Making kin in the forest
Explorations of ecological literacy through contemplative practices in a Swedish folk high school
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12526317 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kristin Persson (0000-0003-2912-6128, Stockholm University, corresponding author), Maria Andrée (0000-0002-5574-8636, Stockholm University), Cecilia Caiman (0000-0002-0905-7439, Stockholm University) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 8 |
| Pages | 1247-1262 |
| Publication date | 2024-01-29 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Education Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1350-4622 • E-ISSN: 1469-5871 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13504622.2024.2309587 |
| OpenAlex | W4391323009 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 28 |
This study is about the use of contemplative practices in forest fieldwork and how such practices could support the growth of ecological literacy.Ecological literacy is explored by employing Donna Haraway's notions of becoming-with and companion species.The study is based on fieldwork with a group of adult learners attending a folk high school in Sweden.The participants are followed as they encounter and are becoming-with species of the forest.The empirical material consists of video-and audio-recordings.The results provide a narrative of forest encounters, environmental concerns and dreams about the simple harmonic life.The forest fieldwork thus provides a site for elaborating a more inclusive ethics and teaching strategies where nonhuman-human relational aspects become center to ecological literacy.The results suggest that folk high school environmental education could be used as a source of inspiration in disrupting the practices of compulsory science education.And when you feel the wind then let the wind feel you [] You see the fire see the flames the movement the colours When you feel that you really see the fire, then you can shift your focus and let the fire see you Let the fire see you Let the wind feel you Let the fire feel you Feel the heat of the fireOn a small mountaintop in a Swedish forest a group of adult learners from a folk high school gather around a campfire.It is a cold and clear afternoon in January.The dusk light is intensely purple and the view of the half-frozen lake is spectacular.The group is welcomed by one of the teachers with the poetic words above to a course gathering about nature connectedness 1 (in Swedish, naturkontakt).An aim of the course is to deepen the contact with nature and the experience of connectedness.From the very start, the teacher invites the wind and the fire in as actors: 'let the wind feel you' and 'let the fire see you' .The teacher ascribes abilities of sense to the wind and the fire (they feel and see) while at the same time she encourages the course participants (the humans) to open themselves to them
Contemplation · Environmental education · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Geography · Literacy · Pedagogy · Sociology · Trough (economics · Animal and Plant Science Education · Environmental Education and Sustainability · Environmental Philosophy and Ethics · Philosophy · Ecology
Down-to-earth ecological literacy through human and nonhuman encounters in fieldwork
Cosmopolitical encounters in environmental education
Down to Earth
Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet
Field Ecology
Place-responsive Pedagogies in the Anthropocene
Encounters with suchness
Getting “really close”
Educational potentials of encounters with nature
It Matters What Stories Tell Stories; It Matters Whose Stories Tell Stories
Against methodocentrism in educational research
Hard-rooted to nature
The Wonder of Data
| Citations per year | 2.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |