Wayfinding for the Continuation of Life: A Curriculum Inquiry to Enrich Experiences and Renew Relations in Outdoor Education
| dc.contributor.advisor | Field, James Colin | |
| dc.contributor.author | MacDonald, Jennifer Catherine | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Donald, Dwayne Trevor | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Hanson, Aubrey Jean | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Norris, Julian Alexander | |
| dc.date | 2022-11 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-08-16T19:40:28Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-08-16T19:40:28Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2022-08 | |
| dc.description.abstract | This research addresses the crucial concern that dominant cultural values, naturalized in curriculum and pedagogy, support experiences that reinforce a type of human being who has lost their way within an ecological web. Deep separations exist between humans and wider kinship relations which reinforces human-centric individualistic understandings of wellness. In outdoor education, this tradition often makes place-based ecologies a passive backdrop to human pursuits. This inquiry is committed to a deeper learning process—wayfinding—to enliven places as living curriculum and to attend to healthier, more ethical, relationships with what gives and sustains life. As a non-Indigenous, Canadian, researcher and educator coming into relationship with Indigenous wisdom teachings, wayfinding is framed by tenets of hermeneutic philosophy and nuanced by teachings of sacred ecology and being a good treaty relative. Kindled through visits with nêyihaw Elder, Bob Cardinal, holistic understandings come into dialogue with two curriculum-linked outdoor education programs, including three different trips. With 16 secondary school students, this inquiry involved eight-days canoeing in Killarney Provincial Park, seven-days backpacking in the Adirondack High Peaks, and 28-days sea kayaking along the coastline of Anticosti Island. Embodying the process alongside students, by way of humbly enacting teachings from Elder Cardinal, practices of narrative mapping, group conversations, observations and field notes, and interviews gathered understandings of how students perceive and interact with the more-than-human world. The immersion surfaced distinct yet layered pedagogical insights: understanding the problem of relationship denial, coming to recognize relations, experiencing the flow of kinship relationality, and sustaining good relations. This dissertation responds to the question: What is the curricular and pedagogical significance of wayfinding as an experience in outdoor education? By reflecting on the learning with students, and connecting it to wider curricular conversations, principles for wayfinding are offered to inspire renewed relations and to support more balanced ways of experiencing toward the continuation of life. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.citation | MacDonald, J. C. (2022). Wayfinding for the continuation of life: a curriculum inquiry to enrich experiences and renew relations in outdoor education (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1880/115045 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/40086 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | en_US |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Werklund School of Education | en_US |
| dc.publisher.institution | University of Calgary | en |
| dc.rights | University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. | en_US |
| dc.subject | Wayfinding | en_US |
| dc.subject | Curriculum | en_US |
| dc.subject | Relationships | en_US |
| dc.subject | Kinship | en_US |
| dc.subject | Treaty | en_US |
| dc.subject | Outdoor Education | en_US |
| dc.subject | Holism | en_US |
| dc.subject | Experiences | en_US |
| dc.subject | Hermeneutics | en_US |
| dc.subject.classification | Education--Curriculum and Instruction | en_US |
| dc.title | Wayfinding for the Continuation of Life: A Curriculum Inquiry to Enrich Experiences and Renew Relations in Outdoor Education | en_US |
| dc.type | doctoral thesis | en_US |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Education Graduate Program – Educational Research | en_US |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Calgary | en_US |
| thesis.degree.name | Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) | en_US |
| ucalgary.item.requestcopy | true | en_US |