into taking their students outside for learning and those who attended OEE professional development sessions were typically the same lot. They already knew the benefits and were avid advo- cates of the outdoors. The challenge, then, would be to build capacity and reach more educators who weren’t at this stage. Since I was one of those teachers, this was a great opportunity to look introspectively for the ‘why’ and use the resulting information to help both me and them. My two team mates and I asked our-
selves, “How do we, as OEE leads, help educators reconnect to nature in order to help promote outdoor learning in Halton District School Board (HDSB) classrooms?” This collaborative inquiry question helped frame our year. We would continue to support those who were already providing quality outdoor learning opportunities, while trying to reach the larger group that consisted of those who were perhaps slightly intrigued by outdoor learning, but unsure of where to begin. With the promise of professional
support from the HDSB OEE leadership team, time to plan and meet with col- leagues, and financial support from the ministry to fund supply teachers while regular teachers were attending profes- sional development sessions, we planned the collaborative inquiry learning trajec- tory using a ‘4/5-W model.’
The introductory first group session
The participants were invited to apply to be part of the learning. We sifted through hundreds of applications, looking for those who had not previously attended OEE learning. The candidates were then grouped according to the division that they taught. There were approximately 60 educators per each of the four sessions. At the beginning of the ‘W’, we met with the groups (divided into Kindergarten/ Primary and Kindergarten/Junior/Inter- mediate) for an initial day of learning. It was during this first day that we had the opportunity to try to reconnect the adults in the room to nature and the outdoors. Our first activity was a snowball activity where everyone
was asked to complete the statement, “My relationship with the outdoors is …” on a piece of paper before crumpling it and tossing the “snowball” into the middle of a circle. Each participant then chose another “snowball” to read aloud as we went around the circle. Following this process allowed
The 4/5-W model
A W-model typically begins with an introductory whole-group session and is sequentially followed by heading back to school to put theory into practice, meeting back as a whole group for more learning, putting theory into practice again at school, and finishing up with a final whole-group session to share successes and challenges. The tops of the W, then, are the whole-group profes- sional development sessions, while the bottoms of the W are the trial-and-error attempts back at the school with students. We didn’t have the funding to com- plete the W by meeting for a final time to celebrate our successes and discuss how to keep the momentum going; thus, we used a Google+ community where the sharing could be done online — hence, the ‘4/5-W model.’
anonymity and the opportunity to be honest without being vulnerable. It also provided a picture of how everyone in the group was feeling. Some educators loved being outside and didn’t shy away from any of the seasons. Others appreciated the outdoors through a window, whether it be a car window, office window, or window at home. Very likely, there will be a diverse range of feelings of comfortability with the out- doors. (This is also likely the case with our students.) The snowball activity was a useful way to assess where everyone was at in terms of those feelings.
Green Teacher 122 Page 21
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
