Care
In this blog I intend to document the ethical considerations that have gone into my Action Research enquiry. As I explain in the Sensing blog post, ethics and care have been considered as core to this Action Research work.
Taking care, as a way of living (Ostendorf-Rodríguez, 2023).
I endeaver to:
- Always credit appropriately the people and organisations who have influenced my thoughts and ideas
- Always ask for consent before conducting this research work with the people involved
- Always explain clearly why I am doing this, what it is for, and where the research will go
- Delete any personal data and contact information once the PGCert has come to an end
- Store any personal information in a password protected folder
- Respect the stories and experiences shared with me, place them carefully into this blog with appropriate credits, or choose not to place them if feels like a violating of someone’s emotional privacy
- Re-engage with the people involved in this research to check their contribution has been appropriately represented before the final hand-in. I aim to be transparent and not exploit or manipulate people’s input for my own personal gain
Participatory Action Research was something I wanted to bring into this work, so learning from the anti-colonial practices of Professor Caroline Lenette, I considered:
A trauma-informed approach. Trauma was not the topic of conversations or research activities, but a collaborator might have experienced traumatic events in their lives and might be might bring those stories of trauma to the research. The woods could be a place of reflection and nostalgia. I will not coerce anyone to share stories just for our intellectual curiosity. I will accompany all students involved with me to the counselling services at LCC if I or they feel their mental health has been affected by this work.
Cultural safety (Ramsden, 2002). This means all researchers involved are free to determine whether their relationship as researchers is culturally safe, whether the research design is safe, whether the research activities are safe, and whether all members of the team represent safety for the cultural knowledge that they bring (Lenette, 2024). New Zealand Maori nurse, Irahapeti Ramsden’s work on Cultural Safety is based on the following five principles (1) incorporate reflection of ones’ own practice; (2) minimise power differences; (3) engage in communication with peoples; (4) undertake a process of decolonisation through learning about the impact of colonisation; and (5) treat all peoples regardless of differences the same (Ramsden, 2002). The way in which I am responding to these principles is:
1. Share all reflections and analysis with collaborators before the PGCert hand-in
2. Name the obvious power differences, and return to this through the process
3. Keep communication open and honest, without expectation on action
4. Invite and support conversations about positionalities and colonial structures on our differing relationships to nature
5. treat everyone with the same love and respect
Below is a copy of the action plan originally written in October 2024 and edited in November 2024.
| 1. What is your project focus? Forest School : What can we all learn with and from the forest to develop a more embodied understanding of eco-social justice? |
| 2. What are you going to read about? Wall-less, soft, fungi-based Pedagogy _ Pethick, E., Martinez, P. and How, W. (2022). Artistic Ecologies. MIT Press. _ Ostendorf-Rodríguez, Y. (2023). Let’s Become Fungal! Valiz. _ Harvey, L. and Knight, P. (1996). Transforming Higher Education. Open University Press. Indigenous knowledges _ Kimmerer, R.W. (2013). Braiding Sweetgrass. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Milkweed Editions. _ Robin Wall Kimmerer (2021). Democracy Of Species. S.L.: Penguin Books. Access to nature _ The justice inherent in land ownership and destruction of nature Williams, J. and Mos-Shogbamimu, S. (2021). Climate change is racist : race, privilege and the struggle for climate justice. London: Icon Books Ltd. _ Neil, L. (1992). The Social Creation of Nature. Baltimore, Md. : Johns Hopkins University Press. _ Jones, L. (2020). LOSING EDEN : why our minds need the wild. S.L.: Penguin Books. Ecofeminism & Politics of Care _ Friends (2015). Why Women Will Save the Planet. Zed Books Ltd. _ Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning. Cambridge University Press. |
| 3. What action are you going to take in your teaching practice? I would like to take a small group of students (3/5 max) into the Woods. These would be students who have been on our course for almost 15 months and are approaching the end of their time with us. Day One on this course we took them into the woods to introduce them to the course and I would like to invite the students (who are interested) to return with me, and engage in some refection, making and conversation which might aid us in answering the research question above. The methodology would be important to me here. I am curious how the students meaningfully and authentically become equal with me on this investigation. Can the hierarchy be removed completely as we all seek to discover and uncover something within ourselves and within the woods which will enrich all our teaching and learning practices. We could construct a series of questions together. In the woods we would then engage with these questions through making, discussion and listening. During and afterwards we would interview one another, and create shape together of what this learning and knowledges are telling us about: _ Teaching / Learning / Creating without walls _ Listening and connecting meaningfully with the knowledges of nature. I am interested in the tools or methods that might arrive out of this process, as well as a deeper understanding of how to facilitate these types of experiences outside of the formal classroom. |
| 4. Who will be involved and how? MA students who are about to graduate. I thought the fact they were at the end of their journey might be interesting as it creates a more reflective moment. And they don’t have to impress me as much. I would also like to speak to some experts in : Learning environments, Mental Health and Embodied knowledges. I will not include anyone under the age of 18. However I want to mention that my son’s primary school are also starting to scope out the possibility of bringing Forest School methodology into their learning. It’s a very under-resourced school where a lot of families do not feel a sense of belonging with the nearby Beckenham Place Park woods. In the back of my mind I am imagining how some of the reflections and learning from this work could add something special to the school’s aspirations. I am wondering if there is a future version of a Forest School which doesn’t cost money – and is instead rooted more closely into our unique and personal relationship to the wilds and the weather and the cycles of life. I am also interested in accessible research. And actionable research. And knowledges that are not bound to a certain age or academic standing, or educational level. |
| 5. What are the health & safety concerns, and how will you prepare for them? This will involve a trip into the woods (Beckenham Place Park), and I would do a risk assessment in the same way I have done so in the past. You can find the risk assessment documentation in this password protected folder I would take them to places I know deeply, where I have worked with students previously. So have done reccies as to the safety of the spaces. Inclusion and accessibility would also be a consideration, and I would be keen to ensure the journey through the woods and the settings for the sessions were accessible to suit all different participants. This would be a conversation where we could co-design our plan together. I would also need to think about weather – but there is also something important about how the climate and the weather is part if the story with us. |
| 6. How will you protect the data of those involved? I will communicate using UAL email addresses and phones, and will destroy all personal data once the project had happened |
| 7. How will you work with your participants in an ethical way? You can find all relevant consent forms and information sheets in this password protected folder. I will be clear what this for, why, and what their role in this work would be It is optional and they can disengage at any time. Consent forms and information sheets sent well in advance for students to make sure they are clear beforehand. The subject matter of climate and justice and access to nature could be triggering for some people, especially those from the global majority. So I would be clear what the remits of the work were, and where they can access support afterwards should they need it Any images will not include identified people, unless students wanted this. And any data will be anonymised, unless students wanted to also use their own research in their own work. I am hoping to approach this in a way that creates space for everyone to be a researcher, and it enriches all our practices and lives. |
References
- Lenette (2024) PAR (Video).mp4
- Ostendorf-Rodríguez, Y. (2023). Let’s Become Fungal!. Valiz.
- Ramsden, I. (2002). Cultural Safety and Nursing Education in Aotearoa and Te Waipounamu. Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington.