Ecological Intelligence

Ecological Intelligence (download article in pdf)

Daniel Goleman, in his book ‘Ecological Intelligence,’ argues that to date our thinking about ecological issues, health hazards and social impact are one-dimensional. People tend to look at issues separately in isolation from the whole.

The perspective is often from an individual or cultural point of view, without seeing a multitude of facets. By doing this we create ‘blind spots’. Commercials on TV, Internet and newspapers help us develop this ‘one-entry’ vision. It is best your customer only knows what he/she needs to know in order to buy the product.

Slow, deliberate change also assists in developing blind spots. A nice example is the unsolicited mail and promotional materials. Nowadays these are wrapped in plastic. Nobody objected to this ‘improvement’. We are suddenly all very conscious on bringing our own shopping bags to the supermarket, but the same amount of plastic that we ‘save’ there, enters through our letterboxes!

There are so many examples when you start to think about it. In Europe, only five years ago, most people washed their hair once or twice a week. The young folks now wash it every day. Was our hair dirty five years ago? I don’t think so. What changed?  We were slowly made to believe that this multiple washing is ‘the right thing to do’. This benefits the health and beauty industry but is a detriment to us with the increased exposure to toxins in our body and in our water. Hair washing is actually becoming an ecological issue and a health hazard!

According to Daniel Goleman, each individual can make a difference by developing ecological intelligence—critical thinking in terms of ecology and economy. In his book, he talks about it from the global economy point of view.  I would like to translate it to the point of view of child development.

A child needs to obtain enough information and knowledge, which can then be used to think critically. To help this development of critical thinking, an integrated curriculum is necessary. Children need to learn to see the world from different points of view. Learning the history of your own country without seeing what happened in the world at large is not very useful. It gives a ‘one-way entry’ and does not stimulate creative intelligence.

In order to prepare the children for the future, education needs to dare to do things different. Dividing the curriculum by subjects and having them taught by different people who barely meet, gives children a disadvantage. To continue to test children for every component helps them create an enormous amount of blind spots.

As Lincoln said, “Show me the class of today and I will show you the government in 30 years time.” Cutting edge education as we offer in school might not be understood by everyone yet. You might have difficulty in explaining the details to your family and friends, but that might be worth it. Do we want everything to be the same (or worse) in 30 years time? The status of our planet, our health and social well-being will depend on how children learn to think today.   

This generation is born into the ‘Information Age’ and need to learn to sift through that and choose what is applicable and what is not. Learning to look at information critically is absolutely necessary. They need integrated knowledge, opportunities to take initiative, to solve problems, and have a feeling of ownership. Love of learning instead of apathy will be the consequence. Let us not ask them to regurgitate everything the teacher says. Give them intellectual topics that can be used to focus, concentrate, communicate and contribute.

Daniel Goleman says every individual can make a difference by:

1)    Knowing your impact
2)    Favouring improvements
3)    Share what you learn.

That is what we practise on a small scale in the classrooms. By allowing constructive initiatives and setting appropriate limits, children learn about their responsibilities and impact on others.

Without the use of judgement, guilt and shame, students get used to moving forward. Self-esteem develops and simultaneously also constructive self-evaluation. Continuous improvement happens within people who feel good about themselves. Constructive criticism or mistakes are purely seen as signs to improve. For them the status quo is just a starting point. Continuous improvement is exciting, motivating and the way to go!

Sharing what you learn can be done well when people feel confident, speak several languages and obtain good communication skills. These skills develop to their utmost in a group that offers individualised instruction, is multilingual and has a multi-age range. Diversity aids the process. Learning to explain something to someone who did not study the same topic yet, who speaks a different language or who is younger or older, provides a perfect practise ground.

Being able to put the above three items into practise, enhances individual and collective well-being. To use Daniel Goleman’s words, “No one of us needs to have a master plan or grasp all the essential knowledge. All of us will be pushing toward a continuous improvement of the human impact on nature.” …. and on ourselves and on each other.

Recommended reading; Ecological Intelligence by Daniel Goleman


Annie R. Hoekstra – de Roos
21-3-2010