Lowan-Trudeau, GregoryBrown, Sarah Elizabeth2021-01-152021-01-152021-01Brown, S. E. (2021). Transformational Approaches to Cultivating Environmental and Cultural Reconciliation Through Post-Secondary Field Schools (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.http://hdl.handle.net/1880/112975This research study explored socially engaged transformational education through consideration of educational responses to the current challenges and opportunities of cultural and environmental reconciliation. There is an emerging educational phenomenon of post-secondary courses focused on reconciling relationships between Indigenous and Settler Canadians and our collective relationship to the earth. Many of these courses are intercultural, immersive, experiential, Land-based, and transformational in their teaching and learning approach. The theoretical framework that I applied to organize and broaden understanding of this educational phenomenon is that of socially transformative, critical adult education. This theory is informed by critical pedagogy, ecojustice education, and transformational learning theories. These approaches suggested that adult education should provide learners with opportunities to explore and transcend any ideologies imposed upon them. My theoretical framework is also informed by academic explorations of decolonization, Indigenization, and reconciliation. Areas of literature reviewed for this study include adult environmental education, ecojustice education, Indigenous Land education, transformational learning theory, and research on truth and reconciliation and decolonization at the post-secondary level. There are strong common threads that support the synthesis of these fields of study in my doctoral research and dissertation. In order to contribute to a deeper understanding of this emerging educational phenomenon of field courses focused on environmental and cultural reconciliation, I interviewed leading educators who facilitate the field schools, Indigenous cultural advisors that partner with them, and students who took the courses. An overarching reconciliation methodology was developed, informed by narrative and Indigenous methodologies with attendant methods for each. In order to equip citizens with the knowledge, skills, and leadership necessary to address the complex challenges of cultural and environmental reconciliation, post-secondary educators and institutions must become aware of their role in perpetuating the current problems, as well as imagine new possibilities to address them in effective ways. In this way, post-secondary institutions can become healthier ecosystems to nurture the growth of current and upcoming efforts by educators to address the complex challenges of environmental and cultural reconciliation.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.Land-basedField SchoolsReconciliationExperiential educationDecolonizationIndigenizationPost-secondaryTransformational educationEducationdoctoral thesis10.11575/PRISM/38556