Interrogating Disconnectedness

Being an educator is an interesting and exciting, yet at times very challenging and overwhelming path. Teaching outdoor pedagogy to early childhood education students on-line has not been an easy task and I have felt significant disconnectedness within the learning environment. I have struggled to get my students to participate and contribute to the learning exchange. I believe that real reflexivity and deep learning happens through dialogue and social interaction. In my mind, action research is connected to reflexivity, and aligns with social constructivism and Freire’s (1992) pedagogy of hope that views teaching as a “co-operative activity involving respect when people work with each other.” This value is grounded in the philosophy of “emancipation through the empowerment of dialogue” (p. 2). Children co-create knowledge within their play and learning environment. Ideally, early learning teachers listen to the children’s voices and embrace the challenges that children offer that may trigger a reconsideration of ways in which play opportunities are offered and implemented. Collaborative action research refers to research method that is conducted by teams for the purpose of improving group experiences and in contributing to the professional learning of the researchers (Ferrance 2000). An example of this can be a group of early learning teachers and children who have an interest in examining a common question that evolves from children’s play experiences or observations of the environment. This can also be seen as an example of the cycle of inquiry (Dietze & Kashin, 2019).

As someone who grew up in a Finnish forest, I am deeply passionate about outdoor pedagogy and feel fortunate to be learning from powerful, influential pedagogists from across Canada, including Dr. Beverlie Dietze, as I attend weekly meetings on the importance of nature and outdoor play. The discussions around creating more awareness on how nature and outdoor play enhances, and is crucial, for children’s well-being, development, and happiness, have been deeply inspiring, educational, and helpful for me as an educator.

I have struggled to ignite the fire in my outdoor practicum students. However, I experienced a break-through with my group recently. To break the ice and to encourage connection, not only to each other during our seminar, but to everyone’s own individual presence and experience within nature, I chose to do something different. I invited my students to step outside, sit or lie down on natural ground and think about a childhood memory that occurred in nature. The sharing of experiences was deeply emotional and spiritual. Rovai (2002) proposed that emotional and spiritual connectedness might provide support within an online learning program and to increase learning. Based on the literature, he described a sense of community as encompassing “mutual interdependence among members, connectedness, trust, interactivity, and shared values and goals” (p. 321). He proposed how connectedness in a learning community might lead to feelings of safety and trust, which might lead to the freedom to speak openly, which in turn might make students more likely to be open to acknowledging knowledge gaps, and respectfully supporting their peers to learn. My students became much more excited and motivated about their learning and through connecting to their own childhood experiences in nature felt reminded of the importance of outdoor play and experiences.

I am learning that to be ‘a teacher at heart’ encouraging transformational learning, we must be truly present, with almost childlike enthusiasm and passion for our subjects and deep interest in our students’ thoughts and understandings, and to have courage to be vulnerable and willing to truly participate in the art of the learning exchange. This takes deep self-awareness and confidence, which some days I feel I have and on other days, well, not as much. And as Loris Malaguzzi identified in 1942, as quoted by Edwards et al. in 1998, the role of a teacher as a co-inquirer and stated: “Learning and teaching should not stand on opposite banks and just watch the river flow by; instead, they should embark together on a journey down the water. Through an active, reciprocal exchange, teaching can strengthen learning how to learn” (p. 134).

Henna Viertio

References:

Dietze, B. & Kashin, D. (2019) Playing and Learning in early childhood education. 2nd ed. Canadian Early Childhood Education Collection. Pearson Canada.

Edwards, C. P., et al. (1998) The hundred languages of children: The Reggio Emilia Approach. Greenwood Publishing Group.

Ferrance, E. (2000). Action research. LAB: A Program of the Education Alliance. Northeast and Island Regional Education Laboratory at Brown University. Providence, RI.

Freire, P. (1992). Pedagogy of hope: reliving pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum Publishing Company

Rovai, A. P. (2002). Sense of community perceived cognitive learning, and persistence in asynchronous learning networks. The Internet and Higher Education, 5(4), 319-332. doi:10.1016/S1096-7516(02)00130-6