Through curriculum renewal : An Aotearoa-New Zealand case study
- Authors: Wattchow, Brian , Boyes, Mike
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: The socioecological educator : A 21st century renewal of physical, health, environment and outdoor education 4 p. 71-87
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- Description: The first of the case study chapters provides a compelling example of how a socio-ecologically inspired vision for education and policy initiatives can develop and ultimately change the very foundations of approaches to teaching and learning. All school teachers and teachers in training will be familiar with curriculum documents that present the aims, objectives and structure of school curricula. These documents are usually organised around key learning areas such as English, Science, Mathematics, Health and Physical Education and so on. Curriculum documents establish the boundaries of content and levels of attainment required by students as they progress through the various levels of schooling from a preparatory year, through primary and secondary schools. They reflect the philosophies of the government of the day and are in a more or less constant state of review and renewal. Committees are established and representation called for from key stakeholders such as politicians, academics with expertise in varying disciplines, members of the community and from teachers themselves. Interestingly, we have never heard of students being represented as the ultimate key stakeholder in the curriculum development process at its most fundamental level. The stakeholders argue, discuss and debate what should or shouldn’t be taught in a state or nation’s schools. Inevitably, curriculum documents shape, and are shaped by, a nation of people. But not all people are equally in a position to shape curriculum in this way. Curriculum documents are artifacts of history, political conventions, historical and contemporary views of knowledge and pedagogy. They are also aspirational statements about the purpose and function of schooling in the ongoing work of societal change. This chapter outlines a remarkable process whereby socio-ecological principles were used, and came to have a major presence, in the development of the New Zealand Health and Physical Education curriculum.
Starting with stories : The power of socio-ecological narrative
- Authors: Wattchow, Brian , Jeanes, Ruth , Alfrey, Laura , Brown, Trent , Cutter-Mackenzie, Amy , O'Connor, Justen
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: The socioecological educator : A 21st century renewal of physical, health, environment and outdoor education 1 p. 3-21
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- Reviewed:
- Description: In this first chapter we felt it important to introduce the editors of the book via a series of short autobiographical stories. In each case the author has chosen a few influential experiences that they believe have been crucial in shaping the development of their socio-ecological outlook as educators and researchers. In other words, in this first section of the book we are putting practical, lived experience prior to the theoretical explanation of what it means to be a socio-ecological educator. In this first chapter of Part I we want to lead with example and narrative. We then explore and reinforce the message with sound theoretical discussion of the crucial concepts that make up this unique perspective on educational philosophy and practice. In Part II of the book, different authors from a variety of backgrounds and work contexts explore socio-ecological ideas and practices via a range of case studies. Finally, in the conclusion chapter we summarise the book and reflect on the incorporation of a socio-ecological approach into educational and research settings.
Through outdoor education : A sense of place on Scotland's River Spey
- Authors: Wattchow, Brian , Higgins, Peter
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: The socioecological educator : A 21st century renewal of physical, health, environment and outdoor education p. 173-187
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- Reviewed:
- Description: Outdoor education is often thought of as a series of adventurous activities or journeys through wild countryside, where the purpose is to build character, work on group development or to develop leadership capacity in young people. However, in recent years these dominant approaches have been challenged and it has been suggested that they tend to treat the outdoor environment as little more than a venue for human action – as an arena or a testing ground. There has been a notable shift towards considering the development of sustainable environmental relationships as a program focus and learning outcome in outdoor education. But there are few descriptions of what this actually means in practice. In this chapter we build on the theoretical discussions established in Chaps. 2 and 3 and describe an outdoor education program that is much more attuned to socio-ecological principles and where developing a sense of place is considered a pedagogical imperative. The story that follows details an educational encounter between staff, students, tourists, locals and the River Spey in Scotland.
Conclusions and future directions: A socio-ecological renewal
- Authors: Wattchow, Brian , Jeanes, Ruth , Alfrey, Laura , Brown Trent , O’Connor, Justen , Cutter-Mackenzie, Amy
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: The Socioecological Educator: A 21st Century Renewal of Physical, Health, Environment and Outdoor Education p. 205-227
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: At the heart of this book has been the acknowledgment that there exist different ways of seeing and, consequently, different ways of knowing the world. The rich and diverse case studies that make up Part II of the book have seen respected authors from the varied disciplines of physical, sport and health education, outdoor and environmental education and early childhood education come together, utilising the multi-disciplinary framework of socio-ecological education. They have done so because of their belief that a socio-ecological theory and requisite methodological approaches offer the opportunity for renewal for researchers and practitioners in their fields. A significant part of this renewal involves reaching beyond disciplinary boundaries, or silos as we called them in the introduction chapter, to forge new connections. Overcoming these ‘invisible’ structures that can govern how we see, think and act is central to the work of the socio-ecological educator and is evident in many of the case studies. To that end we want to spend a little time here, in the conclusion, discussing this issue.