Nature and Nurture: Teaching Eco-Pragmatism to High-School Students at a Winter Camp in the Canadian Arctic

Claude Doucette
Peggy Ransom
Paul William Kaeser High School
Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada

David Kowalewski
Alfred University
Alfred, New York

Alfred University
Alfred, New York

Citation: Doucette, Claude, Peggy Ransom and David Kowalewski (2007). "Nature and Nurture: Teaching Eco-Pragmatism to High-School Students at a Winter Camp in the Canadian Arctic." Children, Youth and Environments 17 (4): 227-236. Retrieved [date] from http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye/

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Abstract

By propagating a hands-off “cathedral” or “art museum” view of nature, many environmentalists are missing an opportunity to further their cause.  According to some recent critiques, only when environmentalism returns to its aboriginal roots, fully appreciating the immediate usefulness of all parts of the natural world, can it reach its potential.  The present paper describes a winter camp for high school students in the Canadian Arctic, where students, under the mentorship of aboriginal instructors, were fully able to immerse themselves in such an eco-pragmatic experience.  The paper then details the effects of the camp on students and the wider community.

Keywords: environmental education, Arctic, camps, winter, eco-pragmatism, indigenous knowledge