Humor and humility for inclusive nature education

Abstract

Humor can facilitate relationship-building and comfort in new experiences, essential elements for nature education programs prioritizing inclusive practices. This article presents insights on using humor in outdoor educational settings from a qualitative case study of an equity-driven nature education program. I present four key elements of instructors’ uses of humor. The program instructors used humor to (1) foster students’ emotional safety and comfort with novelty or physical risk; (2) subvert students’ expectations of “normal” behavior (for students and adults alike) and of possible program experiences; and (3) bond among themselves and mitigate tensions between their and visiting teachers’ practices. Additionally, (4) the instructors consciously discussed and set positionally-aware norms for their most common uses of and responses to humor. Through these four elements, I suggest that the program instructors used humor to create provisional safe spaces for themselves and their students—spaces that normalize engaging with novelty, discomfort, and continuous learning. To close, I offer suggestions for nature educators wishing to facilitate cross-cultural inclusivity through humor in their programs.

Keywords:

• Humor
• provisional safe spaces
• relational pedagogy
• cultural humility
• inclusivity
• residential nature education

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the Stanford University Graduate School of Education and the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education for their institutional and financial support during the completion of the broader ethnographic research from which this case study was later derived. I would also like to thank Dr. Nicole Ardoin and the members of her Social Ecology Lab, particularly Lexi Neilan, for their significant support and contributions. Finally, I offer deep gratitude to the participating students, teachers, chaperones, and program instructors, and to all members of Vida Verde Nature Education; thank you for inviting me into your community and allowing me to learn from and contribute to your values and practices.

Disclosure statement

Following Taylor & Francis policy and my ethical obligation as a researcher, I am reporting that I do not have any financial interests but currently have a nonfinancial relationship with an organization that may be affected by the research reported in the enclosed paper.

When I collected and documented the data for this research, my relationship with the organization was that of a researcher and supportive community member. In the time since, the organization invited me to contribute my experience as a volunteer member of their board of directors, on which I currently serve at the time of publishing.

I have fully disclosed those interests to Taylor & Francis, and I have an approved plan to manage any potential conflicts arising from that involvement.

Notes

1 Program-specific names are a common practice among nature educators. Such names are often nature-themed; this program also encourages instructors and students to choose any name in any language that has meaning to them. Because the instructors’ program names become identifiable parts of their identities, all names in this study are participant-chosen pseudonyms.

2 For clarity, I use the term program instructors to refer to the six educators mentioned in this case study, and nature educators when referring more generally to instructors, teachers, and organizational leaders involved with environmental education programs.

3 A homophobic expression used to distance the speaker from an action that might be perceived as queer.

4 One element to note is that these observations are not indictments of individuals. In other words, I did not see consistent behavior or language suggesting deficit perspectives or disrespect from any single instructor; indeed, some of these contrasting examples come from the same individual. This fact is an important reminder that different biases, false dichotomies, and implicit assumptions are held to different degrees by everyone and reflect deeper structural issues of racism, sexism, heteronormativity, and ableism that require collective responses.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Juan Miguel Arias

Juan Miguel Arias, Ph.D. (he/él) is a visiting assistant professor in the Education Department at Colorado College. His scholarly interests include critical environmental education, family and community environmental engagement, and youth identity in outdoor and environmental settings.