Dr David A. G. Clarke
Lecturer in Outdoor and Environmental Education

- Moray House School of Education and Sport, IETL
- University of Edinburgh
Contact details
Address
- Street
-
Moray House School of Education and Sport, TL 2.05
- City
- University of Edinburgh (Holyrood Campus)
- Post code
- EH8 8AQ
Background
I have a broad range of interests related to outdoor and environmental education in both formal and informal learning situations. I am particularly interested in the potential of ontological shifts for producing healthier relationships in the anthropocene.
I am the course organiser for Experiential Education and Social Theory and Outdoor Education, within the MSc Outdoor Education and MSc Outdoor Environmental Sustainability Education, where I also contribute to courses in research methods, praxis, and environmental philosophy, and critical perspectives on personal and social development. I have also contirbuted to the Philosophy of Education pathway in the MSc in Education. Futher to this I contribute to primary and secondary initial teacher education programmes across the School.
I completed my PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2018. Before starting at Moray House I lectured in outdoor studies at the University of the Highlands and Islands, and at Plumpton College, University of Brighton.
I have worked for a number of organisations focusing on outdoor, adventure, and environmental education in both the private and charitable sectors and have led educational overseas youth expeditions to the Nepalese and Indian Himalayas, China, Mongolia, and Borneo.
Qualifications
- PhD Education - University of Edinburgh
- MSc Outdoor Education (with distinction) - University of Edinburgh
- Postgraduate Certificate of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education - University of Brighton
- BA (Hons) Adventure Education - University of Chichester
- Summer Mountain Leader
- Single Pitch climbing instruction
- Level 2 British Canoe Union Coach and 4* Leader (trained)
- Duke of Edinburgh Award Expedition Assessor
Responsibilities & affiliations
Sustainability in Education Research Group
Environmental Sustainability Education Research Development Network
Edinburgh Environmental Humanities Network
Centre for Creative-Relational Inquiry
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Scottish Canoe Association
British Canoeing
Mountain Leader Training England
Undergraduate teaching
PGDE Secondary Outdoor Learning
Postgraduate teaching
- The Philosophy of Education
- Research Methods 1: The Sources of Knowledge
- Research Methods 2: Conceptualising Research
- Social Theory and Outdoor Education
- Outdoor Environmental Education in Practice
- Personal and Social Development in Outdoor Education: Critical Perspectives
- Experiential Education
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Areas of interest for supervision
I view educational research-practice as situated in and necessarily responding to the Anthropocene era. I am hopeful to work with candidates in the following areas:
- Practice, conceptualisation, and methodology related to environmental education and sustainability education
- Creative approaches to education research
- Practitioner inquiry and participatory action research
- Narrative, autobiographical, and autoethnographic inquiry
- Philosophical inquiry
- Alternative ontologies, including feminist new materialisms and posthumanisms
- The work of Gilles Deleuze in relation to education and the act of living
- Research into the methods and methodologies of environmental education research
Current PhD students supervised
Louise Hawxwell - Thesis title: Impact of Early Experiences on Perceptions and Practices of Outdoor Learning in Primary Education Trainees
Research summary
My research interests focus broadly on the blurring of environmental education research-practice, philosophical theory, and life experiences. More specifically I am interested in animism and alternative ontologies; the philosophy of affect in relation to environmental degradation and climate change; immanent ethics and immanent ontology in all areas of education; and creative practices of inquiry for affective encounters, including writing, photography, songwriting, and filmmaking. I am particulalry intersted in the potential of post-autoethnographic or sympoethnographic approaches for taking up these problems, as well as as a conduit for practitioner-world inquiry in the anthropocene more generally.
Current research interests
Current Research Projects: Principles Teaching Award Scheme (PTAS) (2021) (£15k) Keeping the Door Open: Curating, developing and evolving Edinburgh University teaching in spaces and places within the city and beyond Co-Investigator with Beth Christie, Catherine Dunn, Pete Higgins, Robbie Nicol, Heidi SmithKnowledge exchange
- Contributor to Working Group 3 of the UNESCO International Science and Evidence based Education (ISEE) Assessment (2022): https://mgiep.unesco.org/iseeareport
- Guest Editor for Environmental Education Research: https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ceer20/26/9-10?nav=tocList
- I have peer-reviewed for the following publications:
Science Education
Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy
International Journal of STEM Education
History of Education Review
Environmental Education Research
Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning
Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education
Book reviewer for Springer
Book reviewer for Palgrave Macmillan
Affiliated research centres
Research activities
- Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning (Journal)
- Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy (Journal)
- Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning (Journal)
- International journal of STEM education (Journal)
- Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning (Journal)
- History of Education Review (Journal)
- Science Education (Journal)
- Palgrave Macmillan (Publisher)
- Environmental Education Research (Journal) to
- Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning (Journal)
- Environmental Education Research (Journal)
- Springer (Publisher)
- Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning (Journal)
- Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education (Journal)
- Environmental Education Research (Journal)
- Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning (Journal)
- Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning (Journal)
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Learning spaces: built, natural and digital considerations for learning and learners
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Published) -
The wisp of an outline ≈ Storying ontology as environmental inquiry↔education :–)
In:
Australian Journal of Environmental Education
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/aee.2021.31
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Human-nature relationships: Navigating a privileged white landscape
(11 pages)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75980-3_4
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Published) -
The ecology of language: Concept conservation and control in a world of ‘Climate Catastrophe’
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Paper (Published) -
Intimacy as inquiry: Collaborative reading and writing with Deleuze and Guattari
(17 pages)
In:
Cultural Studies - Critical Methodologies
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/15327086211037761
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
A political ecology of ecologies: Walking in Glen Almond with students and immanent ethics
In:
Journal of Autoethnography
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Accepted/In press) -
New materialisms and environmental education: Editorial
(12 pages)
In:
Environmental Education Research, vol. 26, pp. 1255-1265
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2020.1828290
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Editorial (E-pub ahead of print) -
Tensions, knots, and lines of flight: Themes and directions of travel for new materialisms and environmental education
In:
Environmental Education Research, vol. 26, pp. 1231-1254
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2020.1825631
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Particular resonances: A review of Jonathan Wyatt’s Therapy, Stand-Up, and the Gesture of Writing: Towards Creative-Relational Inquiry
(5 pages)
In:
Qualitative Report, pp. 2794-2798
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Book/Film/Article review (Published) -
Post-qualitative research in outdoor studies: A radical (non)methodology
(9 pages)
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Published) -
Ecobiography, posthuman-postnature? Immanent life writing in the Anthropocene.
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Paper (Published) -
Becoming Intimate-Activist Reader-Writers with Deleuze & Guattari
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Paper (Published) -
The diffractive practitioners: Collaborative writing-thinking-doing with students, concepts, and Walney Island
Research output: Contribution to Seminar › Paper (Published) -
Nature matters: Diffracting a keystone concept of environmental education research – just for kicks
(17 pages)
In:
Environmental Education Research, vol. 26, pp. 1509-1526
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2018.1531387
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Educating beyond the cultural and the natural: (Re)Framing the limits of the possible in environmental education
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Published) -
[Review of] Place in research. Theory, methodology, and methods
(4 pages)
In:
Environmental Education Research, pp. 146-149
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2016.1262331
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Book/Film/Article review (Published) -
Becoming Intimate (Readers) with Deleuze & Guattari
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Paper (Published) -
Practising immanence: (Still) Becoming an environmental education academic
(299 pages)
Research output: › Doctoral Thesis (Published) -
Outdoor Learning and the Material Turn: Considering pedagogies of experience, place and sustainability through new materialist philosophy
Research output: Contribution to Seminar › Paper (Published) -
A walk in the park: Considering practice for outdoor environmental education through an immanent take on the material turn
(20 pages)
In:
The Journal of Environmental Education, vol. 46, pp. 230-250
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2015.1069250
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Peer-reviewed Articles
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Clarke, D.A.G. (2022). A political ecology of ecologies: Walking in Glen Almond with students and immanent ethics. Journal of Autoethnography. 2(3), 411-414. Available at: https://online.ucpress.edu/joae/article-abstract/3/3/411/189870/A-Political-Ecology-of-EcologiesWalking-in-Glen?redirectedFrom=PDF
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Jukes, S., Clarke, D. A. G., Mcphie, J. (2021). The wisp of an outline ≈ Storying ontology as environmental inquiry↔education :–). Australian Journal of Environmental Education. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/australian-journal-of-environmental-education/article/wisp-of-an-outline-storying-ontology-as-environmental-inquiryeducation/32474643006B6603E894D39DC8BBBBF6
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Bittinger, R., Clarke, D.A.G., Erb, J., Hauser, H., & Wyatt, J. (2021). Intimacy as Inquiry: Collaborative reading and writing with Deleuze and Guattari. Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies. 21(6), 480-490. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15327086211037761
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Clarke, D.A.G., & Mcphie, J. (2020). Tensions, knots, and lines of flight: Themes and directions of travel for new materialisms and environmental education. Environmental Education Research. 26(9-10). Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504622.2020.1825631
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Clarke, D.A.G., & Mcphie, J. (2020). New materialisms and environmental education: Editorial. Environmental Education Research. 26(9-10). Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504622.2020.1828290
- Mcphie, J., & Clarke, D.A.G. (2018). Nature matters: Diffracting a keystone concept of environmental education research - just for kicks. Environmental Education Research. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504622.2018.1531387
- Clarke, D. A. G., & Mcphie, J. (2016). From places to paths: Learning for sustainability, teacher education and a philosophy of becoming. Environmental Education Research, 22(7), 1002-1024. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13504622.2015.1057554
- Mcphie, J., & Clarke, D. A. G. (2015). A walk in the park: Considering practice for outdoor environmental education through an immanent take on the material turn. The Journal of Environmental Education, 46(4), 230-250. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00958964.2015.1069250
- Clarke, D. A. G., & Mcphie, J. (2014). Becoming animate in education: Immanent materiality and outdoor learning for sustainability. Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning, 14(3), 198-216. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14729679.2014.919866
Edited Books:
- Clarke, D. A. G., & Mcphie, J. (forthcoming). New Materialisms and Environmental Education. Routledge.
Peer-reviewed Book Chapters
- Mcphie, J. & Clarke, D. A. G. (2021). Human-Nature Relationships: Navigating a Privileged White Landscape. in G. Thomas, J. Dyment, and H. Prince Eds. Outdoor Environmental Education in Higher Education: International Perspectives. Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-75980-3_4
- Mcphie, J. & Clarke, D. A. G. (2019). Post-Qualitative Research in Outdoor Studies. In B. Humberstone and H. Prince Eds. Research Methods in Outdoor Studies. Routledge. Available at: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780429199004/chapters/10.4324/9780429199004-18
- Clarke, D. A. G. (2017). Educating beyond the cultural and the natural: (re)framing the limits of the possible in environmental education. In: K. Malone, S. Truong, and T. Gray ed. (2017). Reimagining Sustainability Education in Precarious Times. Springer, London. Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-10-2550-1_21
Peer-reviewed Reports
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Kraftl, P., McKenzie, M., Gulson, K., Accioly, I., Blackmore, J., Burke, C., Perrota, C.., Clarke, D.A.G., Daniels, H., Fregoso Bailon, R.O., Goodyear, V., Goodyear, P., Gunasekara, I., Hartong, S., Hickman Dunne, J., Howard. S., Lupinacci, J., Mcphie, J., Mannion, G., Nxumalo, F., Parnell, R., Pykett, J., Ratuio, P., Sefton Green, J., Selwyn, N., Stovall, D., Southgate, E., Talbert, R., Teelucksingh, C., Tucker, R., Uduku, O., Wilson, A. and Wood, A. (2022). ‘Learning spaces: built, natural and digital considerations for learning and learners’ in Bugden, S. and Borst, G. (eds.) Education and the learning experience in Reimagining education: The International Science and Evidence based Education Assessment [Duraiappah, A.K., Atteveldt, N.M. van et al. (eds.)]. New Delhi: UNESCO MGIEP. Available at: https://d1c337161ud3pr.cloudfront.net/files%2F8469b7d1-c42d-446c-97f5-87775cf28f49_ISEE%20Assessment%20-%20Working%20Group%203.pdf
Articles
- Clarke, D. A. G. (2015). Outdoor learning and the UNESCO ESD agenda: Could we do more? Horizons: Professional development for outdoor practitioners. Issue 71, Autumn, pp.30-31.
- Clarke, D. A. G. (2014) The potential of animism: experiential outdoor education in the ecological education paradigm. Pathways: Ontario Journal of Outdoor Education. 26(2), pp.13-17.
Book Reviews
- Clarke, D. A. G. (2019). Particular Resonances: A Review of Jonathan Wyatt’s Therapy, Stand-Up, and the Gesture of Writing: Towards Creative- Relational Inquiry. The Qualitative Report. 24(11). Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol24/iss11/8/
- Clarke, D. A. G. (2018). Review of the book Place in Research. Theory, Methodology, and Methods, by E. Tuck & M. McKenzie. Environmental Education Research. 24(1). pp.146-149. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504622.2016.1262331?src=recsys
Other publications:
Clarke, D. A. G. (2019). Practising immanence:(still) becoming an environmental education academic. Unpublished PhD Thesis. University of Edinburgh. Available: https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/35533/Clarke2019.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Conference Presentations
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Mcphie, J., Clarke, D. A. G., & Fenton, L. (2021). The Ecology of Language: Concept Conservation and Control in a World of ‘Climate Catastrophe’. RGS-IBG Annual International Conference, Royal Geographical Society, 31st August – 3rd September. London. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP1hiw9Kpi0&t=1s
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Clarke, D. A.G (2019). Ecobiography, posthuman-postnature? Immanent life writing in the Anthropocene. 3rd European Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, University of Edinburgh, 12-14 Feb 2019.
- Bittinger, R., Clarke, D.A.G., Erb, J., Hauser, H., & Wyatt, J. (2019). Becoming Intimate-Activist Reader-Writers with Deleuze & Guattari. 3rd European Congress of Qualitative Inquiry. University of Edinburgh, 12-14 Feb 2019.
- Clarke, D.A.G., & Mcphie, J. (2019). The diffractive practitioners: collaborative writing-thinking-doing with students, concepts, and Walney Island. Environmental Arts Collaboratory hosted by the Biosocial Research Lab. Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK, 22nd January 2019.
- Bittinger, R., Clarke, D.A.G., Erb, J., Hauser, H., & Wyatt, J. (2018). Becoming Intimate (Readers) with Deleuze & Guattari. European Congress of Qualitative Inquiry. Leuven, Belgium, 9th February, 2018.
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Guest Speaker, University of Cambridge – 2-5th August, 2016 – ESER Summer School I: Doctoral studies in environmental and sustainability education: contextualizing the process. European Educational Research Association and Homerton College. August 2nd to August 5th at Homerton College, Cambridge.
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Clarke, D.A.G. (2016). Outdoor Learning and the Material Turn: Considering pedagogies of experience, place and sustainability through new materialist philosophy. Outdoor Environmental Education Research Seminar 2016, Broomlee Outdoor Education Centre, Scottish Borders, 13-15th April, 2016.
- Mcphie, J, & Clarke, D. A. G. (2014) A walk in the park: Considering practice for environmental education through an immanent take on the ‘material turn’. Under Western Skies conference, Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alberta, CA, 9-13 September 2014.
- Clarke, D. A. G. (2014). Outdoor Learning and Education for Sustainable Development: What are the links? Institute for Outdoor Learning South East Regional Conference, Plumpton College, Lewes, East Sussex, 19th November, 2014.
- Clarke, D. A. G (2014) Becoming animate in teacher education: Immanent materialism and Learning for Sustainability. South Downs National Park Student Conference, Midhurst, West Sussex 9th July, 2014