Relational Re-Rooting: A Phenomenological Case Study of Embodied Learning and Uplifting Indigenous Knowledge for the Eco-Literacy of Adult Learners

Abstract

What happens when the dualisms of human-nature and mind-body are problematized and Indigenous notions of kinship with nature and embodied learning are illuminated within adult education? A transdisciplinary, multimodal, place-based, and multisensorial curriculum titled ‘relational re-rooting’ was developed for this study to address the issues of the marginalization of the body and of Indigenous knowledge within educational systems, leading to low eco-literacy levels and a disconnect between humans and nature. This qualitative phenomenological case study used a framework of biosemiotics to explore the porous boundaries be-tween humans and nature, empowering embodied inquiry through relational communications that are fundamental to a more holistic understanding of eco-literacy as sense of place. Using the Indigenous concept of Etuaptmumk (Mi’kmaw for ‘Two-Eyed Seeing’) as a research method provided a way to perceive the strengths of Indigenous approaches from one eye and the strengths of Western approaches from the other eye, allowing for a more pluralistic and equitable perspective. From this plurality of knowledge, came both a subjective and collective understanding of participant perceptions and experiences that informed a storied narrative of sense of place. Data indicated participants’ awareness of self in nature also brought an awareness of self with nature and as nature, since being attentive to their own bodies brought that same attunement to the natural environments in which they were embedded. The results of this study indicate that the most universal experience of the curriculum was feeling a connection with nature. Relational re-rooting can be adapted to classroom, community, or organizational settings where relationship to place and Indigenous worldviews can be cultivated. Uplifting the more-than-human nature of research contributes to a pluralistic understanding of how knowledge is relational, embodied, and storied, and how combining eco-somatic learning alongside Indigenous notions of kinship can increase an eco-literate sense of place and deepen nature connectedness.