title: Exploring the constitution of environment education as situated, critical processes of learning and change: A collaborative synthesis across diverse regional contexts

authors: Eames, Chris W.

subjects: Critical approaches

abstract: This article offers a set of unique vignettes or stories that attempt to illustrate examples of critical approaches to environmental education (EE) in diverse contexts. It draws from the experiences of five environmental educators in four different regions of the world. We detail the history of the emergence of critical consciousness in education in Brazil, and its application in a Brazilian region, then move to examples of critical educational responses to oppression in New Zealand and Zimbabwe, before closing with a critical examination of innovative teaching and research in Europe. Through this breadth of endeavour, we identify commonalities across these contexts such as the importance of participatory action and research to examine peopleenvironment relations, particularly as constituted by indigenous peoples, and to interpret realities in ways that empower through learning-led social-ecological change. We argue that this critical approach can foster emancipation through individual and collective learning in EE processes within very different contexts.

text: Exploring the constitution of environment education as situated, critical processes of learning and change: A collaborative synthesis across diverse regional contexts This article offers a set of unique vignettes or stories that attempt to illustrate examples of critical approaches to environmental education (EE) in diverse contexts. It draws from the experiences of five environmental educators in four different regions of the world. We detail the history of the emergence of critical consciousness in education in Brazil, and its application in a Brazilian region, then move to examples of critical educational responses to oppression in New Zealand and Zimbabwe, before closing with a critical examination of innovative teaching and research in Europe. Through this breadth of endeavour, we identify commonalities across these contexts such as the importance of participatory action and research to examine peopleenvironment relations, particularly as constituted by indigenous peoples, and to interpret realities in ways that empower through learning-led social-ecological change. We argue that this critical approach can foster emancipation through individual and collective learning in EE processes within very different contexts.

year: 2018

title: A discontinuous ca. 80 ka record of Late Quaternary environmental change from Lake Omapere, Northland, New Zealand

authors: Newnham, Rewi M.

subjects: Last Glacial

abstract: We present an integrated record of environmental change from Lake Omapere, Northland, New Zealand, based on palaeolimnological analysis of a 7-m-long core and eight adjunct cores spanning part of the last 80 calendar (cal.) ka. The chronology was developed using tephrochronology, palaeomagnetism and radiocarbon dating together with climato- and palyno-stratigraphy. Two of 14 tephra layers in the cores provide markers for correlating the record with other New Zealand climato-stratigraphic sequences, deep-sea cores and the global marine isotope record. Pollen, diatom, palaeomagnetic, sedimentologic and pigment analyses show that Lake Omapere, currently 2 m deep, has had a discontinuous history. Occupying a shallow basin perched partly within old basalt lavas, the initial (alkaline) lake formed towards the end of MIS 5a at ca. 80 cal. ka, presumably because of blockage of local drainage of a swampy alluvial floodplain, inundating peat deposits and forest trees, including kauri (Agathis australis). The lake filled rapidly to a level 1–2 m above that at present. Such filling was probably unrelated to climate but a subsequent phase of variable but generally falling lake levels and increasing dystrophy may have been climatically controlled, commencing during MIS 4 and culminating in periods early in MIS 3 when the lake became swampy or dry. Conditions of non-deposition (or non-preservation) obtained for most of the period after ca. 55 cal. ka (Rotoehu Ash) until formation of the modern lake approximately 600–700 cal. years ago or soon after, as indicated by the presence of Tephra-1, identified in part as Kaharoa Tephra (AD 1314), near the top of the core. The modern lake originated possibly through damming of the western outlet as a consequence of accelerated erosion accompanying earliest Polynesian deforestation, an interpretation supported by Maori oral tradition.
The pollen record indicates that beech Nothofagus (presumably N. truncata) was much more common in Northland during the Last Glacial, and that for this region the relative abundance of Nothofagus vs. Agathis pollen serves as a better indicator of cooler versus warmer intervals during the Quaternary than the ratio of tree to non-tree pollen. However, it seems likely that moisture balance was a more critical factor than temperature in vegetation composition and distribution, particularly during the LGM, and the long periods of hiatus may also be linked to a drier climate than present. Correlation coefficients between the pollen curves confirm that several tree species (Halocarpus bidwillii, H. biformis and Phyllocladus alpinus), previously palynologically concealed within generic taxonomic groups, occurred about two degrees latitude further north and at a much lower altitude than their current limits during cooler or drier phases of the Last Glacial. A temperature depression in Northland of 4 °C at various times during the Last Glacial is inferred from these range expansions. Nevertheless, the persistence of widespread forest cover suggests that the late Pleistocene climate of Northland was less severe than for most of the rest of New Zealand and strengthens the argument for a heightened temperature gradient across northern New Zealand during the Last Glacial.

text: A discontinuous ca. 80 ka record of Late Quaternary environmental change from Lake Omapere, Northland, New Zealand We present an integrated record of environmental change from Lake Omapere, Northland, New Zealand, based on palaeolimnological analysis of a 7-m-long core and eight adjunct cores spanning part of the last 80 calendar (cal.) ka. The chronology was developed using tephrochronology, palaeomagnetism and radiocarbon dating together with climato- and palyno-stratigraphy. Two of 14 tephra layers in the cores provide markers for correlating the record with other New Zealand climato-stratigraphic sequences, deep-sea cores and the global marine isotope record. Pollen, diatom, palaeomagnetic, sedimentologic and pigment analyses show that Lake Omapere, currently 2 m deep, has had a discontinuous history. Occupying a shallow basin perched partly within old basalt lavas, the initial (alkaline) lake formed towards the end of MIS 5a at ca. 80 cal. ka, presumably because of blockage of local drainage of a swampy alluvial floodplain, inundating peat deposits and forest trees, including kauri (Agathis australis). The lake filled rapidly to a level 1–2 m above that at present. Such filling was probably unrelated to climate but a subsequent phase of variable but generally falling lake levels and increasing dystrophy may have been climatically controlled, commencing during MIS 4 and culminating in periods early in MIS 3 when the lake became swampy or dry. Conditions of non-deposition (or non-preservation) obtained for most of the period after ca. 55 cal. ka (Rotoehu Ash) until formation of the modern lake approximately 600–700 cal. years ago or soon after, as indicated by the presence of Tephra-1, identified in part as Kaharoa Tephra (AD 1314), near the top of the core. The modern lake originated possibly through damming of the western outlet as a consequence of accelerated erosion accompanying earliest Polynesian deforestation, an interpretation supported by Maori oral tradition.
The pollen record indicates that beech Nothofagus (presumably N. truncata) was much more common in Northland during the Last Glacial, and that for this region the relative abundance of Nothofagus vs. Agathis pollen serves as a better indicator of cooler versus warmer intervals during the Quaternary than the ratio of tree to non-tree pollen. However, it seems likely that moisture balance was a more critical factor than temperature in vegetation composition and distribution, particularly during the LGM, and the long periods of hiatus may also be linked to a drier climate than present. Correlation coefficients between the pollen curves confirm that several tree species (Halocarpus bidwillii, H. biformis and Phyllocladus alpinus), previously palynologically concealed within generic taxonomic groups, occurred about two degrees latitude further north and at a much lower altitude than their current limits during cooler or drier phases of the Last Glacial. A temperature depression in Northland of 4 °C at various times during the Last Glacial is inferred from these range expansions. Nevertheless, the persistence of widespread forest cover suggests that the late Pleistocene climate of Northland was less severe than for most of the rest of New Zealand and strengthens the argument for a heightened temperature gradient across northern New Zealand during the Last Glacial.

year: 2004

title: Negotiating Discursive Constructions of Belly Dancing in New Zealand and Australian Dance Communities

authors: Cowper, Marion

subjects: belly dance

abstract: The belly dancing subject is contained within dominant historical, Orientalist and essentialist discourses. An existing body of literature examines the belly dancer as ‘subject of’ and ‘subject to’ social and gendered discourses within social contexts. However, the literature has failed to address the question of relationships between three spheres of meaning in belly dancing, these being 1) the social sphere and discourses of the social world; 2) the individual and personal sphere; and 3) the spiritual and inspirational sphere. Nor have previous studies examined how effectively women are able to articulate their experiences of these relationships within the available discourses. This research covers new academic ground by taking a more holistic approach to the exploration of experiences of the dance. An investigation into the meanings and relationships that 26 women from New Zealand and Australia attached to their experiences of belly dancing required the use of a combined theoretical paradigm to provide greater scope for the consideration of individual experiences of belly dancing. Therefore I developed a Poststructuralist, phenomenological and hermeneutical theoretical paradigm which allowed for examination of subjective experiences and consideration of the meanings that individual subjects may make of those experiences. As the women began to describe their experiences of belly dancing, dominant themes emerged relating to women’s perceptions of belly dancing, their experience of belly dancing in performance, their embodiment of belly dancing, and their resistance to the dominant discursive constructions. Analysis of the interview material indicates that these women situated themselves ‘within’ the experience of belly dancing and many offered novel descriptions of those experiences, defining an emerging personal sphere as distinct from the established discursively constructed understandings available within the public sphere. Participants’ literal explanations of their own experiences often included faltering or tentative attempts at articulating their experiences, and frequently gave way to spiritual and inspiration meanings and descriptions of altered states of awareness. These results may suggest that the established dominant discourses within the wider social sphere were insufficient in terms of providing terms and concepts with which dancers could adequately express their feelings, understandings, sensations and experiences. Furthermore, the women’s novel descriptions reveal previously unexplored spiritual and inspirational meanings and relationships to their experiences of this dance form, indicating an emerging spiritual or inspirational sphere. This research thus provides an opportunity for the discovery of new understandings of women’s experiences, as women who belly dance.

text: Negotiating Discursive Constructions of Belly Dancing in New Zealand and Australian Dance Communities The belly dancing subject is contained within dominant historical, Orientalist and essentialist discourses. An existing body of literature examines the belly dancer as ‘subject of’ and ‘subject to’ social and gendered discourses within social contexts. However, the literature has failed to address the question of relationships between three spheres of meaning in belly dancing, these being 1) the social sphere and discourses of the social world; 2) the individual and personal sphere; and 3) the spiritual and inspirational sphere. Nor have previous studies examined how effectively women are able to articulate their experiences of these relationships within the available discourses. This research covers new academic ground by taking a more holistic approach to the exploration of experiences of the dance. An investigation into the meanings and relationships that 26 women from New Zealand and Australia attached to their experiences of belly dancing required the use of a combined theoretical paradigm to provide greater scope for the consideration of individual experiences of belly dancing. Therefore I developed a Poststructuralist, phenomenological and hermeneutical theoretical paradigm which allowed for examination of subjective experiences and consideration of the meanings that individual subjects may make of those experiences. As the women began to describe their experiences of belly dancing, dominant themes emerged relating to women’s perceptions of belly dancing, their experience of belly dancing in performance, their embodiment of belly dancing, and their resistance to the dominant discursive constructions. Analysis of the interview material indicates that these women situated themselves ‘within’ the experience of belly dancing and many offered novel descriptions of those experiences, defining an emerging personal sphere as distinct from the established discursively constructed understandings available within the public sphere. Participants’ literal explanations of their own experiences often included faltering or tentative attempts at articulating their experiences, and frequently gave way to spiritual and inspiration meanings and descriptions of altered states of awareness. These results may suggest that the established dominant discourses within the wider social sphere were insufficient in terms of providing terms and concepts with which dancers could adequately express their feelings, understandings, sensations and experiences. Furthermore, the women’s novel descriptions reveal previously unexplored spiritual and inspirational meanings and relationships to their experiences of this dance form, indicating an emerging spiritual or inspirational sphere. This research thus provides an opportunity for the discovery of new understandings of women’s experiences, as women who belly dance.

year: 2011