Pip Morse
La Trobe University
There is a recognition that ecologies on this planet are in trouble – and that if change is going to occur then education needs to be at the heart of these endeavours. Imagination has the potential to play a pivotal role in such educational work because it is not only intimately entwined with knowledge generation but also offers possibilities for imagining different ways of being in the world; potentially providing space for alternative perspectives and ways of interacting to emerge.
To highlight possibilities for imagination in outdoor environmental education I adopt a posthuman lens. By doing so I deliberately set out to consider how imagination might contribute towards environmental education practices in ways that de-center human beings and respond to ideas of human exceptionalism. I discuss a practical example that involves pre-service teachers, primary-school students and a particular place with more-than-human beings during a 3-day outdoor education program at Kooyoora National Park in Victoria.
Biography:
Pip Morse is a Lecturer in Outdoor and Environmental Education at La Trobe University, Bendigo, where her passion is providing pre-service teachers with practical ways of approaching outdoor learning in a variety of contexts. Pip has taught in a range of schools in Tasmania and she is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Tasmania focussed on place-based education, imagination and posthuman approaches to environmental education.