Overview

Description

COURSE DETAILS:

Dates:
APRIL 26/27 
MAY 10/11 
MAY 24/25 
JUN 7/8
JULY 2-6  
Comprehensive Presentations:
JULY 29, 30, 31 (PAPERS DUE JULY 15) 
 
We are grateful to be learning in q̓ʷa:n̓ƛ̓ən̓ (Kwantlen) and q̓íc̓əy̓ (Katzie) territories.
 
Location: This course takes place in remote areas primarily on Kwantlen and Katzie territories, as well as other natural settings in the Coast Salish territories. Locations are not necessarily accessible with public transit. Please plan accordingly.
This course takes place at the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest, (14500 Silver Valley Rd, Maple Ridge, BC V4R 2R3), and other remote areas within the Coast Salish territories. Locations are not necessarily accessible with public transit. Please plan accordingly.
Meeting Locations: Please note that certain classes or portions of classes will be situated within the natural environment, and may involve travelling to different locations. The level of risk associated with these activities will be similar to those encountered in our everyday lives and may include walking on uneven surfaces, exposure to bugs and animals, sunburn, and dehydration. If anyone is uncomfortable with an outing, an alternative activity will be arranged. Locations, expectations, start and end times for such outings will be discussed in advance, as well as any necessary precautions or preparations. Group members will be responsible for arranging their own transportation. I welcome conversations regarding any questions, or concerns in this regard.

“Knowledge that does not heal, bring together, challenge, surprise, encourage or expand our awareness is not part of the consciousness this world needs now.” (Meyer, 2008, p. 221)    

“I write because I want to find something out. I write in order to learn something that I didn’t know before I wrote it.” (Richardson, 1994, p. 517)

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Course Description:
The goal of this course is to support practitioner-inquirers in explicating, synthesizing, deepening, and sharing their key learnings over the course of our two-year Master’s program focusing on Nature-based and Place-conscious practices. Through reading, dialogue, writing, and other forms of (re)representation in/with/through the natural environment, we will review programmatic themes and reflect on the development of our personal and professional capacities. With the goal of deepening our understanding of our practice as place-conscious educators, we will examine our work in our micro sites, our relationships with place, our field studies, and our own journeys, as well as the teachings and scholarship that ground us. Central to this course are key programmatic themes including identity; connection to land, place, and community; holism and interdependence; storytelling, listening and learning; reconciliation, reciprocity, and respect; and “doing the work,” living well, and care-taking. Together we will explore issues central to practitioner-inquiry, including relational accountability, spirit-driven research, trustworthiness, transformation, the politics of representation, and inquiry-as-stance, and envision what it means to be/coming practitioner-scholars, teacher-leaders and change makers within the context of nature-based education. If inquiry and/or written work is insufficient by the end of the course (highly unusual but possible), a deferred grade may be assigned and the opportunity to continue on to the comprehensive demonstrations of learning may be delayed.

Learning Goals:
Learners will…
·      engage with programmatic themes and continue to deepen programmatic capacities;
·      develop a regular writing practice and activity participate within a community of writers;
·      come to appreciate writing and other forms of (re)representation as part of the inquiry process;
·      render and complexify stories that guide teaching, and theorize one’s own professional practice;
·      synthesize their learning journey and capacity development through a final paper and presentation;
·      deepen ways of knowing/doing/being as place-conscious educators and practitioner-inquirers;
·      envision next steps as practitioner-scholars, teacher-leaders and change makers within the context of nature-based education.

Programmatic Goals
Learners will: 

·        Develop a relational disposition, a humility, and an ability to deeply listen to humans and more-than humans. 
·        Critically explore and apply scholarly literature and principles of nature-based, place-conscious, and experiential learning. 
·        Critically examine current directions in BC Education through a lens of nature-based place-conscious learning and explore implications for practice. 
·        Develop the capacity to meaningfully integrate nature-based place-conscious learning across subject areas within the specific context of your practice.
·        Engage in practitioner-inquiry and reflective practice stemming from encounters in teaching contexts and within relationships with the natural world. 
·        Develop ongoing relationships with specific places and communities, including q̓íc̓əy̓ and q̓ʷa:n̓ƛ̓ən̓ Nations, as a foundation for personal and professional practice. 
·        Adopt ethics and values embodied within place-based relationships to sustain the development of civic responsibility and cultivate change in the context of environmental issues. 
·        Develop leadership capacities within the context of nature-based and place-conscious education. 
·        Contribute to professional conversations (written and oral) with regards to nature-based and place-conscious practices.

Expectations:
As our collaborative process within our community is a foundational aspect of our work, attendance and active participation in our shared curriculum is a programmatic requirement. Please let me know in advance if you are not able to attend a class due to an unavoidable professional responsibility, important family event, or an unforeseen circumstance. If a class is missed, learners are expected to check in with a colleague about the class, work through all reading and activities (or engage in an approved alternative activity), and contribute back to the cohort in a meaningful way. Please note that making up for any missed classes is part of your responsibility as a learner in the cohort. Missing multiple classes may delay program progression and completion.  
Based on a Community of Practice approach (Lave & Wenger, 1991), all members hold a shared responsibility for their own learning, as well as the learning of others. Diverse contributions to our community are welcomed and encouraged, and we will actively work to support our colleagues in advancing their writing.  
Please note that there is a certain amount of discomfort that often accompanies meaningful learning, and some learning activities may not be familiar or comfortable for you. That said, if you have a condition or disability that makes an activity difficult, risky, or not feasible, please let me know and I will work with you to devise an alternative activity.

Grading

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

Readings:

Please note that as this is a draft outline, readings may shift slightly based on recommendations. If you are reading ahead, the readings listed here will be honoured in light of any potential changes.  

Class 1:  Two worlds approach; Writing as Inquiry – yurt

Kapyrka & Dockstator, M. (2012). Indigenous knowledges and Western knowledges in environmental education: Acknowledging the tensions for the benefits of a “Two-Worlds” approach. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education on Decolonizing + Indigenizing: Moving Environmental Education Towards Reconciliation, 17, 97-112.

Thomas, R. (2016).  Etuaptmumk: Two-Eyed Seeing. Retrieved from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA9EwcFbVfg&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR17n7ePGuTeoC-UNjV6ElrihKPqJtR1nLw5p9-TBwd2zDJOKuYWfMZBl0k 

Excerpts from:

Bolton, G. (2010). “Reflective writing: A “how to guide.” In Reflective Practice:
Writing and professional development (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Revisit:

Richardson, L. (1994). Writing: A method of inquiry. In Denzin & Lincoln’s
The Handbook of Qualitative Research Thousand Oaks: Sage Publishing

Class 2: Re/conciliation – land, self, & community - q̓íc̓əy̓ village

Macgregor, D. (2018). Reconciliation and environmental justice. Journal of
Global Ethics, 14(2), 222-231, DOI: 10.1080/17449626.2018.1507005

Kerr, J. & Parent, A. (2018). The First Peoples Principles of Learning in
teacher education: Responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 40(1), 36-53.

Turner, N. & Spalding, P. (2018). Learning from the Earth, Learning from each other:
Ethnoecology, responsibility, and reciprocity. In M. Asch, J. Borrows, and J. Tully (Eds.) (Resurgence and reconciliation: Indigenous-settler relations and earth teachings (pp. 265-291). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Additional Resource:

Korteweg, L. & Russell, C. (2012). <article from> Canadian Journal of Environmental
Education on Decolonizing + Indigenizing: Moving Environmental Education Towards Reconciliation

Class 3: Issues of quality and relational accountability – Yurt

Fichtman Dana, N. & Yendol-Hoppey, D. (2014). Becoming the best teacher and
researcher you can be. In The reflective educator’s guide to classroom research. (3rd Ed.). California: Corwin Press.

Groundwater-Smith, & Mockler, (2007). Ethics in practitioner research: an issue of
quality. Research Papers in Education, 22. 199-211.

Wilson, S. (2008). Relational accountability. Research is ceremony: indigenous
research methods. Black Point, N.S: Fernwood Publishing.

Class 4: Perspectives on Place and Creating spaces for change - Planting Site  

Tuck, E., McKenzie M. & McCoy, K. (2014) Land education: Indigenous, post-colonial, and decolonizing perspectives on place and environmental education research, Environmental Education Research, 20(1), 1-23.
Sameshima, P. & Greenwood, D. A. (2015). Visioning the Centre for Place and Sustainability Studies through an embodied aesthetic wholeness. Cultural Study of Science Education, 10, 163–176.

Class 5: TBA

Class 6: Storytelling and Interdependence - Squamish

Archibald, J. (2008). The power of stories to educate the heart. In Indigenous
storywork: Educating the mind body and spirit (pp. 83-100). Vancouver, UBC press. {upload this chapter]

King, T. (2003). You will never believe what happened is a good way to start. The
truth about stories. Massey lecture. https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2398900256

Re-visiting: Cajete, G. (2005). Native Science: Natural Laws of interdependence. ‘ Santa Fe: NM, Clear. Light Publishers

Class 7: Living well, Witnessing, and Calls to action - Yurt

Kirkness, V. J. & Barnhardt, R. (1991). The four R's — Respect, relevance, reciprocity,
responsibility. Journal of American Indian Education, 30(3), 1-15.

Hunt, S. (2018). Researching within relations of violence: Witnessing as
methodology. In McGregor & J.P. Restoule, & R. Johnston (Eds.). Indigenous research: Theories, practices, and relationships. Vancouver: Canadian Scholars.

Class 8: Spirit driven knowledge, knowing and understanding - q̓íc̓əy̓ (Pitt) Lake

Meyer, M. (2008). Indigenous and authentic: Hawaiian epistemology and the
triangulation of meaning. In N. K. Denzin, Y. S. Lincoln and L. Tuhiwai Smith
(Eds.), Handbook of critical indigenous methodologies, (pp. 217-232). Sage Publishing.

Stonechild, B. (2016). The great principle. In The knowledge seeker: Embracing
Indigenous spirituality (pp.43-67). Regina: University of Regina Press.

Class 9: Inquiry Methodologies - Woodlot 0007

Revisiting self study and practitioner inquiry articles

Class 10: Living Life as Inquiry - Woodlot 0007

Cajete, G. (1994). For life’s sake – the spiritual ecology of American Indian Education. In Look to the mountain, (pp. 42-73). New Mexico: Kivaki Press.

Marshal, J. (1999).  Living life as inquiry. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 12(2).  

Class 11: Identity(ies) - Woodlot 0007

? Hasebe-Ludt, E., Chambers, C. M., & Leggo, C. (2009). Métissage 2: Mixed and missing identities. Life writing and literary Métissage as an ethos for our times. (pp. 64-96). New York: Peter Lang.

? Matthewman, S. (2018). From Place to Planet: The role of the language arts in reading environmental identities from the UK to New Zealand.

? McIvor, (2010). I Am My Subject: Blending Indigenous Research Methodology and Autoethnography through integrity-based, Spirit-based research Canadian Journal of Native Education; 2010; 33, 1, 137-155.

Class 12: The Journey - Woodlot 0007

Lange, E. A. (2004). Transformative and Restorative learning: A vital dialectic for
sustainable societies. Adult Education Quarterly, 54 (2) 121-139.
Raven teachings. TBD

Class 13: Sharing Gifts for the Good of the People - Woodlot 0007

Cajete, G. (2015). For the good of the people: Re-creating indigenous community
leadership. Indigenous Community: Rekindling the teachings of the seventh fire. Minnesota: Living Justice Press.

Brown, B. (2018). Who we are is how we lead. Dare to lead. New York: Random
House.

 

RECOMMENDED READING: