TURN IT
AROUND!

How to

TURN IT AROUND! is a toolkit to help us radically reimagine education in response to the climate and ecological emergency.  There is no one right way to use them, but here are some ideas that may get you started in turning this emergency around.

 

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BREAK TOXIC CYCLES

It is important that we break toxic cycles. Whatever decisions you make now will not only affect those who are still growing up, but will determine what trends they will carry forward. The future can be bright, if we all work together to unlearn and...

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HONESTY

The honesty of nature is not like of anything that could be taught to us at school. So when nature speaks, we shall listen and when nature cries we shall console. The stark beauty of nature's honesty gives us direction for what we should do next and...

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TIME TO INCLUDE THE YOUTH

Stop protecting and sheltering youth from the climate crisis reality. It is not doom and gloom, but hopeful participation, determination, and imagination that drive the involvement of youth in climate action. It is time to include youth in the de...

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SYMBIOSIS – LIVING TOGETHER

In nature, there is a phenomenon called symbiosis, which means "living together." It is a relationship between two or more organisms in one habitat. One of the types of symbiosis is mutualism - a relationship that is beneficial to all species involve...

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I DREAM OF LIVING

I dream of living on a clean planet – free of trash. What about you?...

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TABI TABI PO (MAY I PASS)

Growing up as a Filipino, the culture, taboo, and superstition played a big part of my identity. But if I had one thing to proudly share and pass on the next generations, it would be an old tradition for the kids to say "tabi tabi po" every time they...

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WALK ON THE LAND WITH LIGHT STEPS

Walk on the land with light steps. When there is no space for the indigenous person on the land, there will be no space for any human being. Listen to the Original peoples, take care of the land as you would take care of your mother, do not take anyt...

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Incandescence

Like this little one’s incandescent wing Life already shines brightly Though we do not heed it Though we do not allow it To permeate its existence in this world full of writ and developmental strife It would be enough For us to live incandescently...

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I FIND HOPE IN UNITY

I find hope in unity. The more united we get, the easier it will be to address any problems we face. Many hands, many brains together can make a lot of difference and create change. ...

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RETHINK. TRANSFORM.

I vividly remember sitting at the table with my grandmother two years ago, talking about life, when she said, ‘Only death is irreversible…’ I thought how perfectly that cap- tures the strength of life and its endless possibilities. That phrase...

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RESPECT THE HABITAT OF EACH BEING

My non-human teachers teach me to respect the habitat of each being, the need to have a home where to live in peace and safety, to be free, to have good health. Empathy is a quality that we must develop as much as possible to understand other human a...

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CHANGE CULTURAL CUSTOMS

The environment can only be protected if we generate a change in our cultural customs, and at the same time, this change can be achieved if we begin to educate from the youngest generations. Because ultimately we educate the little ones and they...

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A VAST WORLD OF PHILIPPINE MYTHOLOGY

One of our popular local myths involves Maria Makiling, the resident diwata (fairy) of the namesake mountain in Laguna. She once walked among humans but was distraught by the environmental destruction they’ve caused and was never seen since. I like...

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WISE USE OF RESOURCES

Nature shows us how animals adapt to their habitats and how organisms evolve to survive in changing conditions. It teaches us about sustainable development and the importance of using resources wisely....

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STOP LIVING LIKE TOURISTS

I hear a whisper in the wind. I walk over stifled growth on once fertile ground. We live in a dilapidated home begging its inhabitants to acknowledge the value of its treasures, patiently suffering and waiting for change. Oh, how we ignore the mo...

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DANCING IN YELLOW

Dancing in yellow tastes sweeter than passionfruit, a place where the mountains, the beetles, the trees can hold me. They give me so much — I want to give back, to make them feel held. To support them in their growth, to watch the sun continue...

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OVERLOAD

I’m suffocating from all this plastic! Where are the glass bottles, the reusable mesh bags; the durable, high-quality goods that used to last our grandparents for years?...

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Common Worlds Research Collective

How might common worlding pedagogies foster new ways of learning and living on our damaged earth? Common worlding pedagogies refuse to separate us humans off from our fellow earthlings. Instead of thinking about the world ‘out there’ as something...

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THE DEATH OF THE ARAL SEA

The Final Duty (2000) is a deeply realistic work – a philosophical reflection on the vast and unfathom- able tragedy of the Kazakh people: the death of the Aral Sea. In this novel by Kazakh writer A. Nurpeisov, the storms of a hard and tangled huma...

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