Choosing off-trail as an educational practice: a collective praise of the “bartasse”
Éditions Cafard and FRENE have published the book “Eloge de la bartasse – Off-road as an educational practice”, a collective work which highlights the importance of thinking outside the box in education. Bartasse is a practice inspired by the maquis, which encourages daring exploration of nature, far from marked paths. By planting trees, educators and learners develop their motor skills, their imagination, and strengthen their connection with living things. In this book, free in its digital version, the authors share experiences and reflections accumulated over several years of field practice.
Immerse yourself in nature Illustration: Cassandre Faugeroux
Hosted by The ASHthe Dynamic Get out! since 2008 has brought together actors from environmental education, national education, popular education and activities outdoor activities wishing to promote education in nature, for all, at all times life long.
Off-trail not only promotes autonomy and emancipation, but also allows for better understanding of risks and collective learning.
« The bartasse is an expression and practice of the maquis. It aims to get out of the way without fear to cross bushes and brushwood.
Bartasser means taking a step aside, going into forests, going on an adventure,… to always come back a little more alive..
But what are the bartasse’s educational interests? Under what conditions should you go off the trail with a group? In the middle of the forest or across fields, we found material to develop motor skills, attention, imagination and our connection to life ; promote autonomy and emancipation ; understand risks and learn to operate collectively.
In the above-ground era, we are looking for ways to reach the ground. The bartasse appeared to us as an educational avenue to open up. We have been surveying it for several years with Dynamique Sortir and, through this work, we share our experiences and reflections with you. This collective writing promotes off-trail as an educational approach. It invites you to leave the established paths. »
Download the book in PDF or Order the paper version
Additional information:
Publication date: September 1, 2024
Editor: Editions Cafard and FRENE
Illustrations : Cassandra FAUGEROUX
Name of pages: 92
ISBN : 978-2-490003-12-9
Dimensions : 14,8 × 21 × 0,5 cm
Do collective Illustration: Cassandre Faugeroux
This collective writing project was initiated at the national Sortir meetings in January 2019 in the Pyrénées-Orientales, stimulated by a field trip on the theme of off-trail. Several writing workshops, exchanges and nature immersions were then held at the following Sortir meetings, in Vendée, Ardèche and Luberon, supplemented by remote working and two educational residencies in Corrèze and Vendée.
I never liked rows and clear paths. At the edge of the woods, there are different types of paths: with some, you go into nature; with others, we go into the forest. On some, we carry our audience around like a vase that we fill; on others, we carry them around like a spring that we let flow. You can enter the forest as a tourist, a traveler, a poet, a tracker, with all kinds of projects. But on the way, the best thing is to get lost, because you never go as far as when you don’t know where you are going. When we get lost, plans give way to surprises and that’s when the fun begins. It opened up a new relationship to the world for me. I found there a breeding ground of fertile emotions for action, expression and cooperation. Bringing life into contact with life, taking root in this outside world, inspiring it, being inspired by it, expressing it together and seeing how far the young shoots spread. My most beautiful moments are when we are together in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of nowhere, but in the center of everything, in a state of “wandering”. Feeling them at home, knowing that they no longer need me to go to the forest, that part of their childhood lives here, connected to the most real thing in life.
Although they are essential, the collective has chosen not to address regulatory issues and respect for natural environments. Far from encouraging everyone to practice off-trail everywhere, all the time and no matter how, this document concerns those who know how to be wary of “too much” in nature immersion (cold, hot, difficult) and its consequences. counterproductive effects on people.
Adventure proposals never compromise on physical, moral and emotional security.
This work is also aimed at those who measure the potential impacts of our educational practices on ecosystems. : nesting periods for raptors, constraints on property rights, regulation of hiking activities and protected areas, sensitivity of peat bogs, eroded slopes, overly frequented sites, dunes, streams or marshes.
When you decide to go off-trail, it’s a matter of dosing, adapting, finding out, knowing who you’re taking and why, limiting the size of groups, avoiding certain routes and sensitive periods…
But, according to the collective, it is inaccurate to state absolutely “that an off-trail walk damages nature”. The environmental impact of off-trail progression, prepared, supervised, occasional and in small groups in the scrub or in the forest is minimal. We may disturb a few animals but the important thing is to measure the risks, weigh them against the expected benefits and make your choices.
Being convinced of the value of off-trail adventures, immersion in poorly developed environments, gives us the opportunity to bond more intimately with non-humans.
This opens up educational possibilities that allow us to act on our relationship with life, our abilities to take risks, to act collectively and to emancipate ourselves, that is to say, to respond to some fundamental needs of individuals and societies.
Of course, nature education also accomplishes this on trails, in streets and schoolyards. No need to fuss to educate about the environment! For some, walking in the open air on country paths is already something exceptional, a source of great adventure,… and getting into the brambles is not always a panacea.
The limits of the bartasse are numerous but, having opted for praise, the work will not dwell on it. The intention of the authors is not to denigrate the path, by affirming that the bartasse “is more and better! » Off-trail is more of an option available to us and that we can explore from time to time.when with this group and at this moment, it seems relevant.
