Greenlandic seasonal knowledge as outdoor education

Abstract

This master thesis aims to gain insight into outdoor education in Greenland and how seasonal knowledge is implemented through outdoor activities at a Greenlandic folk high school. In the context of globalization and a general mismatch between Greenlandic homes and Danish education systems, it gives rise to the importance of local, traditional practices and their current transformations. The research is carried out as an ethnographic case study conducted in the fall of 2022 and includes field observations and interviews with two teachers from the school. Working inductively, three themes have emerged from the data collection. Framing the findings with the concepts of substantive and scenic understandings of the landscape (Olwig, 2019) and tacit knowledge (Molander, 1992; van Manen, 2008), it is demonstrated how challenging it is for those raised within the traditional hunting culture to explain why nature is used the way it is because using it is implicit and normal.

Further, seasonal activities of picking berries, fishing, and hunting in the local landscape illustrate how nature is used as the seasonal kitchen, using the concepts of Knowledge-Practice-Belief (Berkes, 2018) and sense of place (Raffan, 1993). The seasonal activities are transferred into an outdoor class at a Greenlandic folk high school showing how teachers facilitate a place-based education with the elements of authenticity (Beames & Brown, 2016), correspondence (Sanderud, Gurholt, & Moe, 2021), and enskilment (Prins & Wattchow, 2020). Regarding the context of globalization, the thesis highlights aspects of traditional outdoor practices in Greenland that might stimulate a broader questioning and understanding of outdoor education, human-nature relationships, and sustainability. However, these latter aspects need to be studied further in practice by conducting a more profound and extended ethnographic fieldwork than what the frames of a master thesis allow.

Keywords: Greenland, seasonal knowledge, outdoor education, folk high school, globalization