ERIC Number: EJ1076581
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1472-9679
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
"Touched by the Earth": A Place-Based Outdoor Learning Programme Incorporating the Arts
Gray, Tonia; Birrell, Carol
Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, v15 n4 p330-349 2015
With growing disconnection from the natural world, educators who work in the outdoors need to philosophically rethink their "modus operandi". Past efforts by adventure and outdoor educators to promote connection with nature have often centred upon risk-centric approaches incorporating adventure-fuelled and high-adrenalin activities. This paper explores how the Arts may be incorporated into ecopedagogies, and what creative work can reveal about the nature of communication with the environment. "Touched by the Earth" is a year-long place-based enrichment programme using multi-modal creative methods with young adolescent participants. Our research addressed the following questions: what does it mean to be "Touched by the Earth"; and how can the Arts amplify a personal relationship with the environment? Data were collected through interviews as well as student-generated material such as artefacts, video and photographs and field observation. Our findings indicate the crucial role the Arts can play in embodied and multi-sensory learning for participants, which in turn nurtures greater nature awareness and attachment. This transformation may, in fact, be termed "love". We conclude that place-based, interdisciplinary and immersive modalities galvanise a deeper appreciation of the natural environment.
Descriptors: Outdoor Education, Program Descriptions, Educational Philosophy, Adventure Education, Place Based Education, Interviews, Art Education, Video Technology, Photography, Enrichment Activities, Teaching Methods, Role, Transformative Learning, Attachment Behavior, Interdisciplinary Approach, Sensory Experience, Mixed Methods Research, Foreign Countries, Observation, High School Students, Pretests Posttests, Student Surveys
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A