Fall 2026 - EDUC 823 G032

Curriculum and Instruction in an Individual Teaching Speciality (5)

Class Number: 4315

Delivery Method: Online

Overview

Course Times + Location:

Sep 9 – Dec 7, 2026: TBA, TBA
Burnaby

Instructor:
Vicki Kelly
vickik@sfu.ca
1 778 782-7226
Office: EDB 8563 (Burnaby)

An intensive examination of developments in a curriculum area selected by the student. In addition the course will deal with major philosophical and historical factors that influence the present state and future directions of curriculum and instruction.

COURSE DETAILS:

Dates: Sept 10^th through to December 3^rd , 2026

Times: Thursdays 4:30- 9:30 pm

Location: On-line Course via Zoom

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

This course is designed to explore: the historical, cultural, and philosophical roots of the major worldviews; the various theoretical orientations to curriculum; the different positions regarding pedagogy; and other influences on our understandings of what place or nature based experiential learning and practice is. We will explore the role of place and nature-based learning in personal/professional development, and our perspectives on place/nature-based education for future generations. From within these various cultural and epistemological perspectives we will focus on how cultural orientations to place/nature-based practice inform the role of the place/nature-based educators and also impact communities of practice and will impact the educational experience of the next generations. We will explore how differing worldviews, perspectives and understandings have arisen in relation to place/nature-based practice and how these directly impact our approaches to place/nature-based education. We will discover how conceptions of curriculum as well as current context concerns invite diverse approaches to place/nature-based pedagogical practices. The student learner as place/nature-based practioner will be encouraged to bring together theory and practice as well as personal knowledge in relation to their own understandings of nature, education, place-based experiential learning and their own particular land-based practices. As teacher/inquirers they will be encouraged to explore in-depth place/nature-based and making-based inquiries within their teaching specialty and/or research interest and larger educational practice.

GOALS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

To cultivate one’s capacities as a place/nature based/educator/inquirer in collaboration with others in a community of inquiry.
To deepen and broaden one’s knowledge about the historical, cultural, and philosophic orientations to knowledge, curriculum and instruction, within place/nature based experiential learning and therefore the role of worldviews and knowledge systems in ecological education.
To critically reflect on one’s worldview as well as orientation to and understanding of education and place/nature based experiential learning.
To engage in an en-visioning process in order to re-imagine and re-story one’s orientation to education as well as place/nature based experiential learning, and also to create a future curriculum, pedagogical processes and instructional strategies to be enacted.
To engage in a making-based narrative inquiry process.
To cultivate one’s own place/nature-based practice as an inquiry.
To develop greater understanding as a place/nature-based learner/artist/educator of the various orientations to as well as the conceptions of curriculum, pedagogical practice and how this impacts place/nature based experiential education and its future.
To develop greater capacity as a place/nature based/artist/inquirer by exploring Indigenous as well as arts-based and arts-informed research methodologies.

Grading

Arts-based Portfolio 20%
Presentation 40%
Métissage Paper 40%

NOTES:

Create an Arts-based Portfolio based on your Land Practice and Making Practice: Maintain a notebook/journal/ arts-based portfolio with ongoing reflexive life writing, journaling, poetry, drawing, photography, making etc. to be gathered into an arts-based portfolio throughout the term. Grade 20%

Presentation: Offer an oral presentation on your arts-based narrative inquiry focused on your land practice and making practice. The invitation is to speak of the implications for your understanding of place/nature based experiential learning and its impact on your wellbeing, your enacted pedagogy as well as your curriculum creation. Speak to your vision of the programs or projects or practices that you intend to implement in the future.
Grade 40%

Métissage Paper: Create a piece that describes your arts-based narrative inquiry into your own lived experiences of place/nature-based learning and possible impact on your ecology of wellbeing. Address how this course has impacted your orientation to place and land as well as you lived curriculum in relation to other perspectives, programs, and practices.
Grade 40%

GRADING NOTES:

Further details will be given during the presentation of the full course outline and throughout the course. Students are also encouraged to discuss the intended direction of their place/nature-based and making-based inquiries with the instructor.

REQUIREMENTS:

*Note: Each student is expected to have completed all the course reading, assignments, and to actively contribute to class discussions as well as other group processes. It is also recommended that each student maintain a journal or field notebook, which can serve as a forum for on-going critical reflection, lyrical writing, observations, sketches, rumination, and as place for noting ideas and insights. The students are also expected to engage fully in multi-disciplinary participatory pedagogies and learning processes, participate in various forms of inquiry, and present or represent their work in multiple modalities or literacies.

ACADEMIC HONESTY STATEMENT

PLEASE NOTE: Students in all Faculty of Education courses are responsible for knowing policies pertaining to academic integrity available on the website:

http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student.html.

What is academic integrity? Check out http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Cajete, G, (1994). Look to the Mountain: Ecology of Indigenous Education. Skyland, NC: Kivaki Press.

(Note: ***This text will be available as a PDF through the Instructor)

ISBN: 1-882308-65-4

Davidson, S. (2018). Potlatch as Pedagogy. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Highwater Press
ISBN: 978-1553797739

Wall Kimmerer, Robin. (2015). Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Knowledge, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Milkweed Editions.
ISBN: 978-1-57131-356-0

Wall Kimmerer, Robin. (2024) The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World. New York, NY: Simon & Shuster.
ISBN: 978-6680-7224-0

Grenz, J. (2024). Medicine Wheel for The Planet. Toronto, ON: Alfred A. Knopf/ Penguin Random House Canada.
ISBN: 978-1039006034

Simpson, Leanne. (2025). Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead.. Toronto, ON: Knopf Canada.
ISBN: 978-1039010260

Wagamese, R. (2016) Embers: One Ojibway’s Meditations. Toronto, ON: Douglas & McIntyre.
ISBN: 978-1-77162-133-5

Wagamese, R. (2019). One Drum: Stories and Ceremonies for a Planet. Toronto, ON: Douglas & McIntyre.
ISBN: 978-1-77162-229-5

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit:

SFU’s Academic Integrity Policy: S10-01 Policy
SFU’s Academic Integrity website, which includes helpful videos and tips in plain language: Academic Integrity at SFU

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.

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Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines