Becoming-Speckled Warbler: Re/creating Australian Natural History Pedagogy

Abstract

AbstractThe speckled warbler and other woodland birds of south-eastern Australia have declined dramatically since European settlement; many species are at risk of becoming locally and/or nationally extinct. Coincidently, Australian environmental education research of the last decade has largely been silent on the development of pedagogy that refects the natural history of this continent (Stewart, 2006). The current circumstances that face the speckled warbler, I argue, is emblematic of both the state of woodland birds of south-eastern Australia, and the condition of natural history pedagogy within Australian environmental education research. In this paper I employ Deleuze and Guattari's (1987) philosophy “becoming-animal” to explore ways that the life and circumstances of the speckled warbler might inform natural history focused Australian environmental education research. The epistemology and ontology ofbecoming-speckled warbleroffers a basis to reconsider and strengthen links between Australian natural history pedagogy and notions of sustainability.