Lasting Change
of wilderness. There had to be a way to make these hands-on
outdoor experiences accessible to more students, to bring the
(continued)
exhilarating wilds into the public schools.
Julianne Van Buskirk finds teaching bioregional lessons
The Bioregional Outdoor Education Project is a model of how
complementary to the self-directed learning approach she uses
to accomplish this. Like any small non-profit organization, the
with her students, but teaching outside is more than that for her.
program has its struggles. Future funding is unreliable. Regional
“Teaching outdoors feels like home. It feels like tapping the es-
Coordinators spend long days on the road and struggle to meet
sence of our experience of being human in the world. It is when
all the needs of the twelve teachers they mentor each year. Teach-
I feel most like a teacher, when I am guiding the children to an
ers themselves are classically overwhelmed and often lack the
understanding of their place, an understanding that allows them
planning time they need to truly integrate outdoor education in
to discover, shape and realize their human potential.”
their classrooms. Administration is sometimes unsupportive. But
There is magic inherent in learning from the land, but for
despite all these roadblocks, the program is still effective. Teach-
both teachers and BOEP staff, the magic is the fruitful reward
ers network with fellow teachers, parents get involved through
of dedicated hard work. Besides meeting with their Regional
field trips and parent events, and when standardized test scores
Coordinator twice each month, each teacher is asked to teach five
improve, administration gets on board. In actuality, the BOEP can
lessons for observation, far more feedback then they receive even
function as a community building initiative. In the most effective
from principals who typically observe them once or twice a year.
scenarios, the idea takes root in the community, and so it contin-
The outdoor lessons focus on the Colorado Plateau and cultivate
ues on.
an appreciation of its human cultures, its wide diversity of habi-
In a public school, it may only take one teacher to really make
tats, and its bizarre geology. They are encouraged to integrate not
a difference. One teacher can write a grant, build an outdoor class-
just science into the outdoors, but reading, math and history. In
room or arrange class meetings with elders in the town historical
the middle of winter, teachers and staff bundle up in their warm-
society. One teacher can begin to teach Navajo history with as
est clothes and spend a day learning how to brave the elements
much validity as the history of America’s European colonization
with their students. Besides learning activities like tracking and
is taught. One teacher can plan a backpacking trip that builds con-
snowshoeing, they are briefed in proper dress and the symptoms
fidence for a child. I find the BOEP inspirational, because it simply
of hypothermia. Come spring, teachers are encouraged to present
hands tools to teachers. They are the ones who make the change.
what they’ve learned to their fellow educators at the Bioregional
Says Program Manager Jon Orris “Children have been los-
Outdoor Education Project Regional Conference. They provide
ing their sense of place for a long time and so have the teachers.
professional development opportunities, including in-services
BOEP allows both of them to reconnect with their home in a very
at their own schools, and are required to mentor fellow teachers.
relevant way”.
A tenant of the BOEP: the expertise of the classroom teacher is a
valuable resource to be shared.
One year after their initial Deanna Erickson is currently the Assistant Coordinator with the
“Teaching outdoors
Summer Institute, the BOEP teach- Bioregional Outdoor Education Project. Originally from Wisconsin,
feels like home. It feels ers can be found gathered in the she has taught and traveled all over the world, and is now happily
like tapping the essence
early morning light on the banks of exploring the red rock desert near Moab, UT. For more information on
of our experience of
the San Juan River in Bluff, Utah, the BOEP, see www.fourcornersschool.org.
fulfilling their final requirement.
being human in the
Jon Orris, still a licensed river
world...”
guide, loads gear, water, food and
finally, teachers onto sturdy rafts.
They disappear down the river for
three days to learn, share and finally, celebrate, their fingers trail-
ing through the cool murky water of their home.
Like Nothing Else Out There
A life-long devotee of outdoor education, I joined the BOEP
in September of 2006. I had taught in what I believe to be the best
possible environments; on a farm in California, in Colorado’s
rocky wilderness, aboard whale-watching vessels in Canada, and
floating in a raft of sea kayaks on Lake Superior. My students
were often the lucky ones, those who studied in well-funded pri-
vate schools or who had the resources to attend summer camps. I
was struck by the fact that children who were profoundly moved
by spending long days outside would spend most of their year in-
doors, learning from standardized textbooks. The standardization
wasn’t necessarily negative, but it seemed to distance kids from
the knowledge they gained growing up in their local playgrounds
and creek beds, the kind of knowledge that had made me a lover Photo by Erika Jones
Page 38 http://www.clearingmagazine.org Clearing - 2009 Compendium Edition
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