Speakers
Description
The study discussed in this presentation focuses on a clay workshop that we, a team of educational researchers, facilitated and observed with 53 teacher candidates at a major university in Canada. Guided by the question, “How might engaging in, with, and through art encourage attuning to the Earth?”, the study aims to inform the development of climate change pedagogies and demonstrate the benefits of artistic learning experiences for engaging students in climate change response. The clay workshop centred around the concept of “deep listening” with/for the Earth, inspired by the teacher candidates’ own connections to nature. While one researcher facilitated the workshop, the rest of the team conducted observations and took photographs of the art-making process. In this presentation, we will discuss two major themes that emerged from our observations, as well as implications for arts educators seeking to promote awareness and positive change with the Earth in mind.
CV
Tiina Kukkonen
is an Assistant Professor of Visual Arts Education in the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University, Canada. She has contributed research in the areas of early childhood development through art, artist-school partnerships, and rural arts education. She also has a keen interest in arts-based approaches to research and knowledge translation. The driving force behind her work is the desire to make visual arts education accessible, relevant, and inspiring for all. To that end, she explores playful, artful, and practical approaches to teaching and research.
Micah Flavin
is an M.Ed. student at Queen’s University and an Outdoor Educator with the Limestone District School Board. He identifies as a settler with mixed Irish and Eastern-European ancestry, and is currently living on traditional Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Huron-Wendat territory. Since completing his B.A. in Psychology at McGill University in 2017, he has worked extensively as a special educator and interdisciplinary artist in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyaang (Montréal, Québec). Micah is interested in developing arts-based pedagogies that respond to the magnitude of the climate crisis and its interconnectedness with socio-economic structures, while also cultivating hope to inspire youth climate action.
Sara Karn
is a Postdoctoral Fellow at McMaster University with the Thinking Historically for Canada’s Future project. She is located on the treaty lands and territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation within the Dish with One Spoon territory. Sara identifies as a white settler woman whose ancestors came from across Europe to Turtle Island as uninvited guests. Sara’s research explores historical empathy within history education in Canada. Her other research interests span the areas of historical thinking, citizenship education, experiential learning, and environmental education. She is also a certified K-12 teacher in Ontario and has taught environmental education courses for teacher candidates.
Heather E. McGregor
is an Assistant Professor of Curriculum Theory at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She is the Principal Investigator of the Social Studies and History Education in the Anthropocene Network, dedicated to reimagining history and social studies education to address climate change and its associated ecological, economic, political, and social challenges. Heather has published in a range of Canadian and international journals on topics including the history of Inuit education and curriculum change in the Canadian Arctic, decolonizing research methodologies, experiential learning, and theorizing learning in the Anthropocene.
