquire a basic understanding of, what is required to create
and maintain a sustainable environment.
- Attitudes
- To help individuals, groups and societies acquire a set of values
and feelings of concern for the environment, and motivation for actively
participating in environmental improvement and protection.
- Skills
- To help individuals, groups and societies acquire the skills for
identifying, anticipating, preventing and solving environmental problems.
- Participation
- To provide individuals, groups and societies with an opportunity and the motivation to be actively involved at all levels in working toward creating a sustainable environment.
Causes of Environmental Problems
Source: Gersie, A. (1992) Earthtales: Storytelling in Times of Change, Green Print, London, p. 27.
- What we believe to be basic necessities are contributing
to the acceleration of the current crisis.
- Therefore, in order to resolve the crisis, we must
rethink basic necessities.
- However, in times of crisis we cling stubbornly to known solutions because that is how we learned to survive.'
OHT 6
Mechanisms for Denying Environmental Problems
Source: Adapted from Gersie, A. (1992) Earthtales: Storytelling in Times of Change, Green Print, London, p.28.
- We cope with anxiety by refusing to believe, even
in the face of overwhelming evidence, that the situation is as bad
as people say it is.
- We criticise others, preferably institutions and
people in a position of power or responsibility, for not doing enough
now or Zearlier. This is the "they ought to do something" or "they
should have dome something" syndrome. This protects us from having
to take responsibility ourselves - at least for a while.
- We hope that somehow someone (always someone else!) will generate a saving idea or some person will save us. This idea or this person will then rescue the situation from the brink of disaster.
OHT 7
The Purposes of Traditional Stories
Source: Gersie, A. (1992) Earthtales: Storytelling in Times of Change, Green Print, London, p. 29.
- Stories safeguard information and beliefs.
- Stories remind us of other times and different places
and help move us beyond our preoccupation with the "here and now".
Thus, they can help bring fresh perspectives to our actual situation.
- Stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. They
help us see the cycle of events in our lives.
- Stories evoke powerful emotional responses which
can help us to clarify the way we feel and can fuel the desire for
change.
- Stories nearly always generate communication. Not only does listening to a story create a warm bond between us, once the story is finished we often automatically turn to each other to talk.
Powerful Lessons Stories Can Teach
Source: Gersie, A. (1992) Earthtales: Storytelling in Times of Change, Green Print, London, pp. 28, 30.
- We can adopt new values and behaviour models.
- We can adjust our expectations.
- We can learn that effective action for the environment
is possible.
- We can learn that it is in our interest to stop damaging nature.
OHT 9
Why Indigenous Stories?
Source: Taylor, K. and Neidje, B., eds. (1989) Story About Feeling, Magabala Books, Broome; and Williamson-Fien, J., ed. (1993) Sithembiso-Nyon's Story, in Women's Voices, Global Education Centre, Brisbane, p. 65.
In a world where our vision becomes even more blinkered by the dominance of a single cultural way and where such dominance threatens the survival of other ways of thinking and being, there is an urgent need for more indigenous stories to be told.
(Taylor)
Western style education has taught us that the old ways are "primitive" but we are now learning the wisdom and value of them. We are listening to the knowledge of the old people.
(Sithembiso Nyoni)
OHT 10
Indigenous Stories and Messages
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1. Origins of the earth and natural features
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2. Importance of living things
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3. Ways of sustainable farming and fishing
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4. Ways of caring for special places
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5. Ways of caring for other people
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6. Ways of using resources wisely
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OHT 11
Objectives for Using the Monk's Story in Teaching
- To identify social and ecological principles for
living sustainably.
- To empathise with the lives and conditions of people
in other parts of the world.
- To realise that many people are being successful
in solving environmental problems.
- To reflect on the successful experiences of other groups to evaluate what relevance they have for us.
OHT 12
The Monk's Six Principles for Living Sustainably
Source: Adapted from Beddis, R. and Johnson, C., eds. (1988) Only One Earth: A Multimedia Education Pack, World Wide Fund for Nature, Godalming. Surrey.
1. Harmony with Nature
Doing things in a more natural way. Learning from the underlying
co-operation of living and non-living things. Recycling our resources.
Living and working with our environment in a sustainable way.
2. Quality of Life
Living selfishly just for what we can get leads to misery and conflict
with other people and the environment. Living selflessly to give, help
and serve, leads to happiness, fulfilment and harmony with everyone
and everything around us.
3. Self Reliance
Not being dependent on other people, especially experts. Taking our
own decisions, being responsible for ourselves. Participating, and doing
what we feel to be the right thing.
4. Variety and Diversity
Welcoming differences in ideas, opinions, people, etc. Respecting
and valuing other people and their ideas, even though they may be different
from us and our ideas. Not wishing to make things the same or uniform.
5. Small is Beautiful
Wherever possible, organising things on a small scale gives control
to ordinary people. Small groups can often get things done quickly.
Large organisations are usually difficult to change, even when people's
needs change.
6. Co-operation and Peace
All around the world we see competition and aggression. People feel
that they must win at something to feel good. But people can share their
skills and resources. By working together co-operatively with each other
and our environment, we can lead a more peaceful and satisfying life.
OHT 13
Principles for Using guest Storytellers Effectively
- Brief guests on the objectives of the study unit
to which they will be contributing, and the background knowledge,
skills and attitudes of students.
- Provide students with a sound conceptual, skill
and attitudinal background in order to gain maximum benefit from the
guests - and how to behave when guests are visiting a class.
- Debrief students after the guests have left to help them to clarify and consolidate what they have learnt from the guests.
OHT 14
Reviewing the Workshop
How confident are you of doing the following tasks:
A = Confident
B = Need Some Support
- List 3 uses of stories as educational resources.
- Name 3 indigenous stories you could use in your
teaching to achieve the objectives of environmental education.
- Name 3 stories of people working successfully for
the environment.
- List 3 sources of good stories to use in your teaching.
- Name 3 principles of using guest storytellers effectively.
Resource 1
Stories for the Environment
Source: Adapted from Gersie, A. (1992) Earthtales: Storytelling in Times of Change, Green Print, London, pp. 23-30.
If the current trend continues, many species could be extinct by the middle of the next century. In many cases, what we call "the wild" is already little more than a mega-zoo. In every country, the land is being over-cultivated, over-grazed, cleared of vegetation and inappropriately irrigated. While more than 40 000 children die every day of malnutrition, more than £2 million per minute is spent on weapons.
Most of us want to call a halt to starvation, to poverty, and to the cumulative processes of destruction and species elimination which occur hour upon hour. We try to be aware that we cannot have the species of plants, insects and animals which we removed today from the earth's surface, back tomorrow. When species disappear they are irrevocably lost.
Living in a Time of Crisis
In times of crisis we are generally blind to everything outside our immediate necessities. How could we be otherwise? Our survival is at stake, we hope to weather the storm by limiting our field of attention. The problem with our current environmental crisis is, firstly, that it does not yet look like much of a crisis; and, secondly, that we have to rethink what we consider our basic necessities to be. The bringing about of change in this particular situation is therefore infinitely complex. We are unable to see clearly on several levels and in several ways. As stated earlier, in a crisis we are blind to everything outside our immediate necessities. Yet it is important not to forget that:
- what we believe to be basic necessities are contributing to the
acceleration of the current crisis;
- therefore, in order to resolve the crisis, we must adjust these very same basic necessities; but in a crisis we clink stubbornly to known satisfactions for that is how we learned to survive.
Presently the daily life of a majority of people in the 'North' is quite comfortable. Though most people may be living comfortably, rivers, dolphins, puffins and the poor and homeless people are not. If serious notice were to be taken of their plight the environmental crisis would be in the forefront of everyone's mind. We would also realise that every one is likely to be affected by the magnitude of the environmental problems before too long, irrespective of our status and capabilities.
Each living creature or plant will sooner rather than later face substantial difficulties with:
- the selection of a habitat which offers clean air, clean water and
a fertile soil;
- comfortable access to abundant food, shelter and energy; and
- protection from threats by others who are competing for increasingly scarce resources.
The trouble is 'Before how long?'. The answer is unclear. Some experts give us ten more years to cling to existing satisfactions; others thirty years or even a little longer. Most specialists, however, agree that if current trends continue unchanged, there is no doubt that one day we shall rudely awaken to the fact that immediate and very drastic action will be required to safeguard even our most basic needs such as clean air and clean water. But because we believe that this day has not arrived yet, we are unable to act collectively and constructively to prevent the present situation from worsening, for such are the dynamics of change on a large scale. Unless of course we achieve a dramatic turnabout in human ways of thinking and responding. Then we might learn to prefer prevention over cure. However, until such a turnabout happens we are likely to use one of three major mechanisms to fight off the emergence of the anxiety which results from the demand to change - a demand which is mostly perceived as arising outside of us, instead of internally. To deal with the 'apparent' scare-mongering of environmentalists and concerned scientists we tend to adopt the following mechanisms:
- We cope with the aroused anxiety by refusing to believe, even in
the face of overwhelming evidence, that the situation is as bad as
people say it is.
- We criticise others, preferably institutions and people in a position
of power or responsibility, for not doing enough now, or for not having
done enough earlier. This is the they 'they ought to do/have done
something' syndrome. This protects us for a while from having to take
responsibility ourselves.
- We pronounce unequivocally that somehow someone (always someone else) will generate a saving idea or become a hero. This idea or this person will then rescue the situation from the brink of disaster.
We are likely to hold on to these three forms of denial until our anxiety, fear and guilt has been reduced to tolerable levels or until the anticipated calamity is such that we have to act. Meanwhile we listen to voices like Chris Colwell's, who writes: "Institutions alone can never solve the problems that cumulate from the seemingly inconsequential actions of millions of individuals . . . . As much as we are the root of the problem, we are also the genesis of its solution. Go to it." If we take this advice and 'go to it' we accept that we can help ourselves and others by strengthening our coping and changeability skills. In order to do this we need to set times aside during which:
- discussion of our personal experiences is stimulated;
- the imagination is exercised both as a means to gain self-awareness
and to nourish wish-fulfilment; and
- we experience situations which lead to effective approaches to problem-solving and to the resolution of our personal tensions.
Then we soon discover that:
- effective action belongs to the realm of the possible and not to
the realm of the merely imagined;
- it is in our interest to seek sustainable forms of development;
and
- we must share and co-operate in order to reduce conflict and competition over resources.
Why then do stories matter in this process and how do they contribute to bringing about change?
Whenever we listen to a story a special thread of intimacy is created between us, the listeners, and the storyteller. Once the story has captivated our interest, we become enfolded in a private world. The quality of concentration is such that all around are influenced by the prevailing sense of hushedness. We do not wish to disturb the image of completeness evoked by a storyteller and group of listeners temporarily engrossed in an alternative world.
The Value of Stories
Traditionally stories serve a number of functions:
- They safeguard and codify information as well as beliefs.
- They remind us of other times and different places and lift us beyond
our limiting preoccupation with the 'here and now'. Thereby they facilitate
the emergence of a fresh perspective on our actual situation.
- Stories provide us with a known completion, a unity of form. Each
story has a beginning, a middle and an end. Embedded within this structure
are a specific conflict and patterns of conflict resolution which
can stimulate the development of possible solutions to our own predicaments.
- Stories evoke powerful emotional responses. These emotions help
us to clarify the way we feel and can fuel the desire for change.
- Stories nearly always generate communication. Not only does listening to a story create a warm bond between us, once the story is finished we often automatically turn to each other to talk and to share our responses. Likewise a good story invariable evokes the longing to retell it to others.
We experience stress when old habits must be changed, because they no longer work. We feel compelled:
- to adopt new and more adaptive behaviour patterns;
- to modify our roles; and/or
- to re-order our expectations.
Such stress can be sharply heightened both by the absence of vital information or by an overload of painful information. The consequent confusion and ambiguity diminish our senses of control over our life and behaviour even further.
There is little doubt that three-pronged approach to dealing with individual and community stress, which is caused by an unavoidable requirement to change, is most effective. This involves:
- the working through of earlier traumatic experiences;
- the regaining of lost feelings of mastery; and
- the development of new insights.
Since time immemorial people have used storytelling to enhance these processes. All of us tell stories to some extent in our daily life. We share memories, gossip or retell events we heard about. Traditional stories differ from these personal tales in so far that they have mattered to people often enough and long enough to acquire a more or less consistent form. It is to then traditional stories that we can look for inspiration.
Questions for Discussion
- What types of environmental problems are outlined in the areas of:
(i) conservation
(ii) appropriate development
(iii) social equity and peace
(iv) democracy and participation.
- 2. What does the author say and the major causes of these problems?
- 3. What are the three mechanisms that people often use to 'deny'
the environmental crisis?
- 4. (i) What functions are served by traditional stories?
(ii) Which three are most important to people today?, Why?
- 5. What lessons can stories teach us to help overcome the desire to 'deny' environmental problems?
Resource 2
The Monk's Story
Source: Adapted from Beddis, R. and Johnson, C., eds. (1988) Only One Earth: A Multimedia Education Pack, World Wide Fund for Nature, Godalming. Surrey.
"In another twenty-five years this village will be richer. People will be richer. People will have money in their hands; plants and trees will grow on their lands; houses will have been built; children will be literate and educated. Only then will the people in Galahitiya have the strength to build a pirivena, a proper temple ... But first the environment; then the temple will emerge from that."
The Venerable Kiranthidiye Pannasekera Thera is a very unusual monk. At the age of ten he left his family to become a Buddhist novice and live at a temple. With a great love of wildlife and the natural environment, he spent a number of years teaching in rural areas. He always combined his religious duties with practical help for the people he lived with. This might be working in the paddy fields or organising the building of a road.
In 1982, the Monk saw in the village of Galahitiya, not simply a village needing a temple, but a very poor community destroying the forest and all the plants and animals in it and with it the soil which they needed to grow crops. The monk saw that the village needed his help, not only as a religious leader, but also in practical ways. The Buddha taught that a hungry man cannot think of religious matters so the Monk decided that his first job was to help the villagers to improve their lives. He also knew that because he was respected as a monk, people would listen to him and that he might be able to get the government and other organisations to help the village.
Many of the villages in Sri Lanka do not grow much food for sale and therefore do not have a high income. However, they often have a good quality of life, they have most of the things they need to produce enough food to stay healthy even in times of drought or flood. In many villages there is a dispensary for medicines, good care of young children and most people live a long and healthy life.
In Galahitiya however, the Monk did not find one of Sri Lanka’s prosperous villages ...
One of the first things that the Monk did was to carry out a complete survey of the village. He discovered that Galahitiya is not a tight cluster of houses like the villages we know. He found the houses spread across the hillsides so that you can stand in the middle of the village without realising that you are there.
He found this village was almost totally cut off from the surrounding towns and had to provide almost all of its needs from among its people. There was no school or dispensary. The villagers had to cross the river by boat and then walk several miles before they could catch a bus to the nearest hospital.
Most of the houses were made of wattle and daub (interwoven twigs coated in clay) with a mud floor and thatched or in some cases a tin roof. There were not wells in the village and the people collected water from the river or springs. Flies, lice and mosquitoes were to be found throughout the village and the people were only just able to grow enough food to feed themselves in a good year. Floods or droughts frequently upset the balance between food production and the amount needed to survive. About one quarter of the people relied on government food subsidies all year round.
The village lies in the wet zone of Sri Lanka where there is not a clear dry season and therefore crops cannot be grown all year round. However, the village is on the mountain slopes in a forested area with poor soils.
About 100 families had ‘settled’ in the area when the Monk first went there. They had simply moved onto an area of forest and cut down and burned the trees so that they could plant their crops. There is not enough land in this part of Sri Lanka. The growth of population has made people move to this forest area where they are really squatters on government forest land. The type of farming used in Galahitiya is called 'chena' cultivation and it is also practised in the dry zone of Sri Lanka to the north and east. In earlier times in the dry zone crops such as maize, cassava, chillies, bananas and beans were grown for a year or two. After that, the forest was allowed to regrow for 15 or 20 years. As only small plots were being cleared for 'chena' cultivation, entire hillsides were never left bare to erode away in the rains.
But in Galahitiya, the Monk found families practising 'chena' without leaving the forests time to recover. In Buddhism, a respect for all life is encouraged so it is hardly surprising that the Monk became very upset.
"From my pansala I could see the forests being burnt for chena. And I felt pain in my heart. With every blaze that lit the sky I could feel the destruction being caused. For me the destruction of the trees and plant life amounts to the destruction of life itself. I knew the destruction of trees and forests was an important factor in causing floods."
By removing the tree cover on the surrounding slopes the villages have exposed the soil to the very heavy monsoon rains and this is having a disastrous effect on the environment. Without the tree leaves to stop the rain, water beats against the bare soil and washes the soil into the rivers. Here, the silt (fine soil) fills the river bed making flooding more common. During floods the paths and tracks are submerged under water and the people cannot go anywhere; the fields are flooded and crops are often destroyed. The removal of the tree roots and the washing away of the soil also reduces the amount of water that is stored in the soil - so this too leads to more water washing over the hill slopes and carrying away soil. With less water stored in the soil, when there is a dry period some of the springs dry up and the level of water in the rivers falls quickly.
The Monk could see that this widespread forest destruction and soil erosion would eventually stop the villagers from growing crops. There was also the risk of landslides. Some years before the Monk had seen an area nearby where even more forest had been removed and where a landslide after heavy rain had buried several houses killing 40 people.
But why were the villagers destroying the very land they depended on? The Monk felt he knew the answer. He knew that the villagers needed to cut down the forest now in order to live. Because they were only squatters and did not own the land they could not imagine the future and look after the forest. They might be thrown off the land at any moment. The villagers told the Monk that in 1981 the government foresters came to the area and cut down trees which provided food (such as coconut and jackfruit) in order to plant pines to provide timber in the future. When they planted the pines they destroyed 15 houses because they were in the area where the pines were to be planted.
Such incidents remind the villagers of their vulnerability. In such situations there is little incentive to protect and improve the land.
The first task that the Monk felt was essential was to obtain legal documents of land ownership for the villagers. It is possible to do this by applying to the correct government department. The village headman, Kudhemis Fernando had tried this, bu the Land Registry Office asked for copies of so many papers that he had not heard of that he gave up.
In 1983 the Monk wrote up his original survey in the form of a development proposal for the village. This proposal included the cost of everything from building a road to the village to helping the villagers plant tea bushes and erect new houses. He called this a "Project Proposal for the Development of Galahitiya". This was aimed at anybody who might help the village, from the government, the Local Lions Club, to foreign organisations.
The Monk wrote letters asking for land rights, got the villagers to sign them and then sent them to the District Land Office. Because he was a monk the other people with similar requests made way for him and the Land Officer listened carefully to what he had to say. The Monk followed this by more letters not only to the Land Office but also to the Member of Parliament and to the manager of the Agricultural Development Authority. He made frequent visits to the Land Officer until in early 1985, 130 families, including Kudhemis Fernando's, received legal title to an average of 2 acres. In the summer of 1986 a further 115 families received similar documents to say that they now owned the land.
No government money has been found for the Monk's development programme for Galahitiya. Even without funding, the villagers built the dirt road that they needed to get to the nearest town for hospitals and schools and to bring in the agricultural experts.
The Monk persuaded the Rubber Control Department to supply free rubber trees to the village so that they could produce latex to earn money (a cash crop). He encouraged each farmer to devote an acreof land to a cash crop, half an acre to trees to protect the soil and half an acre to a 'home garden' to grow food crops. The Monks own irrigated garden became a model for the village to follow, with a variety of crops grown in layers to allow exactly the right amount of light to each type of plant. In early 1987, the Monk discovered that the United Nations had declared 1987 to be the 'International Year of Shelter for the Homeless' and that Sri Lanka had established a special programme to help villages build brick houses. The Monk met his MP and asked if Galahitiya could be included in this scheme. The MP promised to do this.
One special programme that the Monk started was a tree nursery to grow new trees to replace those that had been cut down in previous years. The young people of the village do most of the work in the tree nursery so in future years there will be a new generation of people used to planting and protecting trees and not cutting them down. By 1987 the nursery had provided 6000 trees for the villagers who then give their time to plant them. Five acres of hillside have been planted with these trees.
The Monk is defensive, but not apologetic, about his as yet small contribution to the spiritual life of his community, and his much greater concern for its financial, material, agricultural and environmental development. He found his example in a story from the Buddhist Scriptures: 'Once the Lord Buddha visited a wealthy merchant's household. In the same household was a poor man, hungry and exhausted, who had been out all day searching for to no avail for his only ox, the source of his livelihood. The Buddha was about to preach a sermon when he noticed the poor visitor. The Buddha could tell that the man was ready to grasp his philosophy. But, the Buddha thought, this man is starving, and a starving man will not be able to follow my sermon. So he sent the hungry man to his own plate and only then did he preach.'
What is happening in Galahitiya could happen in villages all over Sri Lanka and in places all over the world. One person from outside (the Monk) has been the starting point for the people to realise they can change their way of life and improve their conditions. It is the villagers who have built the road and planted the trees. It is the villagers who will build new houses and make other improvements.
Of course this cannot go on without help from the government. The villagers will also need help to put a stop to the other groups of people who are destroying the surrounding forests - the Monk has estimated that 80% of the forest destruction in the area was being caused by illegal loggers and legally contracted loggers, about 15% by the villagers and 5% by the Government Forestry Department.
Yet it is the villagers who see the need for these things and who want to improve their life. What has happened at Galahitiya is often called a 'small-scale community development programme'. Some people say that programmes like this are not important and that they only affect a few hundred people and that big projects such as hydro-electric power stations are what is needed. But other people feel that because the changes at Galahitiya have been achived by the people of the village, the improvements will last and grow.
In 25 years time, Galahitiya may be a prosperous village with plants and trees covering the land, solid houses for all the villagers, a dispensary for medicine and a road to larger towns with hospitals and other facilities. The proper temple that the Monk was sent to the village to build might also appear!
What is happening at Galahitiya seems to be a good example of 'sustainable development'. It does not rely on large amounts of money from the government, but on the efforts of the people. Even without any further help, the village would probably remain prosperous because the people now own their land and want to look after the land that provides them with their food.
Based on "Only One Earth", Lloyd Timberlake, 1987. BBC / Earthscan.