Teresa Socha

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.

The Changing Climate of Outdoor Education in the Quebec CEGEP System

We examined outdoor education (OE) programming changes in the English Quebec Collège d’enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEP) system (similar to the U.S. community college system) during the last 20–30 years, and the factors contributing to these changes within the assumptions of the postpositivist paradigm. Within the CEGEP system, outdoor education operates within the curriculum of physical education. The research is the first of its kind to provide a historical perspective of OE programming changes in Quebec English CEGEPS (1980s–2009) and their implications on future programming in the CEGEP system.

Mirrored Tensions: A Mother–Daughter Introspection on Gendered Experiences in Outdoor Recreation

This autoethnographic chapter explores the narratives of a mother (Teresa) and daughter (Stephanie) as active participants in the field of outdoor recreation. The discussion in this chapter seeks to unpack our understandings of hegemonic masculinity, gender performativity and the superwoman complex, and the impact of supportive males in outdoor recreation environments. Through a deconstruction of shared experiences consistent through two generations, our chapter politicizes some of the recurring themes that have shaped our gendered identities and experiences as women in the field.

Reflections on Using Pinhole Photography as a Pedagogical and Methodological Tool with Adolescents in Wild Nature

This paper shares our experiences using pinhole photography with adolescents as both a pedagogical tool to support and deepen adolescent experiences in wild nature, and as a visual methodological tool to elucidate their experiences. Reflecting on a journey that explored the nature-based experiences of two adolescents on a family canoe trip in Northern Canada, examples of findings are presented that contextualize study participants within the literature to illustrate pinhole photography’s viability for the study of adolescent experiences in wild nature. Pinhole photography proved to be a medium to intensify the adolescents’ embodied presence and sense of place, and helped them to anchor their experiences in wild nature for ensuing reflection and focused discussion. Pinhole photography’s inherent strengths and challenges are discussed and recommendations presented for its future use as a methodological and “slow” pedagogical tool in the study of outdoor education and/or environmental education.