Presentation Information
[U14-03]Engaging youth to address wicked Earth sciences problems using a transdisciplinary, community-engaged approach★Invited Papers
*Sophia W R Tsang1, Emma L Sharp2,3 (1.School of Earth, Atmosphere, & Environment, Monash University, Clayton Victoria, Australia, 2.School of Environment, Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, 3.Te Pūnaha Matatini, Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand)
Keywords:
educational engagement,transdisciplinary,curriculum-informed,youth,Soilsafe Kids
As Earth scientists continue to reveal the extent of the environmental degradation, it is important that solution-oriented discussions do not remain exclusively in the physical science domain. While these discussions often include industry and government stakeholders, affected communities are not always incorporated. While collating the breadth of community voices can be difficult, communities maintain lived knowledge that often does not exist elsewhere. Youth, in particular, are often overlooked, despite potentially being affected by issues longer than their elders. Schools are one location where educational and community engagement can be combined with research to help chart collaborative pathways forward.
One example of a transdisciplinary, joint educational engagement-research program is the Soilsafe Kids (https://soilsafe.auckland.ac.nz/soilsafe-kids) Three-Day Programme, co-developed by social, physical, and health scientists, teachers, and an artist. Soilsafe Kids is a youth-focussed theme of Soilsafe Aotearoa, an citizen-, or, community-science program exploring heavy metal contamination of domestic soils in Aotearoa New Zealand (hereafter Aotearoa) and the general public’s values related to soil. With about a fifth of NZ’s population aged 15 years old or younger1, and our focus in elevating marginalised conceptualisations of soil to recognise and appreciate a diversity of soil knowledge and practice, children’s soil values are vital to include, to foster awareness about and care for soil, individually and collectively both now and into the future.
In line with the Māori (Indigenous people of Aotearoa) concept of ako (teaching and learning), the Three-Day Programme is designed to learn about children’s soil values, while reciprocally sharing knowledge with classrooms about soil from multiple disciplinary perspectives and worldviews. It consists of research that can be conducted via sticker surveys (binary survey questions children can answer with stickers), qualitative surveys that can be answered in written or drawn form, discussion groups, and a co-created science communication project that serves both as an evaluation tool and a wider dissemination tool to spread soil knowledge teachings to the wider school and familial community. The Three Day Programme includes eight workshops which include showcasing soil through: te ao Māori (the Māori worldview); visual arts; health; and, physical science lenses.
Evaluative reflections post-delivery of the Three-Day Programme to nearly 500 students from 16 classes across two regions in Aotearoa provide useful indications of its value. First, Soilsafe Kids’ lessons are aligned with the local (i.e. national) curriculum. This means that these lessons supported and enhanced teachers’ planned lessons covering mandatory skills and topics. This deliberate alignment enabled teachers and their classes to participate in amongst their already crowded teaching schedules, with evidence that the program supplemented their knowledge and sparked ideas for new activities and pedagogies. When developing similar programs, local teachers, working as an advisory board or as part of the scientific project team, can advise on this alignment. Second, soil health is place-based. Drawing attention to its immediate relevance in children’s and their families’ lives is thus important. We connected our teaching to initiatives that helped participants know their residential soil quality, like Soilsafe Aotearoa, which screens for heavy metals in their soil. The results have implications for how people interact with their soil at home, and their understanding of the health of the earth and ultimately themselves. Simultaneously, being able to highlight similar programs around the world can not only pique students’ interests (and facilitate geography learning objectives) but also demonstrate that they are joining a global community already trialling best practices.
1https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/national-population-estimates-at-30-june-2023/
2 https://www.360dustanalysis.com/
One example of a transdisciplinary, joint educational engagement-research program is the Soilsafe Kids (https://soilsafe.auckland.ac.nz/soilsafe-kids) Three-Day Programme, co-developed by social, physical, and health scientists, teachers, and an artist. Soilsafe Kids is a youth-focussed theme of Soilsafe Aotearoa, an citizen-, or, community-science program exploring heavy metal contamination of domestic soils in Aotearoa New Zealand (hereafter Aotearoa) and the general public’s values related to soil. With about a fifth of NZ’s population aged 15 years old or younger1, and our focus in elevating marginalised conceptualisations of soil to recognise and appreciate a diversity of soil knowledge and practice, children’s soil values are vital to include, to foster awareness about and care for soil, individually and collectively both now and into the future.
In line with the Māori (Indigenous people of Aotearoa) concept of ako (teaching and learning), the Three-Day Programme is designed to learn about children’s soil values, while reciprocally sharing knowledge with classrooms about soil from multiple disciplinary perspectives and worldviews. It consists of research that can be conducted via sticker surveys (binary survey questions children can answer with stickers), qualitative surveys that can be answered in written or drawn form, discussion groups, and a co-created science communication project that serves both as an evaluation tool and a wider dissemination tool to spread soil knowledge teachings to the wider school and familial community. The Three Day Programme includes eight workshops which include showcasing soil through: te ao Māori (the Māori worldview); visual arts; health; and, physical science lenses.
Evaluative reflections post-delivery of the Three-Day Programme to nearly 500 students from 16 classes across two regions in Aotearoa provide useful indications of its value. First, Soilsafe Kids’ lessons are aligned with the local (i.e. national) curriculum. This means that these lessons supported and enhanced teachers’ planned lessons covering mandatory skills and topics. This deliberate alignment enabled teachers and their classes to participate in amongst their already crowded teaching schedules, with evidence that the program supplemented their knowledge and sparked ideas for new activities and pedagogies. When developing similar programs, local teachers, working as an advisory board or as part of the scientific project team, can advise on this alignment. Second, soil health is place-based. Drawing attention to its immediate relevance in children’s and their families’ lives is thus important. We connected our teaching to initiatives that helped participants know their residential soil quality, like Soilsafe Aotearoa, which screens for heavy metals in their soil. The results have implications for how people interact with their soil at home, and their understanding of the health of the earth and ultimately themselves. Simultaneously, being able to highlight similar programs around the world can not only pique students’ interests (and facilitate geography learning objectives) but also demonstrate that they are joining a global community already trialling best practices.
1https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/national-population-estimates-at-30-june-2023/
2 https://www.360dustanalysis.com/