Portfolio
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Triumph and Disaster
Spoken Word Piece
Written By: Marie Bryce
Dragon Slayer Workshop: Story of Niamh and Oisin
Assiepattle and the Mestre Stoorworm
World Storytelling Day Event
Pro Arts
MSC Dissertation:
The Heron Project: An Evaluation of Urban Solos within Outdoor Environmental Education
Abstract
Practitioners within outdoor environmental education have been compelled to use
local spaces and direct experience through place-based education and experiential
learning. It is suggested that these approaches can lead to pro-environmental action
and a sense of responsibility by developing place attachment to one’s local
environment. These approaches however, face challenges associated with certain
confines of formal education. It has been suggested there is a need for more critical
reflection, experimentation and creativity in diversifying the approaches; this research is in response to this need. Approached from the interpretive paradigm, this research is the creation, analysis and evaluation of what I am terming as the ‘urban solo’. An urban solo is considered a counterpart to the wilderness solo commonly used in outdoor education and more recently outdoor environmental education. The objective of this research was to facilitate the ‘urban solo’ and investigate whether this reflective experience within an urban setting could be incorporated into the practice of outdoor environmental education. Each participant conducted a one hour-long urban solo within the Edinburgh city centre. The research draws from phenomenological and evaluative methodology and uses a cross-case analysis of the semi-structured interviews with eight participants. The themes derived demonstrated a model for ‘experience of place’, similar to current models of experiential learning. The outcomes reflected concepts associated with how individuals develop a sense of place. These outcomes demonstrate that the urban solo could be beneficial to the practice of outdoor environmental educational.
To read more of this dissertation please just
The following photos are from my own personal 6 hour urban solo at the parliament building in Edinburgh.
Ballad for My old Man
(This was inspired by the landscape of Scotland and my desire to share this with my father)
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Bring me to the sea
The waves crashing in
Bring me to the sea
Let the Tide crash upon my feet
Where have you come from and where will you go?
Come have a journey with me.
Open your heart to the land that lay forth
It has a story to read
Those who make their way for the land from sea to sky
Colours unbeknown to others
Lay as a gift to your eyes
I want you to feel what I feel
Want you to see what I see
A place that lives so deep in your soul
A knowing that never leaves
Birds Sing Into the night
Heather Heartland, longing sight
That I long to rest my eyes on again
Mountain peaks, presence be
That of Giants and time
Impressions run deep within me
Written in such a short line
I want you to feel what I feel
Want you to see what I see
A place that lives so deep in your soul
A knowing that never leaves
KNOWING HER
Dedicated to my Mother
She is a lioness
With unwavering strength and tenderness
Her skin is soft like birch bark with lines etched in
Wearing them like scars for defending her kin
She is fierce when she needs to be
Yet the backbone of her community
She loves those who don't even recognize they need it
In return they will become her greatest critic
But she loves them anyways... because they need it
In her time she has been pushed down, bossed round, face to the ground
In the dust that encircles her body she brings one foot flat to the earth
followed by the other
Enraging within her the strenght of her father
Who left her too young.
Through constant calculations,
Expressions and mathematical equations,
Joyous moments and that of devastation she stands
It has been said that we are the hardest on those we love the most
The emotional punches we continue to throw
And the invisible bruises that somehow still show
A Child's Journey
Written By Marie Bryce
Inspired By Shel Silverstein
Dear child, dear child look where we stand,
Where one journey begins and another will end
What is it dear child that you will take away
Well that’s not up to me, I can’t really say
Perhaps a conversation for another day
But I can speak to my time, the time I spent with you
For all one could learn from you dear child, what I learned to be true
Those who often challenge us are those prepared to lead
With inner strength to reach out their hand to those who are in need
For the one who took the courage to hold their head up high
When in the face of their own fears, it’s their fears they would deny
The quiet voice and humble smile that warms the cloudy day
The excitement and anticipation of what it is you’ll say
The kindness and the curiosity of questions that are unending
The appreciation of friendships and the time that you are spending
The rougher waters where tears would fall in fill up the raging sea
May be a part of your journey dear child, but in strength you did not flee
Your strength and dedication when you found something you love
To follow through and reach that goal, that is what dreams are made of
Your creative mind and thoughts dance across the field of green
Imagination is a superpower that often goes unseen
The possibilities are endless of what it is you can
Building and creating with your very two own hands
Wind whirls across the paper airplane as it brings about delight
Swooping, diving, turning and thriving as your airplane takes its flight
This journey is yours, but not yours alone as others will be there
To love and cry, say hello and goodbye and show they really care
Dear child you grew and you will grow some more
So out into the world you shall go and explore
You’ll have moments of beauty you’ll learn to embrace
I cannot pretend to predict the challenges you will face
What I do know for certain, I know it to be true
That you have something special, hidden inside you
You take the strength from moments and from people of in your life
And onward you go charging forth into the darkness of night
But you dear child are the star that brings about new light
