Degrowth has recently found its way into my vocabulary. I find it to be a flexible concept with many definitions, bridging ideas that have intrigued me over the past decade and a half. I’m not going to try to define degrowth here, because others have already done that. Instead, I want to jot down a few entrypoints as I begin consider the connections between degrowth and education. I hope to come back to these ideas as I continue to change my teaching practice.
Linking degrowth and a philosophy of education
There seem to be many fruitful connections between humanizing/Progressive/student-centered philosophies of education. For example:
- Teachers and students are in relationship with each other
- Emergent, interdisciplinary, and project-based curriculum
- Classroom as community/commons
Specific practices linked with degrowth
For now, these are just some ideas off the top of my head. My next step is to do some research and see what others have already done in this space.
- Rethinking productivity:
- Ungrading
- Not giving homework
- Anti-consumerism:
- Using student- and teacher-made materials
- Avoiding extrinsic rewards (e.g., stickers, Class Dojo)
- Creating community:
- Replacing “discipline” with restorative justice
- Integrated social-emotional learning
- Responsive Classroom and similar approaches to classroom management
- Positioning the teacher as facilitator, not a central authority figure
- Peer-to-peer and cooperative learning