Antropocæn dannelse i danskfaget

This master thesis, “Anthropocene Bildung in the danish language education” examines how the theory of Bildung can be seen as an accomplice to the climate crisis by giving preference to the human species at the expense of the non-human, and how the awareness of this can be used to address sustainability in the Danish upper secondary education in an alternative way. To do so, I examine some aspects in the theory of western educational thinking from Plato to Wolfgang Klafki, addressing how, seen from the perspective of the Anthropocene, the layers in western educational theory successively preclude the idea of education as a place that teaches cautious ways of co-existing human and non-human together. Based on this examination I define my own take on a pedagogical ideal (da: dannelse) to support education in the conditions of the Anthropocene, focusing on identifying non- cautious ways of co-existing and thereby anticipating a search for cautious ways of living. The thesis suggests that the reading of literature addressing the climate crisis and how ideologies of growth have a negative impact on this can contribute to a greater reflection on the Anthropocene’s multi-facetted aspects, and thereby play a part in supporting the pedagogical ideal suggested. The finding is, that an updated pedagogical ideal is needed to underpin the students in investigating cautious ways of co-existing with the non-human in the life critical zone on earth, and that the language education can contribute by initiating Anthropocene courtesy (da: antropocæn dannelse) through reading literature that respond to the climate crisis.