Cultivating Relational Experiences Through Wayfinding: Transforming Curriculum and Pedagogy to Support the Continuation of Life

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 4:55 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Redefining Pedagogy and Knowledge Production for Justice (Table 25)

Abstract

Amid widespread social and ecological crises, this paper is interested in a process-oriented approach—wayfinding—to disrupt human-centric attitudes, specifically in outdoor education. As a non-Indigenous educator coming into relationship with Indigenous wisdom teachings, wayfinding is framed by tenets of hermeneutic philosophy and animated through sacred ecology and Treaty commitments. Kindled through visits with a nêhiyaw (Cree) Elder, holistic understandings are brought into dialogue with student understandings on two curriculum-linked outdoor programs, including three trips (canoeing, backpacking, and sea kayaking). Prominent events, stories, and reflections surface significant waypoints that provide insights for disrupting relationship denial and for building and sustaining healthier relations. Principles for wayfinding are presented to offer curricular and pedagogical possibilities that naturalize life-giving sensibilities across educational experiences.

Author

• Jennifer Macdonald, University of Regina