Last Friday I was able to attend B.C’s C2C Conference which was focused on outdoor and place-based learning. I found this experience very insightful because it is one of my goals to get outside to further my student’s learning within their various subjects. Given the theme of land and place, I was able to attend many different sessions which both provided me with knowledge and resources of how to implement these values in my classroom. One of the goals of this post will be to expand and share some of those insights or sources with my readers to help further this learning.
One of the sessions that I was able to attend was centered around place-based learning and finding pedagogy in place here where I am currently in School District 57. In this session, Vanessa Elton explained that during our current climate of environmental distress, it is important to work together in courage to strive for peace and ecological justice. Recently, I had the privilege to read a chapter by Dwayne Donald (2019) in Indigenous Education which elaborates on how education can play a huge part in changing our economic perspectives ingrained into curriculum. In this chapter, he states that too often society’s values of capitalism and consumerism are integrated into our educational institutions (Donald, 2019). Due to this perspective, students are better prepared for participating in this cycle of economic growth and material prosperity than they are learning to connect to place and land to form connections (2019).
Going back to Elton and the point she made during her session, she explains how enriching place-based education can be for students and teachers alike. Combing outdoor or place specific learning with curriculum brings the potential for the students to see themselves within their own education. For example, Elton explains how this type of learning usually includes the incorporation of Indigenous knowledges which then can lead to increased awareness and respect for the land and Mother Earth. These connections are personal, unique to the individual and can have lasting effects on the student.
Getting outside and connecting learning to the natural environment is a way to expand student’s knowledge, make emotional connections with the land, and give context to their curriculum. As explained by Shirley Giroux in her session on place-based mental health, the land and our local environment can have healing effects when we make these connections and engage with our communities and supports. In changing the economic and capitalist approach that our society has, these sources and sessions have shown how its possible. By creating opportunities to connect and learn from their environment, students can relate their education to the land; therefore, creating a relationship between themselves and the environment.
In Tanya Margem’s session on her outdoor kindergarten class located in Huston B.C, we can see these values and ideas of placed-based learning come to life. In this kindergarten class, the children were able to go outside and use their ‘science eyes’ to learn about their environment and gain an outdoor knowledge. When they would go on walks, Mrs. Margem would give them questions and intentions, so the students had time to wonder or inquire about how the outside world connected to the learning they were doing inside the classroom. A lot of the activities included local knowledges, such as the river and its salmon inhabitants or how they used their outdoor gardens to grow local vegetables and fruits. Margem explained how much of the curriculum can be learned outside. For example, learning patterns is one of the requirements for kindergarten and do teach this skill, the children gathered leaves of various shapes, sizes and colours to create mandalas. This outdoor lesson involved many different subjects such as art, math and science. In Margem’s session, she stated that her class spends two to four hours outdoors a day and after being outside they bring what they learned back into their classroom to connect the learning together.
This example shows that even though people can be tentative about place-based learning, not only can it be beneficial for the students, but can also receive parental and administrator support. Margem’s kindergarten class shows how outdoor learning can improve student success and be seen as a legitimate practice. In an earlier session in the day, we were given access to a website called Be the Change – Earth Alliance (which is free by the way) which provided resources for teachers who might want to include place or environment based content in their classrooms but are unsure of how to implement it. I highly recommend looking into this website to see if it works for you, there are many downloadable and printable resources to help students be engaged in their learning.
Overall this was an amazing and eye opening conference I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to attend. As Vanessa Elton explained, in order to have a place-based curriculum you have to start somewhere, even if it’s just getting outside on the playground and school property. Tanya Margem also reassured us during her session that if you start going outside with the class gradually you build up your own knowledge and confidence. This approach was also a successful way for her to get parents and staff on board, therefore making it easier to get permission for future explorations. I am inspired by these sessions I attended and am happy that I get to share these experiences with others.
Want to take a further look at some of these resources? Here are some that I mentioned in this post:
Be the Change – Earth Alliance. (2020). https://slc.bethechangeearthalliance.org.
Donald, D. (2019). Homo Economicus and Forgetful Curriculum. In H. Tomlins-Jahke, S. Styres, S. Lilley & D. Zinga (Eds.). Indigenous Education (pp. 103-125). Edmonton, Alberta: The University of Alberta Press.
