Pedagogy for extended-interspecies listening

Abstract

Using the example of my own art-research practice, I focus on outdoor pedagogy and ecological literacy for preschoolers not only as teaching "environmental" content, but more importantly as a form of listening that seeks to create a deeper understanding of the web of human and non-human connections. In my artistic research, I point to the development of the performative mapping method, which provides new insights into subtler issues that are not given time in mainstream education. In the text, I also try to show why mainstream education promotes only a narrow conception of listening, focused on receiving and understanding human meanings. The implication is that mainstream education is ill-equipped to listen to the affective and environmental dimension as a kind of vibration that is capable of moving all kinds of bodies. Therefore, there is a need to expand and cultivate interspecies listening in educational practice (not only for preschoolers), and to this end I propose several ways that develop this mode of listening. The text includes multiple perspectives, allowing each of us to look beyond our current experiences and learn to synchronize ourselves across many diverse time horizons.