The (Re)pairing Nature of Ecopsychology: A Re-enchantment of Learning
Wandering out into secret laboratories found in the middle of the city or in a nearby forest, initiating a deeper participation and identification with Earth, we will (re)place ourselves within the natural world, lessening the human-nature divide. This 90 minute workshop is designed for those called to venture out beyond the classroom walls into nearby nature and risk becoming more porous, more intimate with Earth and return to tell about it.
To listen to the voice of the Earth speak in myth and magic at a time when lives have become culturally overgrown and far too small, means to spend time getting to know other beings, to (re)pair ourselves. Montessori said, “Play is the work of the child” but what if it is also part of our vocation as educators too? Take a playful, yet serious leap of the moral imagination and experience the reflective mirror that nature provides as it reveals the hidden vitality and creative powers and passions found at the wellspring of your own teacherly nature.
We will consider how these kinds of rich resources and reconnection practices are antidotes to a flatland-flatscreen culture, can help re-enchant curriculum. Low risk nature-responsive approaches such as this are ideal expressions of applied ecopsychology that offer takeaways you can begin to adopt and use with your students right away.
Target Audience
Secondary school teachers (Gr 8-12)
To Bring/Important Notes
Please wear weather-ready clothing, and be sure to bring your journal, a timepiece and your water bottle. We will be going outside for a portion of this session. Thanks!
Sessions
Presenter
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Royal Roads University
Hilary Leighton
A lifelong apprentice to nature and psyche, Dr. Hilary Leighton is Associate Professor in the School of Environment and Sustainability at Royal Roads University, and an Ecopsychotherapist and Registered Clinical Counsellor in private practice in Victoria. Drawing upon the wisdom of ecopsychology, depth psychology, general systems theory, and embodied, nature-and arts-informed practices, her scholarly research and teaching seek ways to: extend the notion of the individual psyche to a world ensouled; inspire whole-human, ecologically intelligent epistemes; and cultivate reconnection with a sentient Earth. She examines and reflects the ethical dilemma, suffering and loss of our relationships with wildness and contemplates learning as an initiatory journey toward maturation, regeneration and a more soulful way of belonging.