Doing Cynefin – An examination of how the concept of ‘cynefin’ has ‘potentia’ as a new materialist pedagogical imperative

A consensus in research shows that we are currently living through a climate crisis and a nature crisis and that the two crises are interrelated (Meacham, 2024). Evidence also suggests children are spending less time outdoors contributing to ‘low levels of nature connection’ and that ‘the legacy of childhood time in nature reaches into adulthood’ (Chawla, 2020:.624). In addition, there is an increasing number of voices that argue the ways of knowing and states of being propagated by the dominant pedagogical approaches in mainstream westernised schooling prolong and exacerbate a toxic human-more-than-human (Abram, 1997) relationship (Adams and Gray, 2023; Paulsen et al., 2022). Therefore, it is claimed that radical and innovative
alternatives to the curricular status quo are needed to address the crises the world is currently facing (Paulsen et al. 2022; Jickling et al., 2023). The etymology of the word crisis suggests an opportunity for a turning point (Adams and Gray, 2023). A new curriculum in Wales may give the opportunity for a new course to be run, experienced and lived (Pinar, 2019) that will address the nature and climate crises that currently confront us. One of the key words in the new curriculum is the Welsh word cynefin (Welsh Government, 2022). Cynefin is a mysterious word having no direct English translation and originating from Welsh hill farming where it was used to describe the behaviours and intelligence of sheep (Adams, 2022). This theoretical paper draws on this etymology, research from first- anguage Welsh speaking hill farmers (Adams, 2023, 2022) and theoretical perspectives from contemplative pedagogy (Beauchamp et al., 2022; Ergas, 2019; 2015), new materialism (Barad, 2007; Murris, 2022), and Indigenous worldviews (Navarez et al., 2019) to explore cynefin’s new materialist and contemplative pedagogical entanglements. In doing so, it aims to address the question of how teachers and children might do cynefin in schools and how conceptualizing and enacting cynefin in this way allows for expanded experiences of the more-than-human world. It is argued cynefin involves an ethico-onto-epistemological responsibility (Barad, 2007) that resonates with the fundamental tenets of contemplative pedagogy (Ergas, 2019) and the wisdom of Indigenous cultures. Moreover, it is suggested doing and experiencing cynefin in this way could provide much-needed existential understandings allowing for expanded and enriched human and more-than-human relationships being enacted as part of various curricula and future communities.