Stoas Vilentum opened it’s new three-story round green teacher education building, next to the campus of Wageningen University. It will give ample opportunities to enhance cooperation between the university and the teacher education college. The special architecture of the building is an expression of the concept of ecological intelligence, which is embraced by the college.
It reminds me of the course we introduced quite some years ago, about the boundaries of scientific knowledge and disciplinary professionalism, when scientific knowledge is not sufficient to solve problems in a specific situation. We called the course ‘intuitive intelligence’, and we believed (and still do) that intuition can be developed. Since Gardner introduced the concept of ‘multiple intelligences’, we were not afraid of including the heavily contested construct of intelligence in the name of the course.
But what is ecological intelligence? Is it different from being ‘Nature smart’? Or does it also refer to the ecology of the learner in dynamic contexts, or even the ecology of the learning process, in which the learner tries to construct meaning from various sources within the fabric of more or less conscious personal cognitions and affections? Am I ecologically intelligent if I know what different social situations ask from me? Is it then not the equivalent of social intelligence? Am I ecologically intelligent if I can communicate with others in a pleasant and effective way? Is that different from verbal intelligence? Am I ecologically intelligent if I appreciate and can capture images of nature like phantastice landscapes and awsome species? Am I ecologically intelligent when I do my workouts in the beautiful sceneny of Twente? Is this different from bodily-kinesthetic or intrapersonal intelligence (as in being ‘self-smart’ and taking cary of my heath and fitness)? I don’t know.
We need teachers in green education who are competent in learning and teaching, that is for sure. Call it being ecologically intelligent? Call education an ecosystem, and there you are. Teachers have to understand processes and interactions within this social system, and: intelligently act in this system, in a sustainable way.
I am sure Stoas Vilentum will make a big effort to teach teachers who can effectively accomplish this.
