Abstract
This paper presents a case for the inclusion of human-animal relationships as a focus for literacy education. It outlines the ways in which language is implicated in human alienation from nature in a modern technology-focused life, and discusses the effects of nature-deficit disorder on human well-being. It calls for an ‘entangled pedagogy’ that attends to stories of local wildlife, and points to the importance of such a pedagogy for particular groups of literacy learners, including international students, new migrants and recent refugees, who may be unfamiliar with the flora and fauna of their new environment. As an example of entangled pedagogy the paper presents ideas for literacy lessons based on the iconic Australian magpie whose relationship with humans is, at times, problematic.
Highlights
In early 2015 a group of prominent authors, amongst them novelist Margaret Atwood, led a protest against the removal of certain words in recent editions of the Oxford Junior Dictionary
It calls for an ‘entangled pedagogy’ that attends to stories of local wildlife, and points to the importance of such a pedagogy for particular groups of adult literacy learners, including international students, new migrants and recent refugees, who may be unfamiliar with the flora and fauna of their new environment
A sense of alienation from local environments may be acute for international students, newly arrived migrants, and recent refugees who find themselves in a new land with unfamiliar flora and fauna
Summary
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5130/lns.v28i1.6958 Article History: Received 27/11/2019; Revised 05/02/2020; Accepted 01/03/2020; Published 19/12/2020 Citation: Appleby, R. 2020. Human-animal relationships in adult literacy education: Reading the Australian Magpie. Literacy and Numeracy Studies: An international journal in the education and training of adults, 28:1, 6–16. https://doi. org/10.5130/lns.v28i1.6958
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