Making Kin with Multispecies’ Flourishing in the Anthropocene: A Multiperspectival Narrative Into Environmental and Sustainability Education

Authors

  • Thi Thuy Hang Tran Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, University of Regina
  • Tram-Anh Bui Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology, Lakehead University
  • Dianne J. Kenton Toronto Metropolitan University
  • Sreedevi Rajasekharan Brock University
  • Olivia Lu University of Toronto
  • Steven Khan Brock University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55016/ojs/ajer.v70i2.77474

Keywords:

environmental and sustainability education; storied experiences; multispecies’ flourishing; familial and cultural practices; quantitative literacy; éducation à l'environnement et à la durabilité ; expériences racontées; l’épanouissement de plusieurs espèces ; pratiques familiales et culturelles ; la littératie quantitative

Abstract

The development of Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) in pre-service teacher education in Canada has shown slow but steady progress over the past 40 years. A detailed history of how individuals and groups have influenced its praxis does not yet exist (Elliott & Inwood, 2019, p. 37). This paper attends to the experiences of six teacher educators/graduate students who have been composing their lives in different landscapes in relation to ESE. We employ collaborative autoethnography as our research methodology. Together, we are involved in the process of telling, retelling, and reliving our stories of who we are in relation to ESE. We also pay deep attention to the resonances echoed across our experiences and curate our forward-looking thoughts for/with the future of ESE. We hope to expand current ESE with a more holistic and sustainable approach, which includes integrating place-based wisdom with environmental education; collaborating with material presences not as resources but as partners for multispecies’ flourishing; and sustaining the intergenerational reverberations of familial and cultural practices and quantitative literacy.

Le développement de l'éducation à l'environnement et à la durabilité (EED) dans la formation initiale des enseignants au Canada a connu des progrès lents mais constants au cours des 40 dernières années. Il n’existe pas encore d’histoire détaillée de la manière dont les individus et les groupes ont influencé sa pratique (Elliott & Inwood, 2019, p. 37). Cet article s’intéressé aux expériences de six formateurs/étudiants diplômés qui ont composé leurs vies dans différents paysages en relation avec l’EED. Nous employons l'autoethnographie collaborative comme méthodologie de recherche. Ensemble, nous participons au processus de raconter, de redire et de revivre nos histoires en relation avec l'EED. Nous accordons également une grande attention aux résonances de nos expériences et rassemblons nos pensées prospectives pour/avec l’avenir de l’EED. Nous espérons développer l'EED actuelle avec une approche plus holistique et durable. Celle-ci inclut l'intégration de la sagesse locale à l'éducation environnementale, la collaboration avec les présences matérielles non pas comme des ressources mais comme des partenaires pour l'épanouissement de plusieurs espèces, ainsi que le maintien des réverbérations intergénérationnelles des pratiques familiales et culturelles et de la littératie quantitative.

Author Biographies

Thi Thuy Hang Tran, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, University of Regina

Dr. Thi Thuy Hang Tran has been a lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Vietnam for 15 years. She completed her PhD in Elementary Education at the University of Alberta, Canada. Her dissertation, Narrative Inquiry into the Experiences of Vietnamese Children and Mothers Composing Lives in Transition to Canada, received three awards of Outstanding Dissertation in Canada and the US, and was published into a book by Springer Nature. Currently, Dr. Tran is a postdoctoral scholar at the Child Trauma Research Centre, University of Regina. She can be reached at hangttt@hcmute.edu.vn.

Tram-Anh Bui, Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology, Lakehead University

Dr. Tram-Anh Bui (Trâm-Anh Bùi) earned her PhD in Educational Studies with the Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award from Brock University. She has been a full-time lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology (HUFLIT), Vietnam. She is a scholar-practitioner in international education, currently working as an international student advisor, and an Adjunct Professor, Lakehead University. Her research interests are student mobility, intercultural competence, internationalization, and contemplation and mindfulness-based inquiry. She loves working with and for international students. Her email: tbui2@lakeheadu.ca.

Dianne J. Kenton, Toronto Metropolitan University

Dianne J. Kenton holds both an MEd and BEd (Adult Education), Brock University and an Hon. BSc, University of Toronto, and is currently completing studies in Data Management and Statistics at Toronto Metropolitan University with plans to purse doctoral studies. Dianne has eighteen years post-secondary instructional experience in business management, financial services, curriculum and human development. Her research interests are social justice, equity, risk, adult and mathematics education, environmental and global citizenship. She can be reached at dkenton01@gmail.com.

Sreedevi Rajasekharan, Brock University

Dr. Sreedevi Rajasekharan has PhD in Biology from Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, India. She has a BEd from Annamalai University, India and M.Ed. in Administration and Leadership from Brock University, Canada. Sreedevi is currently teaching at a high school in Northern Manitoba. Her research interests include Land Based Pedagogy, Environmental Sustainability Education, and Multispecies’ Flourishing. She can be reached at shrisekh@gmail.com.

Olivia Lu, University of Toronto

Olivia Lu is a Chinese Canadian Doctoral student in Mathematics Education at the University of Toronto, Canada. Her research interests include mathematics education, alternative education, educational change, ethnomathematics, and teacher education. She can be reached at olivias.lu@mail.utoronto.ca.

Steven Khan, Brock University

Dr. Steven Khan is an Associate Professor in Mathematics Education and the Director of Teacher Education Programs at the Department of Educational Studies, Faculty of Education, Brock University, Canada. He can be contacted at skhan6@brocku.ca.

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Published

2024-07-30

How to Cite

Tran, T. T. H., Bui, T.-A., Kenton, D. J., Rajasekharan, S., Lu, O., & Khan, S. (2024). Making Kin with Multispecies’ Flourishing in the Anthropocene: A Multiperspectival Narrative Into Environmental and Sustainability Education. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 70(2), 224–248. https://doi.org/10.55016/ojs/ajer.v70i2.77474

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Vol. 70 No. 2 (2024): Summer

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