Common Worlds Justice in Post-Anthropocentric Education: Attuning to the More-Than-Human through Walking with Sound and Smell

Abstract

ABSTRACT Onrushing ecological precarity and collapse disproportionately affects particular humans and their common worlds. This article proposes that in the face of the myriad crises the Earth is experiencing, and the uneven distribution of their effects, extending conceptions of justice in education beyond the human is crucial. This, however, requires honing the ability to notice and attune to the common worlds we inhabit. Drawing on research which deployed a “walking with” methodology with young children in a national park, this article considers the potential of listening in multiple registers as a move toward common worlds justice in post-anthropocentric education. Possibilities for thinking with the registers of sound and smell are put forward for researchers and educators working with young children. The article concludes with a speculative vignette that offers pedagogical openings which make room for common worlds justice.