Alan R. Berkowitz
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

I have continued to work on defining ecological literacy, both as it relates to the broader topic of environmental literacy or citizenship (e.g., see ESA Bulletin article: Berkowitz et al. 1997) and in helping identify some of the topics we can address in initiatives such as schoolyard ecology (e.g., see ESA Bulletin article: Feinsinger et al. 1997). More recently, I have been developing the idea of "ecological thinking" as an alternative and potentially powerful framework for our work in education. This was the subject of the Vice President's Symposium I organized at the Ecological Society of America annual meeting in 2000 with Carol Brewer. In it, we asked, "What are the foundational 'ways of thinking' that are the essential tools of the ecologically literate person?"

The current structure of the curriculum usually concerns the "what?" of ecological inquiry. We divide the field and our education standards by concept (population, community, ecosystem, etc.), by organism (plant, animal, etc.), by habitat (terrestrial, aquatic, etc.) or by application (conservation, agricultural, etc.). However, I am interested in identifying and elaborating upon a set of foundational "ways of thinking", i.e., defining the "how?" for thinking about ecological phenomena that runs perpendicular to the "what?" of ecology.

My current frameworks includes eight different but clearly overlapping kinds of thinking:

1. scientific thinking (evidence-based and critical thinking)
2. systems and hierarchy thinking
3. temporal thinking (short-term, historical and evolutionary thinking)
4. spatial thinking (geographical, place-based and contextual thinking)
5. trans-disciplinary thinking
6. ethical thinking
7. creative thinking
8. empathic thinking

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