Search

The legalities around incidents in outdoor education (OE) are undeniable, and ignorance is not a defence. Using case study analysis specific to legal literacy, we extend this analysis to include the "7 Rights" framework and add two additional rights for consideration, referred to as the 9 Rights. This discussion organizes what is publicly available on the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) outing, and death of Jeremiah Perry, and draw insights from the decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in the subsequent criminal negligence trial. We present our analysis and recommendations, based on the 9 Rights. By exploring pertinent legal terminology, relevant to this case, the 9 Rights guides risk analysis for trip planning, in-field risk assessment, and risk management. The unfortunate crux of this discussion, and many OE incidents in Canada, is that "the law" enters the learning equation only after something goes wrong.

This article provides an account of a recent research study that investigated an international service learning internship for in-service teachers. Relying upon what we know to be the advantages and benefits of somewhat similar experiences (i.e., international internships for preservice teachers, internships for in-service teachers, and service learning opportunities for university students) to frame our investigation, we explored the impact upon in-service teachers, particularly as they relate to both professional and personal growth. Analysis of questionnaire responses revealed a number of prominent themes. Stories and accounts of professional growth were related to: (a) creating an engaging and safe learning environment, (b) (over)planning for the unexpected, and (c) teaching with (and in front of) others. Stories and accounts of personal growth were related to: (a) letting go of control, (b) facing fears and confronting anxieties while outside of one's comfort zone, and (c) recognizing privilege and the excess of possessions. Results from this study might appeal to those who similarly share an interest in international service learning internships, service learning generally, international internships, in-service teacher education, and/or international or global education.

Our recent research study investigated an international field experience for preservice teachers, labelled as a service-learning internship, a term often used to refer to a student teacher in a Bachelor of Education (BEd) program. Relying on what we know to be advantages and benefits of similar international field experiences for preservice teachers to frame our investigation, we explored the impact of a service-learning internship upon beginning teachers, particularly as it related to their professional growth as teachers. To gain insight into teacher education, we drew on the work of Mollenhauer (2014) to critically examine the foundations of how we prepare teachers in our BEd program. Analysis of questionnaire responses, tracked by a digital discussion forum via Moodle™, revealed two dominant themes: (a) gaining a deeper understanding of children, and (b) learning to be flexible regardless of curricular constraints. Results from this study might be of interest to those who share a similar interest in international field experiences, teacher education, and pedagogy.

Across Canada and around the world, online technologies are becoming widely used and accepted as effective modes of learning. This essay traces the initial forays into teaching online classes by three Faculty of Education professors at one small Canadian university and an instructional designer/teacher who joined part-way through the research journey. Included are our understandings of how our teaching practices evolved amidst initial uncertainties and expanding abilities, our renewed awareness of the importance of collegial support and encouragement, and the implications for future online teaching experiences. Our essay provides an intimate window into our online teaching journeys and captures specific moments we experienced at various stages in the development of our e-instructional practices. The account of our processes of becoming online teacher educators is supported by an interweaving of historical and current literature on pedagogy and e-learning, and serves to address the dearth of research into the processes educators undergo when engaged in online teaching.

This article was motivated by Summer 2006 Canadian Social Studies: History Alive! Old Sources, New Technologies. In light of technological advancements, programs, and efforts to enhance social studies, it appears history educators have forgotten about and overlook the benefits of leading children to authentic, historical places that exist outside school settings. In many schools, social studies education has become strictly a classroom experience that is divorced from the community; consequently, students experience only the concept of content within the confines of the classroom. One strategy to transform curriculum requires teachers move away from a traditional mode of teaching and toward a partnership with their students as they create knowledge together within authentic places of learning.

Striking at the heart of social studies is an educational practice that restricts citizenship involvement in the promotion of a democratic society. Alberta Learning (2000) defines Social studies as "a school subject that assists students to acquire [the] basic knowledge, skills and positive attitudes needed to be responsible citizens and contributing members of society" (p. 1). Important to social studies education are the efforts students must make to bring new meaning to citizenship and community as a part of their national identity. Can social studies contribute to developing students' identity as citizens and promote an active and responsible role in Canadian society? Can education balance active involvement, and student responsibility, with the demands of curriculum, evaluation, and student uniqueness? One solution to the questions posed here is for a reform that integrates the experiential--that is, the active aspect of citizenship--with the social studies curriculum through service-learning.

This paper reports on results from a recently completed research study conducted with pre-service teachers from Nova Scotia, Canada who completed their final student teacher practicum in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. With our attention directed towards a primary research question related to pre-service teachers' own development, data were collected through synchronous online focus group interviews. Results revealed that pre-service teachers experienced both professional and personal growth, while also experiencing some unanticipated conflict and angst. Herein we present and discuss these results, especially as they relate to relevant literature and our own experiences with international student teacher practicums. This paper should be of particular relevance to those who share an interest in teacher education, practicums/field experiences/internships, and/or international education initiatives.

This paper reports on the results of the first cycle of an action research project. The objective of this action research was to examine the implementation of a school-based active transportation education program (Making Tracks). A two-cycle action research design was employed in which elementary school students' (ages 7-9), middle school students' (ages 10-12), and high school students' (ages 15-17) experiences with Making Tracks were investigated. Qualitative data were collected through field observations, student questionnaires, and follow-up focus group interviews with elementary school "walkers," middle school "cyclists," and high school leaders. Results suggest Making Tracks ought to be recognized as a program that has great potential in school and after-school community contexts. Notwithstanding these positive results, additional changes to the program might be considered so as to enable additional positive results in the future.

For many teachers, the value of pedagogical reflection is missing from practice. Rational educational approaches that prioritize judging and measuring students overshadow the relational dimension of teaching. Our study investigated this relational gap to explore more fully teachers' attunement to the child as a unique person. We examined lived experiences of six teachers pedagogically engaged with children (K-12) participating in an active outdoor living program. The program aimed to develop a youth network of friends, nurturing positive self-esteem and youth leadership. Using a phenomenological method, we facilitated open-ended interviews to show teachers' pedagogical awareness through hermeneutic conversations. We present the data as three anecdotes representing a synthesis of teacher reflection, writing, and on-going conversation. Our findings reveal the importance of being-in-time with children as teachers relate pedagogical moments with children learning outdoors. Through attunement as the flexibility to adapt educational challenges and approaches to suit the moment and uniqueness of the child, teachers became careful observers, allowing students to be children without the competing tensions of institutional expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As more teachers in Nova Scotia (Canada) include the outdoors as a part of their curricular instruction, risk awareness is becoming central to their teaching practice. Central to the risk assessment for many outdoor programs is the domain of "prevent and prepare" - the first link in the Chain of Survival Behavior outlined by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC, 2016). The Certificate in Outdoor Education (COE) requires all teachers to take Advanced Wilderness and Remote First Aid (AWRFA) as a part of a college course offering in an effort to best prepare teachers to keep students safe and active outdoors. Drawing on teachers' reflections, we present key connections made to AWRFA training, based on a debriefing tool we refer to as the "7 Rights." The need for a focused debriefing emerged from concerns during course discussions when teachers claimed they were overwhelmed with AWRFA material, experiential first aid scenarios, and infield care strategies. By developing a framework promoting reflective practice, the 7 Rights has potential to guide future practice by contributing to a safety culture in the effort to prevent and prepare for injuries in outdoor education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the author discusses various topics within the issue including pedagogy, adult society, and dwelling places for people.

The paper exemplifies how we as teachers see children, and indicates ways of understanding the existential educational meanings of what we see. The authors suggest that the phenomenon of seeing is a personal and relational intentional act that opens up, as well as delimits educational practice. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach to education is suggested and the thought of seeing and telling as interwoven representations is put forth. However, despite a phenomenological inquiry's immense qualities as a pre-reflective experiential source to understanding, the authors believe that phenomenology cannot overcome or erase the aporetic unavailability of a pedagogical practice and a pedagogical-ethical language. The paper intends to show that seeing pedagogically always will be more complex, paradoxical and unsettled than what can be shown and told phenomenologically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]