Slam poetry, giant specs and a psychogeography monopoly board: progressive directions for outdoor facilitation

Mcphie, Jamie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5290-1685 and Butler-Eldridge, Taylor (2021) Slam poetry, giant specs and a psychogeography monopoly board: progressive directions for outdoor facilitation. In: Palmer, Clive, (ed.) Arts-based education in outdoor education. Sport and Wellbeing Press, Preston, UK, pp. 166-175.

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Abstract

Outdoor facilitation can be problematic. In some of its late 20th century pedagogical guises, some scholars hailed it as an effective alternative addition to mainstream education due to its possibilities as a developmental tool, for example (see Neill and Richards, 1998; Miles and Priest, 1990; Priest and Gass, 1997). Since then, other scholars have cast doubt on its varied misappropriations – yet still embraced its possibilities for participant-centred and generative place-based experiential approaches (Beames, 2006; Brookes, 2003; Loynes, 1998, 2002; Mckenzie, 2003; Nicol and Higgins, 1998). However, and more worryingly, other scholars have also exposed elements of it as a colonialist endeavour (Brinkhurst-Cuff, 2017), a fascist enterprise (Cutting, 2016), a racist initiative (Ayamba and Rotherham, 2003; Callicott, 2000; Rose and Paisley, 2012), a classist issue (Suckall, Fraser and Quinn, 2009), and a privileged supporter of romanticised nature idealism (Fletcher, 2017; Mcphie and Clarke, 2018). To counter these rather disturbing trends and directions, this chapter focuses on the role of creativity to attempt to produce more equitable and progressive directions for outdoor facilitation. More specifically, it attends to the role of creativity in outdoor learning for producing social and environmental equity. It does this by exampling three works of art created by one undergraduate and one postgraduate student currently studying on the Outdoor Studies programmes at the University of Cumbria (UoC). After unpacking the slam poetry produced by Kathryn Board, the rest of the chapter is an interview/discussion between Taylor Butler-Eldridge (student) and Jamie Mcphie (facilitator) about how Taylor came to his creative productions for two assessments and how thinking with the creative components helped co-produce critical thought to aid social and environmental equity. This chapter-comeinterview is itself another example of what can emerge when thinking with creative approaches. The conclusions are yours.

Item Type:	Book Section
Publisher:	Sport and Wellbeing Press
ISBN:	9780956627063
Departments:	Institute of Science and Environment > Outdoor Studies Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas (CNPPA)
Additional Information:	Chapter 25 within book.
Depositing User:	Anna Lupton
Date Deposited:	22 Feb 2023 09:31
Last Modified:	21 Oct 2024 09:13
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/6908

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