improve their own teaching, but it can also be used to culti- vate school growth since it encourages teachers to be critical and reflective practitioners, and to actively contribute to the development of educational knowledge and theory. It can be used to create support for EE through collecting and analyz- ing classroom data in iterative cycles of planning, observing, acting, and reflecting; teachers and administrators can gather evidence to support and advance environmental learning in elementary and secondary classrooms. For this specific team, Action Research is planting the seeds for collaborative inquiry, professional development, and a burgeoning Profes- sional Learning Community (PLC) centered on EE. With the looming concerns around climate change, teach-


ers are well-situated to identify evidence-based strategies for developing environmental literacy skills with students of all ages. This year, the Ontario Ministry of Education’s policy in EE, one of the few in Canada, celebrates its tenth birthday, though the general consensus is that many schools are late to the party. The members of this Action Research team know all too well that there are significant challenges in implementing EE within their classes, even with the strong support of the TDSB’s EcoSchools Program, a vibrant green schools movement that has certified over 325 schools across Toronto. As part of this program, it has become clear that many teachers are doing innovative work in EE across the school board, including facilitating active EcoTeams; leading sustainability campaigns around energy conservation and waste minimization; creating environmental artworks; and fostering healthy communities through tree-planting, litter pickups, or sustainable transportation methods with ABCs (Anything But Car days). What synergies might develop if these teachers are brought together? With this in mind, K–12 educators were invited to join the EE Action Research Team based on their deep commitment to EE, previous knowledge of research practices, and dedication to professional learning in EE. What follows is a sampling of four teacher-researcher projects currently in progress by these team members, from investigating nature-based learning in schoolyards with young learners to enacting citizen science with youths in local conservation areas.


Teachers’ Action Research


Connecting to Nature at a Snail’s Pace — Patricia Heibein


When I began my Action Research Project, I was teaching a Grade 1 class in an alternative school with an outdoor learn- ing mandate, and I observed that students had an incredible wealth of knowledge about nature. Students could identify birds by their calls and name trees, but they were often disre- spectful to nature on the school grounds or community. They were “head heavy” with facts, but I wasn’t seeing this learn- ing in their hearts (through the development of empathy and compassion towards nature), or in their hands (as manifested in the development of stewardship practices). My Action Research question arose from this disconnection: How could I help to deepen these children’s connection to nature? Could I adjust my teaching practice to build empathy, compassion, and stewardship that I felt were missing?


The first step was to add more intentional time outdoors.


On most days, this was an extra ten minutes before recess, when students sat quietly in nature; then we added in com- munity walks. After these experiences, children returned to the classroom and drew what they had seen and heard in their nature journals. I noticed that over time the children’s attention to detail became more focused; they began to draw things that were less obvious and required careful attention to see. As part of my data collection, I kept records of con- versations the children had with one another. Over time, the conversations became richer, and slowly children started to talk with one another about how all things in nature were connected. In the rainy month of April, we spent less time outside.


After several days of indoor recesses, one student suggested we get dressed in our rain gear and go on a snail hunt. When we found snails in the school garden, I watched the students gently lift leaves and tiptoe around the garden perimeter in their hunt — they were acting with their hearts and hands! We collected several snails and brought them inside the classroom for observation. Bringing the outdoors in was a catalyst for creating deeper connections as the snails became the focus of our literacy, numeracy, and science activities. I watched as students came out of their own shells and became actively engaged in both their learning and their roles as researchers. Bringing snails into the classroom provided a provoca-


tion that captivated student interest and helped them meet their many learning needs. It began an inquiry into the lives of snails and what we can learn from them. By caring for another creature and thinking about its needs, the students connected to learning through their heads, hearts, and hands. Action research impacted my teaching practice by showing me how doing something as simple as spending more time outdoors and bringing nature into my classroom can inspire learning and change children’s connections with nature.


Growing Literacy Outdoors — Jennifer Venalainen


Action Research is helping me become a more reflective and responsive teacher. My students and I enjoy outdoor educa- tion, and were looking to make learning outdoors a regular part of each week throughout the school year. However, as a Grade 2/3 teacher, I felt a lot of pressure to cover the mandated curriculum and prepare my students for EQAO (Ontario’s standardized testing). Action Research is giving me an avenue to explore how to integrate outdoor learning across the curriculum to see how it affects student learn- ing. One area that is particularly challenging me is writing instruction; I usually have a few reluctant student-writers who struggle to initiate writing tasks, and others who either don’t like writing in specific genres or dislike editing their work to make corrections. Could integrating outdoor edu- cation benefit my literacy program? We started by taking clipboards outside to do a variety of writing exercises in the schoolyard, the garden, and then the local park. When it got cold, my students problem-solved how to keep writing out- doors in the winter — markers and mittens! I was surprised by how motivated they were to continue writing outside in the cold weather once it became a cherished part of our routine.


Green Teacher 119 Page 31


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