Young Children Learning With Sticks

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: Environmental Education SIG Poster Session

Abstract

I used an ethnographic case study approach to investigate the key features of Grade 1 students’ meaningful outdoor environmental education learning experiences. The major finding was their constant and consistent use of sticks of varying sizes. These sticks were used literally and symbolically to build structures, as tools, as weapons, and as currency. Sticks facilitated the students’ agentic inquiry-based learning. Students demonstrated learning that met the standards for the principles of provincial environmental education curriculum. Physical and tactile connection to sticks created students’ affective, cognitive, ethical, and cosmological connection to nature. Future programming and research should reflect the importance of physical and tactile outdoor learning. Indigenous perspectives in place-centered education must be considered; what did sticks teach the children?

Authors

• Elizabeth Beattie, The University of British Columbia

• Samson M. Nashon, The University of British Columbia

• Sandra Anne Scott, The University of British Columbia