2.1 I ntrod u ctio n
The d i scussi on i n this cha pte r i s centred o n how those who have ru n geog ra p h ical fiel dtri ps i n New Zea l a nd were enco u raged to refl ect on their own p ra ctices, a s a way of construct i ng knowledge about the p ra ctice of fie ldtri ps to find a nswe rs to the key q u estio n s :
• W hy a re fieldtri ps used i n geogra p hy?
• H ow d o fiel dtri p s fit with the theoreti cal u nd ersta n d i n g s of the geog ra p hers who ru n the m ?
• W h at do geogra p h ers ho pe to a c h ieve in pedagog ica l by p ractisi n g fie ldtrips?
As the a p p roach ch ose n to el ucidate these mea n ings is ba sed a ro u nd a h u ma n i st e p i ste mology, further i nformed by existentia l phenom e n ology, Sectio n 2 . 2 considers how h u m a n i st g eog ra p hers h ave constructed
know ledg e . This is fol l owed in Section 2 . 3 by a m o re genera l d i scussion of the methods used by geographers w h o use g rou nded a pproaches to b u i l d u ndersta n d i n gs. I m p l i cations for the cu rre nt study a re noted . Secti ons 2 . 4 a nd 2 . 5 exa m i ne i n m o re deta il sou rces a nd methods used i n this resea rch . I n Section 2 . 4 the contri b ution of textua l materi a l i s considered a nd i n Secti on 2 . 5 the way i n w h ich the ora l i nfo rmation was obta i ned i s d i scussed . I n the fol l ow i ng sectio n a n exa m i nation is m ade of the method s of a na lysis and the w a y s i n w h ich m e a n i n g s a bout the p ra ctice of fiel dtri ps were
d iscerned using the g ro u n ded resea rch methodology. Fina l ly, i n Secti on 2 . 7 , a sum m a ry i s g iven of t h e metho d s used i n t h i s thesis a nd of h o w these l i n k back t o a p proaches t o t h e i r resea rch ta ken b y oth e r geogra p hers .
2 . 2 H u m a n istic methodolog i es
H u m a ni st geog ra phers have sought to b u i l d u p knowledge by con sciously ta ki n g m a ny s m a l l pieces of evide nce a nd g ro u ping these tog ether to d iscover mea n i n g , focu sing a l l the time on h u m a n co n structs . Know ledge is fu rther form u l ated by con s ideri ng these pieces of evid e n ce i n the context of w i d e r eve nts a n d o bjects that have become con structs to those i nfl uenced by t hese na rratives. H u ma n i st a pp roaches suggest that everyt h i n g that we k n ow comes from o u r ow n consciousness. An a ssociated p h i l oso p h ical a p p roach the ce ntra l te net of w h ich is the h u m a n su bj e ct's being in the world is ex istentia l i s m . Existential ists bel ieve that the way in w h i c h i n d ivid uals create themselves is b y bui l d i n g u p knowledge fro m t h e i r own existence, from the facets of their own l ives. These ca n be m i n ute a n d p a rticu l a r facts from peopl e's l ives . I t i s o n l y b y con sideri ng these i n a conscious way that ideas ca n be form u lated a bout one's ex istence . Various aspects of these a pp roa ches fo rm the basis for this study on the pra ctice of fieldtri ps.
B utti mer used a g rou nded a p p roach i n her h u m a nist work, The Practice of Geography ( Butti mer, 1 9 8 3 a ) . S he model led her work o n the sto ry tel l i ng of h e r own fa m i ly i n I re l a nd a nd sto ries of La pl a nd . Her a p proach i n cl u d ed d i a logue a n d di scussions with notable geogra p hers, w h o reflected o n their ow n backg ro u n d a n d how this had i nfo rm ed the i r ow n practice of
g e og ra p hy, how they had demonstrated this i n their w riti n g s, the courses t h ey had ta u g ht, a n d the steps in the i r career path . B utti mer i ntended to 'evoke a pp reciation for the u n i q ue ness of each person a s well a s the d iverse stra n d s of s i m i l a rity a n d context which make geogra p h y a com p l ex a nd exciting venture ' ( Butti m e r, 1 9 8 3 a , 2 3 ) .
Butti mer ex peri me nted with i n -depth biogra p h ical a ccou nts by the
g eogra p hers, refl ect i ng o n their own l ives, a n d ca reers, to esta b l i s h a story of their p ra ctice of geog ra p hy . Worki n g with H agerstra n d , the Swedish g eogra p her w h ose work o n d i ffu sion a nd time geog ra p hy a re his m ost fa m o u s contri butions to the a cademy of k nowledge i n geography, B uttimer
tried to construct a ' com m o n denomi nator' among the a uthors, by i m posi ng a way of m a k i ng sense of the voice s . 1 E n m eshing the a ccou nts, she
con structed the three-fo l d s h ift i ng nets of mea n i ng , m i l ie u , a nd m eta p hor to p rovide co m mo n denom i n ators betwee n t h e geogra p hers w h o took pa rt in their study . E m p loyi ng a g ro u n ded a p p roa c h , using the co n cepts that thei r p a rticipa nts revealed, they were a b le to b u i l d up knowledge of w hat their val ues a n d bel iefs about the p ractice of geogra p hy were by review i ng m e m ories, t h rough work i n g w ith Butti mer a n d H agerstra n d .
T u a n , now Professor Eme ritu s a t the U n ive rsity of Wisco n s i n - M adiso n , considered t h a t a h u m a n istic geog ra p h e r m u st have l i n g uistic ski l ls a nd b e a w a re of n u a n ces of l a n g u a g e a nd t h e a m biguous mea n i n g of key w ord s, so that m e a n i n g s ca n be u nd e rstood . A pro b i n g a pproach , that pen etrates i nto the u nsaid, a n d the spoke n , i s req u i red (Tu a n, 1 97 6 ) . For a h u m a n ist to a cq u i re u n d e rsta ndings, a n d e n h a nce the k nowledge b a se, he or she m u st i nterpret h u m a n experie n ce i n its ' a m bi g uity, a m bivale nce a n d com pl exity' (Tu a n , 1 976 ) . Tuan used h i s own u n dersta n d i n g s of rea d i n g s a n d
knowledge t h a t he h a d a m a ssed over h i s years a s a sch olar a n d took a p h i l osophica l a p p roach to construction of the meaning of pl ace for peopl e . This formed the focus of t h e vol u me Topophilia ( 1 9 74 ) . Althoug h Tua n 's work lacked a n e m pirica l a p proach that i ncl ud ed partici p a nts, w hich was the h a l l m a rk of some of Butti m e r's work, it was steeped in fra g me nts of
evidence col l a ted from Tua n 's ow n experiences, which he u sed to com pile h is own mea n i n g of place .
To o bta i n suffi cient depth i n penetrating the worlds of the partici pa nts, i t is necessa ry to d e lve deep i nto their own l ives (B uttimer, 1 9 7 6 ) . Butti m e r views experie n ce a s a fl uid conti n u u m w h ic h ca n not to be separated i nto sectio n s . To penetrate a person's psyche t h e researcher m u st work closely with the pers o n a nd , by l i ste n i ng to his or her life story, the researcher will hear of experie n ces, a nd h o pes, a nd fears. To d o this a d i alog u e i s created w here the stories u nfol d . As the a i m in h u m a nism is for u nd ersta n d i n g , rather t h a n p rediction, t h e a b il ity t o liste n to peop le's stories i s i m pe rative, if a wholeness i s to be ach ieved ( Buttimer, 1 9 78 ) . Acco rd i n g to B utti m e r ( 1 98 3 a ) situations need to be created , w here pa rtici pants ca n reflect o n the
sig n ifica n ce of p l a ces, people, networks, events, a nd ge nera l i ntel lectua l m i l i e ux for t h e i r own c reative work . Buttimer ach ieved this i n her own work w here she bro u g ht a n u m ber of geogra p hers tog ether as part of her study i n the practice of geography a n d they reflected collective ly o n their own backgro u nd thro u g h m e m ories and tol d stories of na rratives in their l ives to e l u ci date their views a nd v a l ues ( B utti mer, 1 993 ) . Others prod u ced
a uto biogra p h i ca l essays after receiving w ritten comme nts fro m stude nts w ho had viewed i nterv iews that they had had with Anne Butt i m e r, a n d w h i c h had bee n videotaped a n d played t o g roups of students.
Contem p lation was e n coura ged i n these p ractices by a l lowing the parti cipa nts time to refl ect o n their l ives i n relation to geog ra p h y .
Ley a nd Sa m uels ( 1 9 7 8 ) take a s i m i l a r view that the approa ch m u st be i n c l u sive a n d al low time for contem plati o n . It m u st use a method that m a i nta i n s the ri ch ness a n d variety of experience . There should be cha nces for reflectio n , a n d i nterpretatio n , a nd u ndersta n d i ng . Although Ley a n d S a m uels ( 1 9 7 8 ) e m p hasise the u se o f ri ch i nterv iews, they a l so ta l k of i ncl u d i n g a va ri ety of sources, such a s a rchival materia l , l ite ra ry works, govern menta l , and o rga ni sati o n a l documents, a n d even statistical data , as fu rther i nform i n g m ateri a l g l eaned from i nterviews . This e n riches the study of the m i l ieux of the p a rticipa nts. Rowles ( 1 9 78a ) p rovides o ne of the fu l l est early acco u nts p u b l i s h ed in h u m a n i st geogra p h y . He u ndertook i n -depth researc h with a sm a l l g ro u p of eld erly people in the U n ited States of
America , i m m ersing h i m self i n their l ifeworl ds for three yea rs, d u ri ng w h ich ti m e two of the five e lderly people that had worked with h i m , d i ed . Row les u sed a g ro u nded a p proa ch a n d ide ntified, from h is work with t h e eld erly people, fo u r a spects of their life : ' acti on', ' o rie ntation', 'feel i ng ', and
'fa ntasy'. H e u sed a ud iota pes i n h i s conversati ons w ith these people. These were con versatio ns, not i nterviews, a nd were u nstructured . Rowles fou n d t h a t t h e t a p e s were n ot t o b e i ntrusive i n the d ia log ues t h a t he had with the eld erly participa nts in his study a nd they were effective in a l lowing materi a l t o b e ex a m i ned ca refu l l y at a later d a t e . Rowles felt that t o record
i nformation from m e m ory after a n i nterview w a s a poor substitute, as m ateri a l co u l d be forgotte n .
H a rvey Perki n s ( 1 9 88a ) used a va riety of a pp roaches i n h i s h u m a n i stic work on resi dents' pe rce ptions of growth i n their a rea, a neig h b o u rhood i n
America . He carried out 1 7 i ntensive i nterviews with resi d e nts a n d u sed docu m e nta ry evi d e n ce so that he as a resea rcher could become fa m i l ia r with t h e environ m e nt i n which he w a s work i n g , since t h i s w a s not o n e i n w hich he h a d l ived before the research stu d y was underta k e n . He co u l d co n stru ct u n d e rsta n dings of u nfa m i l ia r s u rro u n d ings for h i m self o f using the m i l i e u x of these w ritten sou rces a s well a s con stru cting m e a nings from the na rratives in the lives of respo n d e nts that were discussed in the i nterviews . Such a m ix of textua l and ora l so u rces i s extremely usefu l i n provid i n g the resea rcher with u nd e rsta n d i n g s as pa rticipa nts constru ct their own
mea n i ngs out of n a rratives in t h e i r lives and i n fl ue nces fro m their m i l i eux . Th is i s pa rticu l a rly u sefu l when the researcher is worki n g i n a n a rea, be this