experiencing freefall: a journey of pedagogical possibilities - cIRcle

EXPERIENCING FREEFALL: A JOURNEY OF PEDAGOGICAL POSSIBILITIES by JOHNNA G A Y L E H A S K E L L B.Sc, The University of New Hampshire, 1984 M.S.Ed., The University of Southern Maine, 1994 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL F U L F I L L M E N T OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE D E G R E E OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE F A C U L T Y OF G R A D U A T E STUDIES Faculty of Education Department of Curriculum Studies Science Education We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH C O L U M B I A April 2000 © Johnna Gayle Haskell, 2000

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L u ^ V ^ a j L t M / v y J~>\ljJl2 In rock climbing, I am not referring to just the mind or brain of the body, but the entire body, interacting with the rock to embody how we know the world. Climbing embodies those actions while acclimatizing to the movements with the rock cliff. The epistemo(onto)logical concerns here are thinking about how we come to know through experiencing as well as the perceptual understanding of that experience. What are the phenomena of experiencing during the challenges of climbing with the rock or losing the tiny fingertip holds to the free fall? Freefall is the moment of groundless engagement that we cannot foresee but the actions which arise in the moment of doing. To understand our fluid experience of the world is to look for what makes this experience possible instead of what it is; not what we think, but what we live, the connections of sensations that come into being (Merleau-Ponty, 1962, pp. xvi-xvii). Stories of climbing bring to light experiences of

During skill rotations, students spend the first month of the program mastering basic skills such as proper stove operation, tent and tarp setup; paddling and self rescues for both canoes and kayaks; and belay and climbing techniques for rock climbing. 1 use the term "freefall" to refer to the pedagogy or act of acclimatizing through experiencing. "Freefall" is a moment where embodied awareness arises out of unexpected happenings rather than simply falling down as referred to by the separation of the words— free fall. 18

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groundlessness where the outdoor classroom offers a domain of possibilities. bell hooks (1994) introduces the idea of a critical thinking that empowers individuals to transgress boundaries and an "engaged pedagogy" where everyone learns including the teacher. She affirms that possibility, allows us to move beyond our boundaries and open our hearts and minds collectively, to experience what I refer to as the passion of freefall. The choice to climb always opens us to the possibility of freefall experience. vgyWhen Time Appears to Stop«