Constance Russell

‘Whoever does not write is written’: the role of ‘nature’ in post‐post approaches to environmental education research

While McKenzie mentions in passing her concern about anthropocentrism and human oppression of the natural world, she is mostly silent about the role of ‘nature’ in post‐post approaches to environmental education research. If one takes feminist poststructuralist ideas about voice and representation seriously, surely the place of ‘nature’ in environmental education research must be interrogated? Is there space for ‘nature’ in multivocal representations of research? How might our own polyvocality include our experiences of our animality? How might we assess the legitimacy of such representations? What are the limits and possibilities of post‐post approaches to environmental education research when ‘nature’ is taken into account?

Whalewatching as critical science education

While the educational value of whalewatching has often been proclaimed, there has been little research on the topic. This article, based on a case study conducted in Tadoussac, Quebec, focuses on whalewatching’s ability to act as a form of critical science education. Discussion of learning outcomes and learning desires of 31 whalewatchers forms the core of the article. Key issues that emerge include the need for interpreter training, epistemic responsibility of scientists, and the role of conservation and advocacy in whalewatching interpretation. While the whalewatching experience described in this case study did not live up its potential as a form of critical science education, we believe that such goals are worth pursuing and may enhance whalewatching interpretation in the future. Further, we see whalewatching (and, by implication, other forms of nature experience) as a significant adjunct to formal science education because it creates space for the strong affective component essential to effecting the transition from caring about to caring for the environment, and because it can be a site for a more explicitly politicized type of science education than is generally possible in today’s increasingly corporatized school system.Sommaire exécutifBien qu’on ait souvent vanté les mérites de l’observation des baleines comme activité formatrice en éducation, le sujet n’a guère fait l’objet de recherches systématiques jusqu’à présent. Cet article, basé sur une étude de cas menée à Tadoussac, Québec, part du principe que l’observation des baleines peut servir à développer l’esprit critique dans la formation scientifique et peut être considérée comme un ajout valable au programme scientifique traditionnel. De nombreux chercheurs sont convaincus que les expériences d’apprentissage non traditionnelles sont particulièrement efficaces dans la formation des attitudes et la stimulation des réponses émotives, deux aspects essentiels dans un programme centré sur la promotion de l’action sociopolitique, soit justement le type de programme scientifique prôné par les auteurs du présent article.Un tel programme requiert que les étudiants reconnaissent que l’environnement n’est pas seulement une sorte de donnée de départ, mais aussi un construit social, et ce de deux façons: d’abord, nous agissons sur les milieux naturels et nous les modifions, c’est-à-dire que nous les construisons et les reconstruisons au fil de nos actions sociales; ensuite, nous en avons une perception qui dépend du cadre socioculturel dominant. Notre conception de l’environnement est donc elle-même un construit social, ce qui implique qu’elle pourrait être différente. En effet, de nombreux peuples indigènes ont de l’environnement une perception radicalement différente de la nôtre. En encourageant les étudiants à reconnaître les différentes façons dont l’environnement est socialement construit, nous serons en mesure de remettre en question la notion suivant laquelle les problèmes environnementaux sont « naturels » et inévitables.Bien qu’il semble que quelques-uns des participants aient vu évoluer leurs idées sur les baleines et soient maintenant plus conscients de la nécessité de changer la façon dont la société occidentale industrialisée perçoit les milieux naturels et notre responsabilité à leur égard, près du tiers des 31 observateurs de baleines ont malheureusement affirmé qu’ils n’avaient rien appris de nouveau en participant à cette activité. Une bonne part de leur réaction a été attribuée au manque de préparation de l’interprète. Les étudiants les plus sensibilisés aux questions environnementales ont été déçus de constater l’absence de contenus explicitement axés sur la conservation et l’activisme dans le message véhiculé par les programmes d’interprétation. Un certain nombre des étudiants qui se sont sentis plus motivés à s’engager activement ont indiqué qu’ils n’avaient pas d’idées concrètes sur la façon dont ils pourraient participer à la conservation des baleines ou modifier leurs propres comportements, et qu’ils auraient certainement apprécié qu’on les informe et qu’on les conseille à ce sujet.L’étude met l’accent sur l’importance des personnes qui sont en contact étroit avec les baleines - celles qui, jour après jour, passent leur vie au milieu des cétacés. En effet, il serait opportun que ces personnes racontent leurs interactions avec les baleines et qu’elles fassent connaître le monde et les activités de ces dernières. C’est là un aspect qui a été grandement apprécié des participants qui ont eu la chance de le découvrir et dont les autres ont déploré l’absence. Cette façon d’aborder l’observation des baleines pourrait être particulièrement efficace si les scientifiques eux-mêmes participaient plus directement aux activités d’observation. Certains chercheurs affirment en effet que les scientifiques ont une responsabilité épistémologique, car ils ont le devoir de partager leur savoir avec le grand public. Ainsi, ils pourraient être. en mesure de communiquer une partie de leur passion (un élément clé dans la formation des attitudes) et, en même temps, de fournir au public l’occasion d’observer les sciences en temps réel.L’expérience d’observation des baleines décrite dans cet article n’a certes pas comblé toutes nos attentes en tant qu’instrument de formation critique en sciences (résultat difficile à atteindre, même dans l’avenir, étant donné les contraintes de temps, le manque de formateurs compétents et certains intérêts en jeu), mais nous estimons qu’il s’agit là d’une démarche qui mérite d’être poursuivie et qui pourrait s’avérer utile pour interpréter l’observation des baleines. Surtout, nous continuons de croire que l’observation des baleines peut devenir un ajout significatif dans la formation scientifique traditionnelle, car cette activité met en jeu un aspect fortement affectif qui est essentiel si l’on veut amener un public qui se préoccupe de l’environnement à s’en occuper réellement.

Working across and with methodological difference in environmental education research

I hesitated when I was first asked to contribute to this collection to discuss the implications of articles by Louise Chawla (1998) and Karen Malone (1999a) for ‘doing research’. What immediately c...

The impact of integrated environmental studies programs: are students motivated to act pro-environmentally?

In Canada, there exists a noteworthy educational initiative referred to as Environmental Studies Programs (ESPs). These secondary school programs are interdisciplinary, helping to link subject matter and encouraging student responsibility. The results of two case studies of Ontario ESPs that analyze the impact of ESP participation on students’ attitudes to, and relationships with, the environment and the extent to which program participation informs domestic pro-environmental behaviors and/or emancipatory social and environmental actions are presented. The results from the focus group sessions indicate that students believe that they can effect environmental change but that they struggle with ways to meaningfully enact that change in light of ‘real world’ constraints.

The Development and Implementation of Outdoor-Based Secondary School Integrated Programs.

Four teachers share the challenges they faced when creating and running outdoor-focused secondary school integrated programs in British Columbia, Canada. The five most common challenges were funding constraints, insufficient support from administrators and colleagues, time constraints, liability and risk management, and inadequate skills and qualifications. The teachers also share their strategies for meeting these challenges. It is hoped that this article will help teachers who are interested in starting their own outdoor-related integrated program be better prepared and thus able to make their own professional dreams a reality.

Towards creating an inclusive community of researchers: the first three years of the North American Association for Environmental Education research symposium

This article uses a series of interlinked, personal vignettes to discuss the first three years of the North American Association for Environmental Education research symposium, from the perspectives of the key organizers. Seven challenges in the field of environmental education research are identified in a recent historical context, and we illustrate how the symposium sought to address them. The challenges were, that: (i) environmental education research has been marginalized in some areas and not recognized in others; (ii) environmental education research and environmental education practice need to be brought closer together; (iii) environmental education research is still in early development of a professional perspective; (iv) environmental education research has to give a voice to early career scholars and graduate students; (v) environmental education research needs to enable discourse about both process and outcomes; (vi) environmental education researchers need social learning contexts to help develop professional identities and create more meaningful dialogue to address these challenges; and (vii) methodologies, theoretical frameworks and differences in beliefs in environmental education research need to be accommodated. The last challenge is seen as the most significant with which to continue to engage, in developing open, inclusive forums for researchers of environmental education.

Moving Beyond the Injustices of the Schooled Healthy Body

A healthy body is determined not by medical treatments and lifestyle choices alone, but by a complex interaction of social influences (Raphael, 2009). Despite this, many North American schools continue to espouse the notion that individual choice and behavior alone are the solutions to educating youth for long-term health. In this chapter, we argue that current “healthy body” discourses in schools, in particular in health and physical education culture, privilege certain body types and marginalize others. Through a critical lens, we advocate for a new social movement that deconstructs the injustices of biopedagogies in schools, challenges the regulation of bodies in and through educational practice, and disrupts the idea of the schooled healthy body. Resisting hegemonic biopedagogies, we advocate a vision of social justice in schools that fosters a physical education culture of safety for, and democratic inclusion of, all bodies.

Moving gender from margin to center in environmental education

For the past 30 years or so, a small group of environmental education scholars have attended to gender and promoted feminist theories and methodologies (e.g., Barrett,2005; Barron,1995; Davies,2013; DiChiro,1987; Fawcett,2000; Fontes,2002; Gough,1999a,1999b,2004; Gough & Whitehouse,2003;Gray,2016; Hallen,2000; Harvester & Blenkinsop, 2010; Li,2007; Lloro-Bidart,2016; Martusewicz,2013; McKenzie,2004,2005; Newbery,2003; Russell & Bell,1996; Russell & Semenko,2016; Sakellari & Skanavis,2013; Storey, DaCruz & Camargo,1998; Stovall, Baker-Sperry, & Dallinger,2015; Wane & Chandler,2002; Warren,1996; Whitehouse,2012; Whitehouse & Taylor,1996).1Historically, this scholarship has remained somewhat on the margins of the field (A.Gough,2013,in press; Russell &Fawcett,2013), however, it is time for renewal. This special issue of The Journal of Environmental Education is devoted to the topic of gender and environmental education. The issue brings together an international group of scholars who share a common dedication to promoting social equity and gender equality in environmental education and beyond. Including research reports, theoretical inquiry, autobiographical explorations, and creative assemblages, collectively the articles demonstrate the exciting possibilities that come with bringing gender from margin to center (see hooks,1984).

Learning Science in Aquariums and on Whalewatching Boats: The Hidden Curriculum of the Deployment of Other Animals

While once primarily dedicated to the entertainment of the public in Western societies, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, and similar facilities now mostly self-identify as informal science or conservation education organizations. Parks and protected areas, within which wildlife-focused tourism often occurs, also identify education as a key part of their mission. Substantial educational research literature examines teaching and learning in such spaces, but largely fails to consider the real lived experiences of animals enrolled in these processes or to interrogate the hidden curriculum that can contradict intended messaging. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted at two sites, a public aquarium in southern California and a national marine park in Quebec that is a popular site for whalewatching, we demonstrate how animals are politically deployed in educational processes when interpreters at “edutainment” sites aim to teach science to the general public in the name of conservation.

Expanding the Foundation: Climate Change and Opportunities for Educational Research

Human-caused climate change is a dominant global challenge. Unlike other disciplines and fields, there has as yet been only limited attention to climate change in educational research generally, and in educational foundations in particular. Education is key to assisting humanity in mitigating and adapting to climate change, and educational researchers working within diverse disciplinary and methodological traditions and a broad array of research contexts need to engage in this most pressing of challenges. We argue that the field needs a new commitment to a form of educational justice appropriately scaled to the size of the challenge we face. We address this gap by reviewing current thinking on the human dimensions of climate change and summarizing what research has been conducted in the area of climate change education as a means of identifying a range of possibilities for educational research and praxis.