Author Information
Takamitsu Mamashita, University of British Columbia, CanadaDerek Gladwin, University of British Columbia, Canada
Abstract
This praxis-based paper explores the concept of attending as a philosophical and pedagogical orientation that reimagines learning amid ecological and societal transformation. Derived from the Latin attendere (“to stretch toward”), attending evokes an ecological sensibility rooted in presence, care, and ethical responsiveness to the more-than-human world. Rather than extracting knowledge, it invites learners to be-with, heed, and accompany. In response to growing ecological crises and a dominant culture of objectifying nature, attending “stretches toward” relational, embodied, and practice-based learning.
A key question in outdoor education, for instance, is how to shift from an individual “I” to a collective “we” that mirrors ecological interdependence. Drawing on Japanese philosophy and Zen-informed perspectives, the paper also considers “negative education” – an unlearning of ego-centred assumptions – as a pathway to deeper awareness and kinship of attending with the more-than-human. To attend is to turn inward, paying attention to the "self" and its entanglements.
This reorientation challenges dominant Western educational models by transforming from an ego-centred “self” to a relational “our-self.” To explore how this relational self emerges, the paper considers three Japanese-inspired teaching examples that embody attending:
1. Shinrin-yoku (forest bathing), nurturing presence through immersion in nature
2. Suikinkutsu-inspired listening practice that attunes to subtle more-than-human voices
3. Kintsugi reflection, which embraces personal and ecological brokenness as part of relational repair and co-flourishing
Together, these pedagogical practices offer a framework for sustainability education grounded in humility, reciprocity, and shared responsibility within a living world.
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