"We Should Have Held This in a Circle": Disrupting Colonial Logics in Outdoor Education

• In Event: Sharing Responsibility for Reshaping Social Studies Education for Indigenous Studies: Examinations of Researcher-Organization Partnerships

Abstract

In 2016, voters in Oregon passed Measure 99, stabilizing funding for public schools statewide to provide a residential outdoor school experience for 5th/6th grade students. The legislature tasked the Oregon State University Extension Service to distribute funds to school districts and education service districts to operate outdoor school programs and provide professional development opportunities for educators. In an effort to consult and collaborate with various community stakeholders, especially those marginalized in outdoor education, OSU Extension held a series of listening sessions. Recently hired as the Research Coordinator for OSU Extension Service Outdoor School, [name redacted], (Arapaho), recognized the need to explicitly consult with Indigenous communities about the experiences of Native youth participating in outdoor schools, with the understanding that all outdoor education takes place on Indigenous homelands. In one listening session at the 2018 Oregon Indian Education Association conference, Indigenous educators and community members urged OSU Extension to address the ways outdoor education reproduced stereotypes of Indigenous peoples and the cultural appropriation of Indigenous knowledge systems, a problem that is pervasive in society (Deloria, 1998; Green, 1988), the field of social studies (Author, 2019; Calderón, 2014; Journell, 2009; Author et al, 2015; Author, 2014), and reflected in the literature on outdoor education (Kim et al 2017, Barron, 2003; Friedel, 2011; Hamilton, 2003; Skidmore, 2017). To address this, OSU Extension partnered with an Indigenous studies professor to explore culturally responsive and responsible approaches to challenging colonialism and integrating Indigenous studies into outdoor education. 

This paper documents the research partnership between two Indigenous studies researchers, a university teacher educator and a researcher-practitioner who are working to ensure that the organization and the educators it trains are committed to the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and knowledge systems. Social studies education is deeply implicated in the logic and practices of settler colonialism (Author, 2015; Author, 2018; Author, 2019; Calderón, 2014; Haynes Writer, 2010; Author, 2014). Outdoor educators, many of whom are 5th and 6th grade teachers, often reproduce and extend these same logics in the field. Because of this, the PD specifically sought to make these logics and practices visible so that outdoor educators could learn to create more humanizing spaces for Indigenous peoples and knowledge systems. Indigenous educators have advocated that educators take seriously Indigenous knowledge systems, as they offer philosophies and practices that counter coloniality and support ways of being and knowing rooted in relationality, respect, reciprocity, and responsibility (Battiste, 2000; 2013; Deloria & Wildcat, 2001; Kawagley, 1995; Wilson, 2008). Yet without a critical grounding, efforts to integrate Indigenous studies and Indigenous knowledge systems will likely reproduce, rather than challenge, colonialism. After describing the professional development (PD) training that was collaboratively developed, this paper explores problems of practice and promising opportunities that resulted from its implementation. Some participants remained deeply entrenched in settler logics, while others asked for further support to completely reshape their outdoor education curriculum. The findings from this study affirms the need for all educators--including social studies educators and outdoor educators--to become versed in Indigenous studies. 

Authors

• Spirit Brooks, Oregon State University

• Leilani Sabzalian, University of Oregon