Australian Association For Environmental Education Research Articles

Entanglements of matter and meaning: The importance of the philosophy of Karen Barad for environmental education

AbstractThe rich and innovative ideas of quantum physicist and feminist theorist Karen Barad have much to offer environmental educators in terms of practical theories for teaching and learning. This article shares insights gained from a facilitated conversation at the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) Conference Research Symposium, and offers an introduction to Barad’s theories for environmental educators. At this time of challenging planetary imperatives, environmental education is increasingly called upon to contribute to students’ understanding of connectedness, and Barad’s theory ofagential realismprovides a way to think about, articulate and engage with connectedness as inherent within the world rather than something we need to create. By consideringentanglementas a fundamental state, we understand that separateness is not the original state of being. This shift in perspective supports a subtle yet powerful approach to knowledge, communication and collaboration, understanding difference as integral within the world’s entangled becoming. The convened conversation sought to explore Barad’s thinking by defining and discussing the concepts ofagential realism,intra-action,material-discursivity,phenomenaanddiffraction. Barad’s ideas were used to collectively explore what it means to be intraconnected and entangled in today’s world, and specifically how these concepts and experiences relate to our work and lives as environmental educators and researchers.

AJEE Special Issue: 2016 Australian Association for Environmental Education Conference: ‘Tomorrow Making — Our Present to the Future’

The 19th Biennial Conference for the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) was a wonderful milestone for any national organisation. Our South Australian hosts were very excited to see us all descend on Adelaide in September 2016 to take up their offer of ‘Tomorrow Making’. ‘Our Present to the Future’ was four days filled with considering what we were working on and what we are working towards, both individually and collectively. Youth presentations, collegial collaborations, and sharing of goodwill and thought resulted in a generative conference, just like we have come to expect from environmental educators. Sally and I are pleased to maintain the tradition of guest editing the AJEE Special Issue, showcasing six papers as a representation of the knowledge shared, considered, adapted, and devised at the conference.

Becoming Researchers: Making Academic Kin in the Chthulucene

AbstractGraduate students are often plagued by stress and anxiety in their journeys of becoming researchers. Concerned by the prevalence of poor graduate student wellbeing in Australia, we share our experiences of kin-making and collaboration within #aaeeer (Australasian Association for Environmental Education Emerging Researchers), a collective of graduate students and early career researchers formed in response to the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) conference in Hobart, Tasmania, in 2014. In this article, we begin to address the shortage of research into graduate student wellbeing, led by graduate students. Inspired by Donna Haraway's work on making kin in the Chthulucene, we present an exploration that draws together stories from the authors about the positive experiences our kin-making collective enables, and how it has supported our wellbeing and allowed us to work collaboratively. Specifically, we find that #aaeeer offers us a form of refuge from academic stressors, creating spaces for ‘composting together’ through processes of ‘decomposing’ and ‘recomposing’. Our rejection of neoliberal norms has gifted us experiences of joyful collective pleasures. We share our experiences here in the hope of supporting and inspiring other emerging and established researchers to ‘make kin’ and challenge the potentially isolating processes of becoming researchers.

Participating in Research Symposia: Tales of Reinscription, Disruption, and Inclusivity

AbstractHaving participated in both the New Zealand Association for Environmental Education (NZAEE) and Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) Research Symposia of 2016, the authors provide a critical analysis of the opportunities provided during these symposia for researchers to position themselves within the environmental education field. Each symposium is analysed in terms of its purpose and program structure, and the opportunities for researchers to communicate and share their ideas, build their research community, and frame their field. It was found that there were spaces for researchers to reinscribe the structures and practices of the environmental education field, but less space for its disruption. Furthermore, it seemed that there were some voices from the edge who were unintentionally silenced to some degree; for example, emerging researchers, women, and Indigenous people. It is recommended that symposia organisers and delegates give careful consideration to these spaces for disruption and to inclusivity when planning and attending future symposia.

AJEE Special Issue—18th AAEE Biennial Conference, Hobart, Tasmania, November 2–5, 2014 Sustainability: Smart Strategies for the 21st Century

In early November 2014, over 300 delegates met in Hobart, Tasmania for the 18th Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) Biennial Conference. Titled ‘Sustainability: Smart Strategies for the 21st Century’, this conference sought to bring together innovative thinking, practice and research in the field of environmental and sustainability education. This special conference issue of the Australian Journal of Environmental Education captures a snapshot of some of that thinking. While it is by no means a comprehensive account of the many conversation threads that permeated the conference, we hope that readers will find the articles in this special issue a stimulus to your thinking and practice.

Perspectives From Emerging Researchers: What Next in EE/SE Research?

AbstractFollowing the inaugural Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) research symposium in November 2014, we — a group of emerging researchers in Environmental Education/Sustainability Education (EE/SE) — commenced an online collaboration to identify and articulate our responses to the main themes of the symposium. Identifying as #aaeeer, our discussions coalesced into four main areas that we felt captured not only some of our current research interests, but also ‘under-explored’ areas that need further attention and that also held the potential for meaningful and ‘dangerous’ contributions to EE/SE research and practice. These themes were: (1) uncertain futures, (2) traditional knowledges for the future, (3) community EE/SE, and (4) the rise of the digital, explorations of which we present in this article. By no means intended to capture all that is worth researching in this field, these themes, and this article, are deliberately presented by #aaeeer to spark discussions, as well as showcase an example of online collaboration between researchers in a number of countries.

Environmental and Sustainability Education Research, Past and Future: Three Perspectives From Late, Mid, and Early Career Researchers

AbstractThe first research symposium, organised in conjunction with the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) biennial conference, began with a dialogue between scholars at three different academic career stages. As we all entered the field at different periods in its development, the first part of our presentation and this article provide our perspectives on the context, approaches and issues that characterised the field at the time we became involved in environmental education (EE) and EE research. The second part of this article presents the lessons we have learnt from EE research, and where we see the field headed in the future.

Ghosts in Australian Environmental Education

The Australian Journal of Environmental Education (AJEE), first published in 1984, is a rich source for investigating the history of environmental education in Australia, as it has sampled research and writings in the field since the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) was established in 1980.

Continuing the Narrative Some 20 years Later

I wrote ‘Narrative and Nature: Unsustainable Fictions in Environmental Education’ in 1991 as a revised version of a paper subtitled ‘Poststructural Inquiries in Environmental Education’ that I presented at the Sixth National Conference of the Australian Association for Environmental Education in September 1990. To the best of my knowledge, these papers were the first instances of advocacy for poststructuralist analyses of dicourses/practices in the Anglophone literature of environmental education. The key influences on my thinking at this time were US and Canadian ‘reconceptualist’ curriculum scholars, including Cleo Cherryholmes, Jacques Daignault, William Doll, Clermont Gauthier, Rebecca Martusewicz, William Pinar and William Reynolds. The significance and impact of my poststructuralist inquiries in environmental education were recognised by the award of the inaugural Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Environmental Education Research in 1997. Since then, my ‘post’ scholarship has expanded to include postcolonialism and posthumanism. Narrative continues to be an important theme in my work, especially through my development of an approach to narrative experimentation that I call ‘rhizosemiotic play’.

Special Issue Dedicated to Professor Frank Fisher (1943–2012): A Courageous Life

In 2007 Professor Frank Fisher was named Australia's inaugural Environmental Educator of the Year (by the Australian Association for Environmental Education). Frank lived a life driven by a determination to engage fully with the world around him. As a young electrical engineer, Frank became convinced of the need for education and research about how we shape the world around us, and contributed to the establishment of the first Australian Masters of Sustainability program at Monash University in 1973. Typified by exercises such as taking students to sit in the middle of major roads, Frank's teaching approach aimed to help students understand the social systems that shape our understanding of and impact on the world around us.

As Aussie as Vegemite: Building the Capacity of Sustainability Educators in Australia

AbstractVegemite, a thick, rich and salty product made from yeast extract, is a paste commonly spread on bread or toast in Australian households. This iconic product mirrors some of the unique aspects of this country. For example, Vegemite thinly spread is best. The population of this country is sparse across the wide lands, and the Australian environment with its thin soils, water shortages and intense climates, might also be described as spread thin. These aspects of context present challenges because Australia needs quality sustainability educators thick on the ground to deal with the many and diverse environmental issues.This paper describes the development of the Australian National Professional Development Initiative for Sustainability Educators (NPDISE) and how it was infuenced by the Australian context. Multiple challenges existed: the size of the country, its environmental conditions and rich biodiversity, distance and space between major centres, distribution of people and resources, understanding of and support for education, and three tiers of government – each with its own policies, programs and priorities. On top of this, the practice of sustainability education crosses multiple professional sectors and disciplines. All these challenges had to be taken into account.Research conducted by the Waste Management Association Australia in 2009 revealed that the needs of Australia's sustainability educators in overcoming many of these challenges were broadly consistent around Australia. This gave encouragement to the establishment of a national professional development approach for those working in the environmental education feld. This paper shows how four professional associations – Australian Association for Environmental Education, Waste Management Association Australia, Australian Water Association, and the Marine Education Society of Australasia – worked together for the frst time and approached these challenges whilst developing the NPDISE. A 1954 jingle said Vegemite would help children “grow stronger every single week”. The NPDISE represents a similar ethos with an emphasis on building the sector.

Case Study: Calculating the Ecological Footprint of the 2004 Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) Biennial Conference

AbstractEvent tourism is accompanied by social, economic and environmental benefits and costs. The assessment of this form of tourism has however largely focused on the social and economic perspectives, while environmental assessments have been bound to a destination-based approach. The application of the Ecological Footprint methodology allows for these environmental assessment boundaries to be extended. This case study applies the footprint methodology to the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) Biennial Conference held in Adelaide in 2004. The results of the case study provide important insight into the planning and delivery of future events for the Association and event managers.

More than a ‘Bag of Tricks:’ Using Creative Methodologies in Environmental Adult and Community Education

That's only good for kids! That was a lot of fun. When do we start studying? activity gives a warm and fuzzy feeling, but are they learning? The above comments are just a few examples of the reactions I have heard when I use creative and participatory activities in workshops and training programs. Have you heard similar reactions when you conduct creative activities? Or do you yourself react this way when presented with creative activities? Reactions, such as those mentioned above, were the motivation for wanting to explore with other educators the tensions that often accompany the use of creative activities in adult and community education programs. Together with Shirley Follen of the Learning for Environmental action Programme (LEAP), Canada and Meena Ragunathan of the Centre for Environment Education, Ahmedadbad, India, we conducted a workshop during the International Conference on Environmental Education of the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) held in Sydney, Australia in 1999. We used a creative activity adapted from the 'Tree of My Life' (Guevara, 1995, p. 104) and the 'Tree of Expectations, Forest of What we Have Learned' (Clover, Follen, & Hall, 2000, p. 63) to facilitate introductions and initiate discussion. The participants were given paper cutouts. Four represented different parts of a tree namely, the roots, trunk, leaves, and flowers. The fifth cutout was in the shape of an axe. On each of the cutouts the participants were asked to write brief responses to the following questions: Roots: What has influenced you most in teaching of adult education? Trunk: Write your nickname. Leaves: Write the title or brief description of a favorite creative activity you have used. Flowers: What are some of the outcomes of using creative learning activities? Axe: What are some of the constraints of using creative learning activities? After a few minutes we asked the participants to sit in a circle with a huge outline of a tree in the middle. We took turns sharing our responses and attaching the paper cutouts on to the tree. I have used these responses as my way of recollecting and reflecting on the discussion in preparing this article. I have used my experiences as a community educator with the Center for Environmental Concerns--Philippines to illustrate some of the ideas discussed. Through this article I therefore hope to begin to explore the contents of this bag of tricks and hopefully, lighten the load by identifying a pocketful of principles involved in the use of creative methodologies in adult and community education. Descriptions, Definitions, and Boundaries First, it is important to make a distinction between methods and methodology as it will be referred to and further argued and developed in this article. Method specifically refers to how the learning will be facilitated, the particular technique or activity that will be conducted. On the other hand, methodology is a more encompassing term that refers to the educational rationale or philosophy that explains why these methods were selected or used. For example, creative methods that were identified by the participants on the leaf cutouts included drawing or art, nature activities, adult games, energizers, and story telling. According to the participants, their rationale for using these creative methods, identified from the flower cutouts were to attract attention, encourage active participation, provide space for reflection, motivate greater cooperation, stimulate discussion and debate and, of course, to inspire. Second, it is necessary to clarify that CEC's experience in adult education was focused on community settings in the Philippines. The Center's mission, taken from their 1989-1997 Vision, Mission, and Goals statement, is to enhance environmental consciousness and improve the socio-economic capabilities of the local communities through grassroots education for people empowerment. …

Why not education for the environment?

At the inaugural national conference of the Australian Association for Environmental Education in Adelaide (October, 1980), it was clear that multiple interpretations existed of the key descriptor ‘environmental education’. At that conference, at earlier international conferences (e.g., Tbilisi, 1977) and in recent Australian curriculum materials (e.g., The Curriculum Development Centre's (CDC's) Environmental Education Project), the terms education about the environment, education in the environment, and education for the environment were and have been used to capture the various interpretations of environmental education. An explication of these terms is offered in the Environmental Education Project (CDC, 1981), and in Fensham (1979).These terms seems to embrace the various facets to emerge in discourse about environmental education — they can, perhaps, be taken as representing the accepted dimensions of environmental education.

Towards education for the environment

This is a version of a paper presented at the Second National Conference of the Australian Association for Environmental Education held in Brisbane in August 1982.This paper will begin with an attempt to address the question: “What presuppositions about teaching and curriculum are embedded in the developed conception of environmental education as education for the environment?” The answers advanced here will be tentative in nature and obviously incomplete. They will, however, allow the discussion to advance to a consideration of teacher behaviours compatible with the education for the environment concept, and to an appreciation of the dilemmas confronting teachers of environmental education so conceived.

Second national conference of the Australian association for environmental education, 1982 Conference resolutions

Second national conference of the Australian association for environmental education, 1982 Conference resolutions

First National Conference - Australian Association for Environmental Education, Canberra, Australia, October 1980

First National Conference - Australian Association for Environmental Education, Canberra, Australia, October 1980