Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
School of Education
Document Type
Dissertation
Abstract
Literacy has emerged as a nationwide topic of discussion and debate after literacy rates plummeted in 2020, following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated school closures. The Covid-19 pandemic is also credited with social emotional challenges in schools, including students’ motivation and ability to cope with stress. Physical spaces worldwide are simultaneously facing serious challenges such as coastal land loss, extreme drought, and seasonal flooding, placing whole communities at risk. This longitudinal autoethnographic case study investigates the experiences of seventeen middle school students in a rural public school in Southeast Louisiana who attended a three-day residential environmental education program in 2020 which was the catalyst for literacy and nature place-based learning from 2020-2021. This study, aligned to a postmodern theoretical perspective, depicts the individual literacy and nature place-based learning experiences of these seventeen students living and progressing through the Covid-19 pandemic into high school. Students uniquely contextualized and perceived the benefits from their entangled literacy practices and nature place-based experiences including improved academic outcomes, positive relationships with peers and other members of the community, responsible environmental actions, and individual identity development. Through literacy and nature place-based learning experiences in middle school these students were moved to take on increasingly independent actions to care for our changing planet and their rural community. The findings from this study contribute to scholarship on adolescent identity development, as well as effective education and literacy pedagogy. The study also informs educational leadership about opportunities to partner with nonformal educators to the benefit of teachers and students in rural, suburban, and urban settings.
Date
10-27-2023
Recommended Citation
McMillan, Alvera H., "The Intersection of Literacy and Nature Place-Based Learning: An Autoethnographic Case Study in A Rural Middle School" (2023). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 6272.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/6272
Committee Chair
Sulentic Dowell, Margaret-Mary
Included in
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Language and Literacy Education Commons, Outdoor Education Commons