Children ‘Being’ Outdoors: HOPE for the Future WELCOME Nick Forsberg Shannon Funk

“I like to play indoors better, ‘cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are.” Paul, a 4 th grader in San Diego (Louv, 2008)

Session Overview I. (Re)capturing your youth–An ‘experience’ II. Creating and Nurturing an Understanding I. Health and Physical Education Curriculum: The Inter(relationship) of Self, Other and Environment II. Nature-Deficit Disorder: Thoughts of Richard Louv III. Outdoor Education: (A)gain III. (Re)storying “Possibilities”-An ‘experience’ IV. Reflection and Bridging – “So What?”

(Re)capturing your youth We live storied lives and we tell stories about our lives.” Nel Noddings An individual “experience” in the out-of-doors (Re)connecting to our lives as children through nature Sharing our story

Creating and Nurturing an Understanding Health and Physical Education Curriculum: The Inter(relationship) of Self, Other and Environment Current curricula - How does it provide for this opportunity? Goal of Relationships – Balance self through safe and respectful personal, social, cultural, and environmental interactions in a wide variety of movement activities. ( Current Practice – What are we doing? Future Practice – What do we need to be doing? Why?

A Thought: “[T]he physical self is only part of the self. We must be concerned also with the emotional, spiritual, and intellectual self, and clearly these are not discrete. We separate and label them for convenience in discussion, but it may be a mistake to separate them sharply in curriculum.” Nel Noddings

Creating and Nurturing an Understanding Nature-Deficit Disorder: Thoughts of Richard Louv “Within the space of a few decades, the way children understand and experience nature has changed radically. The polarity of the relationship has reversed. Today, kids are aware of the global threats to the environment -- but their physical contact, their intimacy with nature, is fading.”

“For a new generation, nature is more abstraction than reality. Increasingly, nature is something to watch, to consume, to wear -- to ignore.”

“Nature-deficit disorder describes the human costs of alienation from nature, among them: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses.”

“The postmodern notion that reality is only a construct - - that we are what we program -- suggests limitless human possibilities; but as the young spend less and less of their lives in natural surroundings, their senses narrow, physiologically and psychologically, and this reduces the richness of human experience.”

“Modern life narrows our senses until our focus is mostly visual, appropriate to about the dimension of a computer monitor or TV screen. By contrast, nature accentuates all the senses, and the senses are a child’s primal first line of self-defense.”

“Reducing that deficit--healing the broken bond between our young and nature -- is in our self-interest, not only because aesthetics or justice demands it, but also because our mental, physical, and spiritual health depends upon it.” Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder (Louv, 2008)

Creating and Nurturing an Understanding Outdoor Education: (A)gain A Thought to Ponder... We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we first started And know the place for the first time. T.S. Eliot

A Definition of Outdoor Education Outdoor Education may be defined as teaching / learning IN, ABOUT, and FOR the outdoors. George Donaldson

Education in the outdoors is self-explanatory, implying that learning occurs in a variety of outdoor settings. Education about the outdoors involves the development of understandings and appreciations about environmental phenomena, including our relationship to and interdependence with the physical universe. Education for the outdoors involves the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enable the learner to enrich their own life through the wise use of the outdoor environment. Larry Lang

Characteristics of Outdoor Education Interdisciplinary – Outdoor Education forces the issue of integration in the curriculum, to study and experience things in their total relationship – one thing to another. Multisensory – The most important resources students have to learn with are their senses. Good outdoor teaching will employ every applicable sense to the learning experience. Experiential Learning – It has been proven in educational research that we learn most through direct experience, we learn faster, the learnings are retained longer and the appreciation is greater. Unique Learning Environment – The beauty, mystery and power of the outdoors serves as a stimulation for questioning, examining and exploring in seeking to gain personal understanding and commitment.

(Re)storying “Possibilities” “To teach is to influence the influences. The teacher uses the influences of the world pedagogically as a resource for tactfully influencing the child.” Max van Manen A small group “experience” Use your ‘nature’ objects and the newsprint and markers Create an experience that fosters learning about the object – be thinking about the characteristics of Outdoor Education for teaching and learning Be prepared to share your small group story

Reflection and Bridging – “So What?” With “Possibilities” comes opportunities... “Start small, start smart, but at least start.” Don Hellison

A Concluding Thought... “As a species, we are most animated when our days and nights on Earth are touched by the natural world. We can find immeasurable joy in the birth of a child, a great work of art, or falling in love. But all of life is rooted in nature, and a separation from that wider world desensitizes and diminishes our bodies and spirits. Reconnecting to nature, nearby and far, opens new doors to health, creativity, and wonder. It is never too late.” The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature- Deficit Disorder (Louv, 2011)

Richard Louv on Nature-Deficit Disorder eature=related eature=related ture=related ture=related