Contemporary Studies in Environmental and Indigenous Pedagogies


Book Description

Contemporary Studies in Environmental and Indigenous Pedagogies: A Curricula of Stories and Place. Our book is a compilation of the work of experienced educational researchers and practitioners, all of whom currently work in educational settings across North America. Contributors bring to this discussion, an enriched view of diverse ecological perspectives regarding when and how contemporary environmental and Indigenous curriculum figures into the experiences of curricular theories and practices. This work brings together theorists that inform a cultural ecological analysis of the environmental crisis by exploring the ways in which language informs ways of knowing and being as they outline how metaphor plays a major role in human relationships with natural and reconstructed environments. This book will be of interest to educational researchers and practitioners who will find the text important for envisioning education as an endeavour that situates learning in relation to and informed by an Indigenous Environmental Studies and Eco-justice Education frameworks. This integrated collection of theory and practice of environmental and Indigenous education is an essential tool for researchers, graduate and undergraduate students in faculties of education, environmental studies, social studies, multicultural education, curriculum theory and methods, global and comparative education, and women’s studies. Moreover, this work documents methods of developing ways of implementing Indigenous and Environmental Studies in classrooms and local communities through a framework that espouses an eco-ethical consciousness. The proposed book is unique in that it offers a wide variety of perspectives, inviting the reader to engage in a broader conversation about the multiple dimensions of the relationship between ecology, language, culture, and education in relation to the cultural roots of the environmental crisis that brings into focus the local and global commons, language and identity, and environmental justice through pedagogical approaches by faculty across North America who are actively teaching and researching in this burgeoning field.




Land Education


Book Description

This important book on Land Education offers critical analysis of the paths forward for education on Indigenous land. This analysis discusses the necessity of centring historical and current contexts of colonization in education on and in relation to land. In addition, contributors explore the intersections of environmentalism and Indigenous rights, in part inspired by the realisation that the specifics of geography and community matter for how environmental education can be engaged. This edited volume suggests how place-based pedagogies can respond to issues of colonialism and Indigenous sovereignty. Through dynamic new empirical and conceptual studies, international contributors examine settler colonialism, Indigenous cosmologies, Indigenous land rights, and language as key aspects of Land Education. The book invites readers to rethink 'pedagogies of place' from various Indigenous, postcolonial, and decolonizing perspectives. This book was originally published as a special issue of Environmental Education Research.




A World of Indigenous Languages


Book Description

Spanning Indigenous settings in Africa, the Americas, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Australia, Central Asia and the Nordic countries, this book examines the multifaceted language reclamation work underway by Indigenous peoples throughout the world. Exploring political, historical, ideological, and pedagogical issues, the book foregrounds the decolonizing aims of contemporary Indigenous language movements inside and outside of schools. Many authors explore language reclamation in their own communities. Together, the authors call for expanded discourses on language planning and policy that embrace Indigenous ways of knowing and forefront grassroots language reclamation efforts as a force for Indigenous sovereignty, social justice, and self-determination. This volume will be of interest to scholars, educators and students in applied linguistics, Ethnic/Indigenous Studies, education, second language acquisition, and comparative-international education, and to a broader audience of language educators, revitalizers and policymakers.




Towards Critical Environmental Education


Book Description

This volume discusses theory, philosophy, praxis and methods in Environmental and Ecological education, and considers the junction with the main visions and issues of Critical Pedagogy. The volume and its separate chapters address four axes, which can also be seen as the guidelines of the content as well as the central objectives of the book. The first axis concerns the missing theoretical and practical pieces at this point in time. The volume considers the issues that are not included in contemporary Environmental Education, and thus, deprive it from critical orientations. This implies that in Environmental Education, very little discussion exists about the political, economic, racial, gender and class issues that in most cases govern the actions of leaders and stake-holders. The second axis concerns what has been done so far and in what directions. This involves descriptions of theoretical approaches or actual applied methodologies in the classroom, such as curricula or syllabus used or the kind of actions certain educators have taken to infuse the issues of justice and critical reflection within the Environmental Education teaching agenda. The third axis examines proposals. It looks at ways to enrich domains of Environmental Education with the argumentations of Critical Pedagogy. The fourth axis concerns the way in which proposals can be effectuated. This part contains specific methodologies and teaching sequences, depicting ways of including major aspects of Critical Pedagogy and Critical Education in Environmental Education. Examples are: Non-anthropocentric ecological approaches in the classroom, political activism in the Curricula, mixture of field activities and political activities.




Water Governance: Retheorizing Politics


Book Description

This republished Special Issue highlights recent and emergent concepts and approaches to water governance that re-centers the political in relation to water-related decision making, use, and management. To do so at once is to focus on diverse ontologies, meanings and values of water, and related contestations regarding its use, or its importance for livelihoods, identity, or place-making. Building on insights from science and technology studies, feminist, and postcolonial approaches, we engage broadly with the ways that water-related decision making is often depoliticized and evacuated of political content or meaning—and to what effect. Key themes that emerged from the contributions include the politics of water infrastructure and insecurity; participatory politics and multi-scalar governance dynamics; politics related to emergent technologies of water (bottled or packaged water, and water desalination); and Indigenous water governance.




Curriculum, Environment, and the Work of C. A. Bowers


Book Description

This edited volume extends ecological approaches to curriculum theory by recognizing and building on the contributions of the late Chet A. Bowers to curriculum and ecological studies globally. Chapters provide in-depth explanation of Bowers’ central contributions to the field, including his identification of the linguistic roots of ecological degradation; the need for school curricula to support sustainability; and the principles of cultural commons, eco-justice, and ecological intelligence. Building on these ideas and emphasizing the links between curriculum studies, social justice, and environmental education, the text illustrates how Bowers’ ideas must now inform future approaches to schooling, teacher education, research, and Indigenous communities to guard against the global ecological crises we now face. This text will benefit researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in curriculum studies, sustainability education, and environmental studies in particular. Those interested in the sociology of education, educational change, and school reform will also benefit from the book.




The Interactive Documentary in Canada


Book Description

Interactive documentary emerged rapidly from a constellation of changing technologies and practices to much excitement, yet its history is short and its future uncertain. In the mid-2010s Canada was a world leader in the creation of i-docs. Less than a decade later technological obsolescence has rendered many of these celebrated projects inaccessible, while rapid digital innovation continues to change the i-doc form and its modes of experience. The Interactive Documentary in Canada captures this transitional moment in documentary filmmaking and media production. Bringing together a range of historical, theoretical, and critical approaches, this collection examines the past – and the imagined future – of a nonfiction storytelling phenomenon that has Canadian institutions, figures, and works at its centre. Embracing a polyphonic conception of interactive documentary, the volume includes explorations of web-based, app-based, installation, and virtual reality works that push the boundaries of what is understood as documentary cinema. Leading documentary scholars and makers consider the historical and technological contexts of i-doc production, innovation, and exhibition; the political and pedagogical potential of the genre; the ethics of the i‐doc experience; and the format’s future lifespan in the contemporary media landscape. The Interactive Documentary in Canada establishes a place for the i-doc in the history of Canadian film, highlighting the genre’s significant impact on the National Film Board of Canada and on contemporary global documentary media.




African Indigenous Knowledge and the Sciences


Book Description

This book is an intellectual journey into epistemology, pedagogy, physics, architecture, medicine and metallurgy. The focus is on various dimensions of African Indigenous Knowledge (AIK) with an emphasis on the sciences, an area that has been neglected in AIK discourse. The authors provide diverse views and perspectives on African indigenous scientific and technological knowledge that can benefit a wide spectrum of academics, scholars, students, development agents, and policy makers, in both governmental and non-governmental organizations, and enable critical and alternative analyses and possibilities for understanding science and technology in an African historical and contemporary context.




Rethinking Young People's Lives Through Space and Place


Book Description

Rethinking Young People's Lives Through Space and Place explores three main themes, how children navigate real and imaginary borders, how space constitutes belonging, meaning-making, and representation, and how space informs learning and identities.




Key Concepts in Curriculum Studies


Book Description

Offering an accessible entry into curriculum theory, this book defines and contextualizes key concepts for novice and experienced students. Leading scholars in curriculum studies provide short anchor texts that introduce, define, and situate contemporary curriculum theory constructs. Each anchor text is followed by two concise, creative keyword responses that demonstrate varied perspectives and connections, allowing readers to reflect on and engage with the personal relevance of these fundamental concepts. Useful to instructors and scholars alike, this book explains keyword writing as a teaching and learning strategy and invites readers to enter the complicated conversations of contemporary curriculum theory through their own creative, personal responses. Featuring wide-ranging, nuanced, and varied commentary on major relevant themes, as well as discussion questions for students, this book is an essential text for doctoral and masters-level courses in curriculum studies.