Call for Papers
**** apologies for cross-posting***
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Annual Conference, London, 31st August-2nd
September 2016
Session Title:
Creative and Poetic approaches to Pedagogy
and Research with Children, Young People and Families in Outdoor Spaces.
Session sponsorship:
Geographies of Children, Youth and Families
Research Group (GCYFRG)
Session Convenors:
Tracy Hayes (University of Cumbria) & Karen Lockney (University of Cumbria)
Come and join us as ‘…storytellers of life… We are storytellers all, and poetry, an equally ancient part of that toolkit, is about all of us. It always has been. Many in the one, one in the many. The particular in the universal’ (Brady, 2009: xv). In this session we will focus on approaches that aim to capture people’s imagination and their attention – for example through stories, fables, poetry, song. The more traditional scientific, often positivistic, approaches ‘…obscure the social, economic, political, cultural and ethical nature of the issues at hand. They obscure the role of people, behaviours, practices and institutions. And they limit which analyses and solutions are deemed possible and relevant’ (Connell, 2011 in UNESCO, 2013: 50). We advocate for something different.
Nexus thinking, whether taken as a method or a metaphor,
encourages us to work across disciplinary boundaries, to think relationally and to make connections across time and space (RGS-IBG 2015). The key messages from the World Social Science Report (UNESCO, 2013: 46) represent a call for ‘…a new kind of social science
– one that is bolder, better, bigger, different’. They further emphasise that there is an ever-increasing requirement for new ways of doing and thinking about science, to effectively address the interdisciplinary and cross-sector changes society faces. There
is a need for transformative learning: as identified by Eyler and Giles (1999: 133), ‘Transformational learning occurs as we struggle to solve a problem…we are called to question the validity of what we think we know or to critically examine the very premises
of our perception of the problem’.
However, the call for action on environmental issues
is not new. So why is it taking so long for people to listen and to respond? Is it lack of understanding? Lack of awareness? Or a feeling of disempowerment as to what can be done? Or is there an arguably more alarming sense of disconnection with nature (for
example, Louv, 2005; 2011) Does it matter how the message is being communicated from scientists to the general public – is something being lost in translation, missed in traditional interpretations? We propose that more creative, poetic approaches can bring
about transformative learning through personally meaningful experiences that foster positive relationships. Creative and poetic processes can be used ‘… both as tools of discovery and a unique mode of reporting research’ (Brady, 2009: xiii). Poetic inquiry
uses both creative and poetic thinking and can enable us to explore, gather and interpret in a more holistic and empathically connected way (McCulliss,2013). Therefore, we invite creative and poetic contributions that make visible the geographical, social,
cultural, moral and ethical nature of these issues.
We accept papers on (but not limited to):
Questions raised by the “transformative cornerstones”
framework developed by the International Social Science Council (ISSC) (Hackmann and St. Clair, 2012):
· What social science brings to the search for environmental solutions?
We welcome presentations of any style, including
traditional and innovative methods, particularly those that embrace and embody a creative and/or poetic approach. Papers/presentations should be
20 minutes (15 minutes each, followed by 5 mins for questions).
Authors should submit abstracts of up to 250 words
by 12th February 2016 to Tracy Hayes ([log in to unmask])
& Karen Lockney ([log in to unmask]).
Please include author name(s), affiliation(s),
contact email and paper title.
Best wishes,
Tracy & Karen
References
Brady, I. (2009) ‘Foreword’ in Prendergast,
M.; Leggo, C. and Sameshima, P. (eds) (2009) Poetic
Inquiry: Vibrant
Voices in the Social Sciences. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers
Connell, R. (2011) “Why we need social science”
in Connell, R. (2011) Confronting Equality:
Gender, Knowledge
and Global Change. Crows Nest, NSW, Australia: Allen
& Unwin.
Eyler, J. and Giles, D. (1999) Where’s the
Learning in Service-Learning? San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass
Hackmann, H. and. St. Clair, A. L (2012)
Transformative Cornerstones of Social Science Research
for Global Change,
Paris: International Social Science Council. Available from: www.worldsocialscience.org/documents/transformative-cornerstones.pdf.
Louv, R. (2005) Last Child in the Woods. North
Carolina, USA: Algonquin Books
Louv, R. (2011) The Nature Principle. North
Carolina, USA: Algonquin Books
McCulliss, D. (2013) ‘Poetic inquiry and multidisciplinary
qualitative research’ Journal of Poetry Therapy 26 (2)
pp. 83-114
RGS-IBG (2015)
Conference theme: Nexus Thinking. Available from
http://www.rgs.org/WhatsOn/ConferencesAndSeminars/Annual+International+Conference/Conference+theme.htm
UNESCO (2013) World Social Science Report
2013: Changing Global Environments. Available
from: http://www.worldsocialscience.org/documents/wss-report-2013-key-messages-recommendations.pdf