Canoe Tripping as a Context for Connecting with Nature: A Case Study Mira Freiman Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the M.A. in Education Faculty of Education University of Ottawa © Mira Freiman, Ottawa, Canada, 2012 CANOEING FOR CONNECTION ii Acknowledgments Thanks first and foremost to my participants. I could not have done this without you but also, thanks for making it so much fun. Thanks to Mark who shares in, and celebrates my connection with nature, and who has supported this project since the beginning. Thanks to Mumsy, Daddy and Ariel who have supported me always and have recognized my love for nature since my beginning. Thanks to Grits for my happy Tuesday afternoons, Sabina who always fills me with hope and peace, Margaux for our chats and Holly for her quiet mind. Thanks to Camp Deep Waters: As a people, you are my community; as an idea, you impassion every aspect of my life; as a place, you are my home. Every single friend I’ve made there; camper, administrator, leader, director, maintenance person and cook alike; has informed these pages. Thanks to Professor Giuliano Reis. It was in your class that I first realized my passion for teaching connection with nature for environmental education. Since that time, and throughout this journey, you have been patient and generous. You have listened to my ideas and made sense of them when I could not. You have shared resources and enthusiasm. This is all so very much appreciated. Your guidance has been invaluable. Thanks also to Professors Rebecca Lloyd and Liliane Dionne. Your help is sincerely appreciated and your comments have undeniably shaped me as well as this project. Thanks to the University of Ottawa who has made this experience possible as well as enjoyable and has helped fund this work. Thanks also to the Ontario provincial government for helping to fund this work by awarding me the Ontario Graduate Scholarship. Finally, thanks to what I find outside my door at any given time. I am in everlasting awe. CANOEING FOR CONNECTION iii Abstract Nine teenage participants and two adult guides were followed throughout a 10 day white water canoe trip to investigate the relationship between their impressions of connection with nature and the canoe trip experience, and their interactions with nature and the canoe trip experience. Themes providing a description of these relationships were identified and three major findings emerged. The first was that multiple themes mediating participants’ connectedness with nature did so both towards connection and disconnection. The second was that participants’ state of comfort was related to an impression of connection with nature while their state of discomfort was related to an impression of disconnection from nature. The third was that the relationship between participants’ connectedness and interactions with nature differed depending on the context (e.g., nature versus civilization). Possible directions for future research include investigating changes in participants’ conception of nature and the relationship between comfort and connection with nature. Key Words: outdoor education, environmental education, adventure education, experiential education, outdoor environmental education, connectedness with nature, learning in nature CANOEING FOR CONNECTION iv Table of Contents Acknowledgments....................................................................................................................ii Abstract...................................................................................................................................iii Table of Contents.....................................................................................................................iv List of Figures...........................................................................................................................x List of Tables...........................................................................................................................xi List of Appendices..................................................................................................................xii Chapter 1: Planning the Route: An Introduction......................................................................1 How this Adventure Began: An Autobiographical Introduction to Situate the Reader..........................................................................................................................2 Literature Review.........................................................................................................6 At the Crossroads..............................................................................................6 Transfer of Learning.......................................................................................10 Connectedness with Nature............................................................................10 Connectedness with Nature in Ontario...........................................................15 Learning during Outdoor Environmental Programs.......................................16 Physical environment..........................................................................16 Activities.............................................................................................16 Processing...........................................................................................16 Group..................................................................................................16 Instructor.............................................................................................17 Participant...........................................................................................17 Deficiency in the Literature............................................................................18 CANOEING FOR CONNECTION v Research Goals and Questions.......................................................................19 Chapter 2: Packing for the Trip..............................................................................................21 Methodology...............................................................................................................22 Theoretical Framework...................................................................................22 Method............................................................................................................25 A Case Study of Ethnographic Design...............................................26 The Case.................................................................................28 Data Collection...................................................................................30 Observational Notes and Informal Interview Notes...............31 Artefact Collection..................................................................32 Disposable cameras................................................................32 Communal Trip Log...............................................................32 Audio-recordings....................................................................33 Method of Analysis.............................................................................33 Verification.............................................................................35 Chapter 3: Unpacking.............................................................................................................37 The Trip Journal: Findings.........................................................................................38 Tuesday River.................................................................................................39 Day 1...................................................................................................44 Day 2...................................................................................................49 Day 3...................................................................................................58 Day 4...................................................................................................69 Day 5...................................................................................................79 CANOEING FOR CONNECTION vi Day 6...................................................................................................85 Day 7...................................................................................................94 Day 8.................................................................................................102 Day 9.................................................................................................109 Day 10...............................................................................................116 Results and Discussion.............................................................................................120 Notion of Nature...........................................................................................120 Question 1.....................................................................................................122 The Nature—Civilization Dichotomy..............................................126 Stepping Back from Civilization into Nature.......................126 Presence of Non-Human/Natural Features...............126 Fewer Humans than a City.......................................130 Amenities of Different Quality than those Found in a city............................................................................130