Using literature to teach about self-sustainability
What would you like to teach through this educational scenario?
Teach about self-sustainability and how dependent our modern civilizations are on energy consumption for every aspect of our lives.
Which subject and which part of the curriculum does this educational scenario address?
- Climate sciences.
- Ecology.
- Environmental sciences.
- Environmental social sciences.
Which work of Art have you selected to use your lesson?
For the Icelandic students we will use the novel “Eyland” by Sigríður Hagalín. The title simply translates to “Island”. It has been translated to Czech, France, Hungarian, Norwegian, and Polish. The story is centered on Iceland, that gets cut off from the rest of the world due to unknown reasons. The plot revolves around the population of Iceland trying to keep the country going and feed the people without the aid of imported oil, fertilizer, etc. The life in Iceland gets very gloomy as the people realize there is not enough resources for everyone.
Have you adapted this work of Art in order to fit the purpose of the lesson? If yes, how?
Not yet. Since this book is centered on Iceland, other countries could adapt the same lesson with basically any post apocalypse/end of the world book that has been as thoroughly researched as Eyland.
Which are the main discussion points on which you are going to focus
- Energy dependency and consumption
- Self-sustainability
- Food production
- Social issues that arise when scarcity occurs.
Which theatre techniques are you going to use in the classroom. How are you going to organize the activities of the children? Please describe what you are going to do in phases (phase 1, phase 2 etc)
Re-enactment of the book. The whole book could be turned into a play. For shorter work certain chapters could be recreated, as short films or as podcast episodes.
Illustrations of selected parts or chapters.
How are you going to organize the debate following the artistic activity? Are you going to organize any follow up activities?
Debates could take on many forms. The issues of this book hit very close to home. It paints a very dark picture of life in Iceland if shit hits the fan. I would recommend using this book only on older students, that are able to think abstractly about things that are not real but could materialize under certain circumstances.