ERIC Number: EJ966892
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 3
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0840-8114
EISSN: N/A
Finding Canada outside: Building National Identity through Place-Based Outdoor Education
Joyce, Katherine
Pathways: The Ontario Journal of Outdoor Education, v23 n3 p29-31 Spr 2011
In a country as diverse as Canada, spread over an incomprehensibly large land mass, the connections between citizens may require more imagination. One way that these connections have been traditionally imagined in Canada is through national myths, including the myth of the wilderness. This myth draws the Canadian identity out of an "untouched" wilderness landscape. As much as there are problems with the wilderness myth of Canada, the land provides a valuable connection between all disparate members of Canadian society. And so, the author proposes a much more inclusive re-imagining of this myth, in which people draw national identity from the land in all the variety of its meanings and uses. In this way, Canadians can work to develop attachments to their specific pieces of land, while acknowledging the interconnections of the national landscape. In this article, the author discusses how to build national identity through place-based outdoor education. She argues that educators need to introduce their students to the places in which they live, and encourage them to find the connections between their selves and their places in addition to fostering an understanding of their connections to others and other people's places.
Descriptors: Canadian Literature, Outdoor Education, Nationalism, Mythology, Foreign Countries, Attachment Behavior, Education, Environmental Education, Land Settlement, Land Use
Council of Outdoor Educators of Ontario. 1185 Eglinton Avenue East, Toronto, Ontario, M3C 3C6, Canada. e-mail: info@COEO.org; Web site: http://www.coeo.org/publication.htm
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A