Exclusionary narratives in environmental studies: lessons from an urban nature center

To foster diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in environmental fields, scholars of environmental education call for educators to critically examine the cultural influences on our pedagogies (e.g., Chinn, 2006; Miller, 2017), particularly as they relate to land and Indigenous perspectives (Bang et al., 2014; Calderon, Lees, Swan Waite, & Wilson, 2021; Engel-Di Mauro & Carroll, 2014; Paperson, 2014). Professional development is one tactic institutions use to address DEI and is the focus of this case study, which seeks to determine how a professional development training supported environmental educators in recognizing exclusionary cultural narratives in their work. Ten staff and board members from a small, urban nature center participated in a training that included a five-module online course titled Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Environmental Education (KAEE, 2021) and four discussions using photovoice methodology (Wang & Burris, 1994). Each participant identified an example of how race and ethnicity influence their work and discussed changes they could make to organizational policies, practices, and culture. These findings point to the utility and limitations of professional development as a tool toward critical pedagogies that address DEI. Implications of this study are applicable in a wide variety of environmental education settings. These examples can help educators in environmental studies and sciences to reflect on our own narratives and how we might shift them in our classrooms, departments, and research.