Reflections on Campfire Experiences as Wild Pedagogy

Abstract

Today's environmental challenges present us with the opportunity to enhance our ability to hear the voices of the more-than-human world. This was an aptitude that was central to our ancestral practices. Efforts to develop pedagogies that redirect our ways of being in the world are emerging under the broad title, "wild pedagogies." This article describes Canadian teacher candidates' (TCs) experiences of a variety of campfire-based activities on a single night of their annual field camp and the TCs' evaluation of their efficacy as alternative experiences with Fire. The article presents excerpts of student narratives that articulate the successes and challenges of such an endeavour, and the impact of the discovery of Fire as a more-than-human voice on their developing teaching philosophy. The analysis in this paper is grounded in the six touchstones for wild pedagogies in practice. Keywords: wild pedagogies, experiential, campfire, education, more-than-human