Making kin in the forest: explorations of ecological literacy through contemplative practices in a Swedish folk high school
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: This study is about the use of contemplative practices in forest fieldwork and how such practices could support the growth of ecological literacy.Ecological literacy is explored by employing Donna Haraway's notions of becoming-with and companion species.The study is based on fieldwork with a group of adult learners attending a folk high school in Sweden.The participants are followed as they encounter and are becoming-with species of the forest.The empirical material consists of video-and audio-recordings.The results provide a narrative of forest encounters, environmental concerns and dreams about the simple harmonic life.The forest fieldwork thus provides a site for elaborating a more inclusive ethics and teaching strategies where nonhuman-human relational aspects become center to ecological literacy.The results suggest that folk high school environmental education could be used as a source of inspiration in disrupting the practices of compulsory science education.And when you feel the wind … then let … the wind feel you … […] You see the fire … see the flames … the movement … the colours When you feel that you really see the fire, then you can shift your focus and let the fire see you Let the fire see you Let the wind feel you… Let the fire feel you Feel the heat of the fireOn a small mountaintop in a Swedish forest a group of adult learners from a folk high school gather around a campfire.It is a cold and clear afternoon in January.The dusk light is intensely purple and the view of the half-frozen lake is spectacular.The group is welcomed by one of the teachers with the poetic words above to a course gathering about nature connectedness 1 (in Swedish, naturkontakt).An aim of the course is to deepen the contact with nature and the experience of connectedness.From the very start, the teacher invites the wind and the fire in as actors: 'let the wind feel you…' and 'let the fire see you' .The teacher ascribes abilities of sense to the wind and the fire (they feel and see) while at the same time she encourages the course participants (the humans) to open themselves to them.
Source: Environmental Education Research
Authors: Kristin Persson, Maria Andrée, Cecilia Caiman
Institution: Stockholm University
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4391323009