In this episode, I had the great pleasure of chatting with outdoor education ‘guru’ Bob Henderson. As an experienced educator, guide and writer, Bob exudes wisdom when discussing of ways being with people outdoors. Through this conversation Bob and I find many not-so-surprising connections between my own experience as a student and Bob’s experience as an educator, despite Bob never teaching me. We cover everything from adventure narratives to play as cultural defiance to the value of baking cinnamon buns on trip. Running with Bob’s ideas, we reflect on multiple ways of being, the role of relationality while being outdoors, the usefulness (or lack thereof) of hobbies, being in the present, tumbling and fumbling, and the possibility of ‘joy’ conferences in the future. This conversation is full of nuggets of wisdom for nature-based educators everywhere!
Bob disentangles simplicity, complexity, and complication, and demystifies the intentionality of teachable moments,
“Let’s be here together well. Let’s be playful, let’s be joyous, let’s really come to feel the presence of the place we’re in and the presence of each other. Let’s develop high level relationality”
Somethings I still have to look up to properly share and cite include the following:
- Einstein book
- Gattow Taylor book – hidden curriculum
- aldo leopold: culture and landlessness have being synonymous
- Play by dr. stuart brown
- aldo leopold quote: play as cultural defiance
- who needs a worldwind trip when you can take it slow: slow travel movement
- john steinback: people don’t take good trips, good trips take people
- sigmund
Playful Pedagogies 