Bonding with the World: A Pedagogical Approach

Abstract

AbstractOutdoor Education activities are rapidly developing in school practice in Switzerland, still mainly based on personal initiatives from teachers. Teacher training universities have a role to play to reinforce and facilitate professional development of these teachers, guarantee a coherent approach to quality outdoor education, and promote its implementation at a larger scale. In order to do this, universities have to develop programmes both for initial and in-service training, in which they support a progression with various levels of expertise. They also have to develop a scientific discourse around outdoor teacher education, and contribute to a better recognition of the field at a political level. At the moment, in Switzerland, few teacher training institutions have organised any specific arrangements in this direction. The Haute Ecole Pédagogique Vaud has set up a Competence Centre for Outdoor Education, made possible by the priority recently given to sustainability education at state level. The approach promoted within this centre is nourished by ongoing discussions around the Anthropocene and its implications for schools. It therefore fosters a quality outdoor education that builds up environmental literacy and agency by cultivating a sense of bonding with the world. This article presents this approach, focusing on its theoretical and didactical framework before tackling a possible curricular progression at the level of both pupils and teachers. It highlights training and research issues and aims, looking at possibilities and complexities when combining transformative sustainability education, place-based outdoor education and teacher education, while making the link to schools and their structural and curricular realities.