What said the way? (Qué dice el camino?) Broadening the concept of education through experiences in opposing ontologies while walking to Santiago

Abstract

This paper asks the question, is the state of being experienced on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela – «Camino-being» – related to or in some ways compatible with an Indigenous/Autochthonous state of being? At first glance, the two states might appear to share a connection through their focus on the natural environment: the relatively wild spaces of certain arcs of the Camino would certainly seem to link this kind of journey with the ecologically-oriented state of being of Indigeneity/Authochthony. Connection with the natural world is a significant aspect of the pilgrimage for many on the Camino, who perceive that without this spiritual progress could not have occurred. This study uses a hermeneutic approach to investigate these ideas as encountered in pilgrimage on the Camino. The central question also leads to some related, and more directly educational ones: Despite the apparent or actual relatedness, does the circumstance of being in wild places influence the learning that occurs therein, and how might a consideration around such learning influence educational practice?