Abstract
In this paper I discuss issues concerning pedagogical practice and inquiry in Outdoor Education raised by recognition that the human body inhabits a ‘technological lifeworld’. The intent is to challenge certain assumptions regarding interpretations of ‘experience’, the ‘environment’ and ‘the body’ in Outdoor Education practice. The theory and practice of Outdoor Education recognises that knowing becomes embodied through action. This process is often aided by pre-action focussing and post-action reflection. I argue that the stated educational goals of many Outdoor Education programs are made vulnerable due to the ‘hidden work’ of technologies encountered and inattention to the significance of technology in experience. The approach employed in this paper is to relate a brief overview of philosophical inquiry into technology and the body to the discussion of two exhibits (a spoon and a three-legged stool), both objects crafted by secondary school students as a part of their outdoor and environmental education. I conclude that human and environmental well being cannot be separated in the ‘technological lifeworld’ that humans are destined to inhabit, and that Outdoor Education must sustain a broad range of technologically mediated experiences of the environment through, with and in the body.
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He is currently competing a PhD in experiential approaches to ‘place’ in Outdoor Education. He has built many kayaks, canoes, paddles over the years and occasionally still finds time to turn a few bowls in his wood work shed. The rest of the time he enjoys spending with his family on their small Gippsland farm. He can be contacted by telephone: (03) 5122 6366 or fax: (03) 51226361 or e-mail Brian.Wattchow@education.monash.edu.au
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Wattchow, B. A Pedagogy Of Production: Craft, Technology And Outdoor Education. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education 5, 19–27 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03400730
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03400730