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

• In Event: Environmental Education as Site of Critical Inquiry

Abstract

In 2018, Oregon State University’s Outdoor Extension Program held a listening session at the Oregon Indian Education Association conference, an annual event hosted by the oldest statewide Indian education organization established in 1975. We held that session, in part, because we (Authors) 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 that listening session, Indigenous educators and community members urged us to address the ways outdoor education reproduced stereotypes of Indigenous peoples and appropriated Indigenous knowledge systems. They shared experiences of racism and colonialism their children experienced, as well as a general disinterest in the program.

This research stems from that listening session, from the responsibility we felt as Indigenous scholars to take seriously the concerns Indigenous educators and families expressed about Indigenous children’s experiences in Outdoor School. This research stems from our desire to engage in research that would be “useful” (Brayboy et al, 2012) to those Indigenous educators and community members and “answerable” (Patel, 2016) to their concerns.

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. Outdoor and experiential 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. 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

• Shareen Springer, University of Oregon

• Roshelle Weiser-Nieto, University of Oregon