2018 Conference

Individual Paper Presentation

            A theoretical contribution bridging literature and theory in psychology, anthropology, and environmental education, this paper explores the development of ecocultural identities through narrative. The paper proposes an Environmental Resiliency Framework that can be adopted to support and strengthen children’s ecocultural identities. 

            Cultural and personal narratives shape our ecocultural identities, including our relationship to the environment. Stories told to future migrants of the United States as having streets paved with gold and citizens eating meat for dinner every night shape expectations that in turn influence environmental interactions and ecocultural identities. These mythologies of abundance lead to current American challenges with food waste where the UN estimates that 30% of the food distributed to consumers in the United States goes to waste. Thus, it is important to consider how we form personal narratives, and how personal narratives can shape our larger cultural narratives about our relationships with the environment.

            In this paper we argue that childhood narratives are influenced by children’s autobiographical memories (Fivush, 2007). Children’s autobiographical memories become narratives when they are re-told with others and given cultural meaning (e.g., Nelson & Fivush, 2004). Psychological literature suggests that individual narratives not only shape the development of identity (Bluch & Alea, 2002) but also reshape and inform larger cultural narratives (e.g., Fivush et al., 2011).  Narratives are also social products created by people in the context of specific social, historical and cultural locations (Lawler, 2002). People’s narratives are profoundly shaped by diverse values they hold and promoted by different life contexts. Narratives are thus an essential component of ecocultural identity and a leverage point around which positive change could occur. The framework challenges practitioners to think about who children are in reference to the environment and within their environment.  Changing children’s narratives can build stronger ecocultural identities across diverse locations.