“We should have held this in a circle”: White ignorance and answerability in outdoor education

Abstract

This critical ethnography highlights an ongoing research partnership between two Indigenous studies scholars and their effort to prepare outdoor educators to support Indigenous students more effectively in their programs. After a listening session at the Oregon Indian Education Association annual conference where Indigenous educators and community members urged the Oregon State University Outdoor School¹ program to address how outdoor education reproduced stereotypes of Indigenous peoples and appropriated Indigenous knowledge systems, the authors developed and implemented a series of professional development workshops for outdoor educators in various regions throughout Oregon. The workshops sought to prepare outdoor educators to more effectively support Indigenous students in their classrooms and schools. This article documents the ways outdoor educators embraced or evaded those concepts and commitments and offers recommendations for outdoor education programs and professional development.

Keywords:

• environmental education
• outdoor education
• ignorance
• settler colonialism
• professional development

Declaration of interests

In accordance with Taylor & Francis policy and my ethical obligation as a researcher, I am reporting that Spirit Brooks is employed by the Oregon State University Extension Service Outdoor School program which may be affected by the research reported in the enclosed paper. I have disclosed those interests fully to Taylor & Francis, and I have in place an approved plan for managing any potential conflicts arising from being an employee.

Notes

1 We capitalize Outdoor School when referring to the statewide program that funds schools and districts in Oregon. When broadly referring to outdoor school programs across the state, we do not capitalize.

2 Throughout the article, we use pseudonyms for participants and programs, except in instances when participants have requested in their consent forms that their real names are used.

3 For more on land-grab institutions, see the website “Land-Grab Universities” https://www.landgrabu.org/, and the special issue of Native American and Indigenous Studies: Intervention: Indigenous Studies Reflections on The Land-Grab Universities Project. 8(1) https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/784819.

4 We use the term outdoor educators to include both formal and non-formal educators. Although districts vary regarding which teachers participate in outdoor education programs, outdoor educators are typically fifth-grade teachers or sixth-grade science or social studies teachers or are non-formal educators working as field instructors in outdoor school programs.

5 This study was approved by the Oregon State University Institutional Review Board that oversees research involving Human Subjects.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Oregon State University Extension Service Outdoor School program.