Coming home to place: Aboriginal Lore and place-responsive pedagogy for transformative learning in Australian outdoor education

Abstract

IntroductionThere is a growing body of research and practice within Australia regarding "place-based pedagogy" in outdoor education (see Brooks, 2002; Cameron, 2003a, 2003b, 2003c; Stewart, 2004, 2008; Wattchow, 2001, 2007, 2008; Wattchow & Brown 2011). Arguably, though, these approaches remain at the margins of the field (Hockley & Humberstone, 2012; Wattchow & Brown, 2011). Variously labelled as "place sensitive" (Plumwood, 2003), "place conscious" (Gruenewald, 2003), and "place responsive" (Cameron 2003a, 2003c; Wattchow & Brown, 2011), these approaches share a consciously inquisitive focus on connecting with and coming to know the unique local places that host outdoor education endeavours (Wattchow & Brown, 2011). Further, they seek to explore the ways a deeper, more conscious engagement with place, its human and other-than-human inhabitants, and its cultural history can shape and change both human experiences, perceptions, and intentions and the natural environments in which these experiences occur. Aware of the focus on reciprocity here between humans and ecological communities or, as Plumwood (2003, p. 70) refers to it, the "dialogical mode of interaction," I shall use the phrase place responsive to designate these approaches. Not surprisingly, several authors have acknowledged the value and critical importance of connecting with local Indigenous knowledge and cultural histories to this end (Plumwood, 2000; Stewart, 2004; Wattchow & Brown, 2011).In this paper, I offer a formative exploration of the potential contribution that Aboriginal Lore and cultural knowledge might make to place-responsive pedagogy within the field of outdoor education in Australia. Following Wattchow and Brown (2011), Stewart (2004), and several generations of Aboriginal Lore men and women (Callaghan, 2014), my exposition is grounded in an ethical ecological (including social) concern, leading to two main questions: (1) In what ways do outdoor education programmes and practices operate to perpetuate, challenge, and/or transcend the colonialist and anthropocentric discourses and assumptions that have clearly led to the damage and demise of many ecological communities within Australia? and (2) What might Aboriginal Lore and cultural knowledge offer here, and how might they be included within the field of outdoor education? Through interrogating these questions and encouraging partnerships and collaborations between outdoor educators and local Indigenous people, I aim to contribute to the growing body of place-responsive research and practice in Australian outdoor education.Initially then, I shall engage with place-responsive research and writing to undertake a brief critique of the ways these dominant colonialist and anthropocentric discourses influence practices in Australian outdoor education. In particular, I will focus on the "taken-for-granted" assumptions within the field of outdoor education regarding "nature," the human/nature relationship (including the issue of power), and the construction of identity. This critique brings into question our ways of being, doing, and knowing in the world, particularly regarding the local places we inhabit and visit. As demonstrated by Quay (2015), working explicitly and reflectively regarding ways of being, doing, and knowing in different contexts is central to many outdoor education pedagogies. Quay's (2015) perspective will be taken up to highlight opportunities for transformative learning unique to the field of outdoor education, including those of linking with local Indigenous people and their cultural perspectives, practices, and stories. Hence, I shall introduce and examine two perspectives on Aboriginal Lore: the first, that of Uncle Paul Gordon, a Ngemba man from the Brewarrina area of NSW (Callaghan, 2014) and the second ngurrakurlu (meaning "home within" or "a common sense of belonging"), a Warlpiri perspective from central Northern Territory (Pawu-Kurlpurlurnu, Holmes, & Box, 2008). …