Walking as a wandering ethic of (re)location: A public ‘pedagogy of hope’

Abstract

This paper considers the public pedagogy of location in relation to walking. I walk and write withand from my compass orientated to the Freirean notion of a ‘pedagogy of hope’. Using an autoethnographic account of a local walk, walking is (re)presented and interpreted as a wanderingethic of (re)location. Temporal and spatial dimensions of my walking are revealed in the social,cultural and ecological context of the bushfires and the pandemic. Drawing from scholars whotheorize embodiment and the multiple natures of body~time~space, the inter and intra-actionswith/in ecologies are presenced in a sensory narrative. To consider walking as a wandering ethicof (re)location, it is argued that various temporal, spatial, material, historical and cultural dimensions are contingent within the context of change as evident in the aftermath of bushfires and thepandemic. What I examine is the inter-play in relation to what is present and otherwise absentwhilst walking that is interpreted as a ‘pedagogy of hope’ amidst the struggles and uncertaintiesof these times.