Walking: Attuning to an Earthly Curriculum
Guest Editors:
Ellyn Lyle (Yorkville University), Jodi Latremouille (Thompson Rivers University), & David Jardine (University of Calgary) (retired)
miyo waskawewin Walk gently on mother earth Pay attention Tread lightly Recognize its wisdom (Lesley Tait, as cited in Latremouille et al., 2016, p. 21) Beginning from the assumption that we must learn to wonder as we wander, this special issue was conceived to advance theory and practice as it relates to walking as both an intentional physical activity and a curricular understanding of traversing with and through landscapes of topical relations in attunement with the Earth. Walking: Attuning to an Earthly Curriculum is a call to a participatory, practical, spiritual sensory, and theoretical curriculum experience within a field of places and relations. Within this call, and with each other, we ask, how we might imagine our curriculum topics as territories to be traversed carefully and thoughtfully and lovingly, in tune with environmental consciousness and human conscientiousness?
We understand this meandering pursuit of critical consciousness as an intimate reciprocity (Abram, 1997) made possible through a resonant attunement with the Earth. Such a solidarity can further nurture our teaching, learning, exploring and being. Feinberg (2016) writes of a walking-based pedagogy that sees curriculum as “lived and emerging, somatic and contextual, personal yet political, and enhanced by curiosity and listening” (p. 150). Being attentive to the world in this way fosters curiosity regarding the ways our walking might resonate, attune, align, or dwell with the rhythms of the earth. Walking: Attuning to an Earthly Curriculum aims to raise awareness of our human being on this planet and, in so doing, attunement may be taken up in a variety of ways: spiritual (belonging in nature); intellectual (learning about relationships); physical (affecting the body); emotional (exploring love of nature); and imaginative (learning through creative engagement).
We are interested in receiving critical and diverse methodological approaches and submissions. Please submit a 250-word abstract or proposal to JCACS (to the section “Walking”) that makes clear how you will respond to the call. Please also include a brief (50-word) biography. While JCACS has its own style guide, please submit your proposal following APA 7 conventions for citations and references. Please use a 12-point sans serif font and double spacing.
Timeline and Key Dates:
• Proposal Deadline: June 25, 2020
• Proposal Responses: July 17, 2020
• Deadline for full articles: Sept. 7, 2020
• Anticipated Publication Date: Dec. 2020
References
Abram, D. (1997). The spell of the sensuous: Perception and language in a more-than-human world. Vintage Books. Feinberg, P. P. (2016). Towards a walking-based pedagogy. Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, 14(1), 147-165. https://jcacs.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/jcacs/article/download/40312/36186
Latremouille, J., Bell, A., Krahn, M., Kasamali, Z., Tait, L, & Donald, D. (2016). kistikwânihk êsko kitêhk: Storying holistic understandings in education. Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, 14(1), 8-22. https://jcacs.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/jcacs/article/view/40294
