Re-assembling environmental and sustainability education: orientations from New Materialism

Abstract

A growing number of scholars call for the use of New Materialist frameworks for research across social and natural sciences. In general, however, there is little rigorous, in-depth or detailed advice on how postqualitative research is to be empirically conducted. Also, what the implications might be for environmental and sustainability education remain unclear. In response, drawing on data from a place-responsive heritage education project, employing theory from Deleuze and Guattari, I provide orientations for Assemblage Pedagogy and Assemblage Research. Assemblage Pedagogy involves educating for more sustainable ways of life through: (1) Interrupting existing education assemblages and experimenting with new approaches, (2) Practicing, relating, and entangling ‘from the middle’, involving the human and more-than-human to actualise the capacities and relations needed, and, (3) Evoking and performing new practices and expressions designed to create more sustainable ways of life. Wider implications for researching environmental and sustainability education are considered.

Keywords:

• Relational
• new materialism
• Deleuze
• environmental education
• place-responsive
• assemblage

Notes on contributor

Dr Greg Mannion works as a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Social Sciences (Education) at University of Stirling, Scotland. His approach to educational research brings together theory and empirical perspectives on participation and rights-based education, intergenerational education, person-place relations, nature and culture. Much of his research looks at the way in which places can be important in participation and learning for children and young people alongside adults and communities. In recent projects, his research considers local and global connectivity in education, place-responsive pedagogies, and the role of place and intergenerational dialogue in pupil participation in education. Web: https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/11039

Acknowledgements

Thanks especially to Dr. Joyce Gilbert who led the Stories in the Land project as education officer at Royal Scottish Geographical Society at that time. (See http://storiesintheland.blogspot.co.uk). Thanks also to participating schools and their communities, Coal Youth Centre, and Storyline Scotland (Sally Harkness). Facilitators included: Alasdair Taylor, Essie Stewart, and Claire Hewitt (storytellers), Barney Strachan (sound artist), Alastair Davidson (bushcraft) Sarah Hughes and Richard Bracken (Room 13), Jane and Derry Wilkinson (willow), Alistair Strachan (historical re-enactment), Kate Langhorne (song and anthropology), Sheila Ryan (Duke of Edinburgh link), Bonnie Mealand (Ardgour Riding School), Ruaraidh Ormiston (Newtonmore Riding School). Thanks to the funders: Robertson Trust, Abernethy Trust, Ganochy Trust, Heritage Lottery, Ernest Cook Trust. For further information on the felt feet task, see https://bellacouche.com/feet-felt-walking-wool/

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.