ABSTRACT
This Chapter centres on a narrative-inspired pedagogy called Hoodwinked that was designed by Ron Tooth and his colleagues at Pullenvale Environmental Education Centre (PEEC). The narrative is situated locally at Pullen Pullen Creek and involves characters and events based on actual historical records. The protagonists are bush kids who played and explored along Pullen Pullen Creek over a century ago. The bush kids of the 19th century were based on reminisces shared with Ron Tooth by an elderly local resident, John Bird, whose parents had lived in Pullenvale in the late 19th century. In dramatizing and reliving the story based on the actual lives of these children, students become “modern day bush kids” with privileged knowledge that is crucial to the eventual resolution of the tensions and conflicts within the story. The narrative dilemma centres on habitat loss at Pullen Pullen Creek and extinction of bird species as the result of illegal trapping and killing of birds for their feathers, which were exported to Europe in the late 19th century for the fashion industry. Students enter imaginatively into the story through dramatic role-play. Their task within the drama is to travel through time to protect the birds from the smugglers by influencing the thoughts and actions of the teacher who owns the land where the birds are being trapped. The historical authenticity of the story is highly motivating for students. When they know that the original bush kids actually played and explored along Pullen Pullen Creek where they are walking, their interest and engagement intensifies. Authentic artefacts from the 19th century allow students to materially experience the way of life of the original bush kids. A fortuitous donation to Ron Tooth of two boxes of preserved rare rainforest birds (largely extinct in the Pullenvale area now) provides compelling evidence of the destructive effects of trapping and killing local birds. The boxes are exquisite pieces of Victorian decoration, yet in the story they are a powerful visual reminder of species loss and habitat destruction by humans.
