Investigating Outdoor Programs and Their Implications for Black Communal Knowledge and Practices

• In Event: Community and Cultural Wealth Approaches to Out-of-School-Time Study, Design, and Assessment

Abstract

Currently, there are limited studies in outdoor education on the effect of western, dominant epistemologies and how this framing of the outdoors can be harmful, especially to Black students because of how race and white supremacy are addressed in outdoor education. Outdoor programs that center Black participants strive to mitigate settler colonialism ideology in outdoor spaces through reconnecting students to their ancestral knowledge, skills, and multiple ways of knowing. This research investigates how outdoor programs strategize around diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), how science is illustrated and designed to center student identities, and how liberatory practices are used to further develop and expand a safe and inclusive space for Black students.

Authors

• Brandi Cannon-Force, Stanford University

• Janet Carlson, Stanford University