Inclusion and Diversity Education Resources

As environmentalists we work every day to protect the health of all habitats, species and communities. There are many signs that we still have a long way to go until we can rest. Air and water pollution from landfills and toxic industry disproportionately impact low-income and minority communities. Indigenous rights to land and life are threatened globally as companies and government continue to prioritize profit over human rights. The impacts of climate change threaten the most vulnerable communities on our planet.

All of these factors make environmental work deeply interconnected with social justice and equity work. As environmental educators, we must confront injustice and discrimination at all levels of society to be able to achieve our goals in environmental justice. We have compiled a few resources to guide parents and educators on how to have difficult conversations around race and discrimination with children of all ages.

Check out these lessons, books and tips to help teach the next generation to speak up for our planet and each other.

Resources:

• Teaching Tolerance is an organization dedicated to helping “teachers and schools educate children and youth to be active participants in a diverse democracy.” They have resources like lessons, webinars, professional development and more. Check out their Speak Up Guide on how teachers can respond to prejudice, bias and stereotypes at school and their Parents’ Guide for how parents can prevent and respond to prejudice (for children ages 2-17). Teaching Tolerance also offers classroom resources such as environmental justice lessons and editorial cartoons on poverty and environmental justice. 

• Teaching for Change has a wide variety of resources for both teachers and parents on teaching about bias, the Black Lives Matter movement, Islamophobia and more. Check out their reading lists, lesson plans and discussion guides.

• The Zinn Education Project has an enormous library of resources around discrimination, history and civic action. Search by theme or time period to find resources on history and social justice issues. Join a campaign and help make changes at your school or district. 

• The Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian has a library of digital and classroom resources on indigenous history, culture and civic action. Sort by topic, Nation and grade level to find a variety of interdisciplinary lessons for your class.

• This Anti-racism and Diversity Bookroom is an incredible resource for students to watch Youtube videos of powerful children’s books on history, social justice and inclusion. 

• EmbraceRace.org compiled a list of 31 children’s books to support conversations on race, racism, and justice. 

• This blog from Learning to Give introduces ideas of how educators can talk about and teach about environmental justice. 

• This resource from Pretty Good Design presents books, resources and blogs of how to address the topic of race with our youngest learners. They also provide guides on how to discuss race from birth to 7 years old. 

• Our friends at NAAEE have also compiled a wonderful list of resources addressing equity in EE.