Sustainable Pedagogies
Designing Schools for Children with Impairments: The Participatory Powers of Architecture
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jacqueline McIntosh, Joelle Lim
Education is an important foundation of society and children with impairments have limited opportunities for participation in school activities. There is a lack of functionality in the design of school spaces and outdoor play areas for children with impairments, arguably as there are insufficient performance guidelines that target the body condition of children with impairments. Architectural barriers that prevent a child’s participation in school can decrease their quality of life, often resulting in the further deterioration of their health, and ultimately shortening their lifespan. This research explores existing knowledge across disciplines aimed at promoting and facilitating impaired children’s physical and mental resilience and well-being in a school environment. The research method involves systematic evaluation of the current school design knowledge surrounding the creation of learning environments that target children with impairments and proposes a set of performance based design criteria. It finds that there is a lack of health research examining the usefulness of classroom and play spaces for children with impairments and limited research addressing participation issues which prohibit an ideal learning environment for children with multiple impairments. In addition, it finds a demand for greater integration of outdoor play with education, which in turn can make participation within schools more enjoyable.
An Exploration of the Many Worlds of Abeyance: Bringing Contemplative Practices into Conversation with Sustainable Education
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Joanne Price
This research looks into ways contemplative practices help to make all worlds more livable. An etymological exploration of one word “abeyance” re-stories the real challenges of clear-cut logging, filled water-lands, and the mining of mountains. This method acts to re-generate ancient earth-based practices of contemplative thought, a curious kind of thought, a way of carefully attending to words and worlds. Stories speak to nature-beings such as trees having agency, being in communication with other beings including humans, and wanting to be a part of this conversation. Working with contemplative exploration, l’ecriture feminine, and place-responsive phenomenology this session hopes to widen circles of knowing for more ways of be/coming. So that we may story our own outsiderness, encounter other worldly beings, learn to ask permission of them, make room for incoherence and clarity, expressions of grief, gratitude, and integrity - toward a more compassionate version of sustainable education.
The Power of Knocking on Doors : A Teacher's Story of Intergenerational Education through Garden-Based Learning
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Tathali Urueta ortiz
I share a story and a reflection about a project that started with an early childhood educator who by knocking on doors mobilized a community to foster social sustainability. Garden-based learning was the theme that brought together a diverse group of actors: an elderly couple, young children (3 to 4 years old), early childhood educators, high school students, parents and researchers. The fruits of this intergenerational experience are diverse some are sweeter than others. My analysis of this experience brings to the table important issues to discuss, among them: ageism, isolation, community participation, children, youth and elderly citizens, strategies for action, teachers as agents of change. Also, this paper highlights the importance of teachers as architects of pedagogical bridges that connect classrooms with communities. During the session, I will share a short video that narrates, in voice of the participants, how this project started and will open the conversation to what might happen next.
