Originally appears in the Winter 2010-2011 issue

Is it science? Is it language arts? Is it environmental studies?  Yes and no. It’s integrated learning in an outdoor setting with student-led inquiry as part of the mix. That`s the current framework for learning at Belfountain Public School in Caledon, Ontario, a small, rural school with 170 students and 10 full time teaching staff.   How we got started and where our journey led is an organic story.

Four years ago, we simply agreed to do more of our learning outside.  Armed with Richard Louv`s book Last Child in the Woods and a group of supportive  parent advocates,  our vision was to help students connect to nature and grow into educated stewards of the earth.   That vision developed over the course of several meetings with parents, teachers, school administration and staff from a local outdoor education centre.  Funds were found to support a one year pilot project with my grade sixes and the grade twos.  Staff from the outdoor education centre were contracted to provide the pilot teachers with in-class support one day a week, and help with outdoor learning ideas.

As the pilot teacher, I`d like to share with you what it looked like then, where that idea has taken us and what it looks like now. Perhaps illuminating our path at Belfountain will help us all to `Step Outside For Learning`, that first giant step on the journey towards using the outdoors as the vehicle for teaching and learning the mandated curriculum.

Replete with grief and glory, this four year journey of discovery has also been inspiring for all of us. As the pilot teacher, my learning curve was a sharp one.  Our school moved from an indoor, rotary-driven, subject-oriented, teacher-composed program to an out of doors, cross-grade, integrated, community-based program with a student-led inquiry component. Our first move was to step outside the building.

The grade 6 students are the school seniors and in that first year I was their teacher for all subjects except French and Physical Education.  My goal was a grand one – to do our learning outside for half of the school day. In retrospect, this was a pretty lofty goal for a newbie with an arts background. On the first day of school, we eagerly stepped outside for some planned activities involving poetry, data management, art, and oral language.  In groups of three, we started with a playground search, looking for animal, vegetable, and mineral specimens. My students were asked to tabulate what we saw in chart form, with one axis representing the letters of the alphabet and the other showing the numbers of items they found whose names began with each letter. They wrote down the names where they could and made sketches when they could not. The data was to be used later as the springboard for other teacher-arranged experiences back in the classroom.

I had earmarked one hour for the hunt, but once outside, the flurry of activity lasted only about five minutes.  As their energy cranked to a halt, one child yelled, “I`m done!” Another responded, “There`s nothing more out here!” Yet another, “I can`t find anything!” My heart sank. I gathered them altogether and for the next half hour proceeded to point out examples of insects, plants, rocks, etc. on a teacher-led tour while they passively recorded, fooled around with each other, talked about last night`s TV, and generally lost interest. I hit rock bottom when one child said, “Can we go in now? I`m bored.”

Back in the more familiar classroom setting, the rest of the learning activities went well. Even the sharing circle I had planned around the question: “What was the most interesting part about being outside?” was a pleasant expression of togetherness. But, even then, some of the answers had little or nothing to do with my lofty visions of fascinating insects and cloud formations. The art activity was a bigger success with some wonderful paintings of plants and insects. And the classroom sized data management chart we created was a hit. By the end of the day, the bare walls were full of alphabetized paintings of plants, insects, rocks and all manner of outdoor wonders. We again sat on the floor in our now routine circle together, passed the talking stick, reflected on the day, and expressed our hopes and dreams for the year ahead together. To my great surprise, some students expressed their enjoyment of the day. They dutifully confessed that most of their dreams for the year were about getting along with each other –a normal reaction to a first day at school. But even then we were morphing into something new.

When I reflect on that day, I now realize that I expected too much too fast from a bunch of indoor children who didn’t know how to act together outside as a learning community. Through trial and error, my colleagues and I have since become better outdoor teachers, and better teachers in general. And our students have slowly accumulated outdoor experience and a comfort level that only time and incremental learning can bring. Now when we have an experience ahead of us, preparations are made to scaffold the new experience. We move slowly and thoughtfully.

Four years later, a dramatic shift is taking place at Belfountain School.  All the teachers in the school have, with varying levels of comfort, committed to a shared vision. The amount of time we spend outside and the type of activities we undertake are not pre-scripted, but we share a belief in seizing the rich opportunities for students to connect with their community outside the doors of the school.

What changes have occurred as a result?   The following three have been the most significant:

An Integrated Approach to Learning

As we went along, our timetable naturally evolved from a traditional subject-driven system in order to accommodate student projects and collaborations taking place away from the school building. Now learning is driven by multi-subject outdoor experiences. As teachers, we have learned to investigate the possibilities in allowing real experiences to direct our programs.  We have found it easier than the traditional approach to guide students toward learning the curriculum-mandated skills, knowledge, and attitudes. While our job still requires us to tease out subject specific evaluation for report cards, we’ve found that in an integrated approach, much time is saved as specific skills spiral back to be practiced time and time again, enabling each teacher more time to observe where each student is at.

Our students now take more ownership and personal responsibility for their learning.   As they learn in the community, they make connections with the skills they need and between their previous and newfound skills and knowledge. Learning has become relevant. Students more readily see their strengths and challenges are as they are working in small groups or alone on projects with real consequences in the community.

We have taken a curricular leap of faith as we moved toward a student-led, integrated program. Subjects lose their stronghold and meld into real integrated learning for life. At this moment, only grades 4 to 6 French remain rigidly entrenched to a traditional timetable.  And with some juggling, planning time for each teacher has been accommodated in the school’s timetabling.

Example: Vermiculture  Grade 6 students assisted kindergarten students in establishing a vermiculture project, using designs found on the Internet.  The two classes exchanged questions and answers, observations and comments.  When it came time to clean out the vermi-composting bins, the older students researched the information that the kindergarten students needed.  The question “do worms have eyes?” led into a six week kindergarten unit to answer all the other worm questions the students came up.  Books were read and written, paintings and sculptures were created, worms were compared and magnified, and songs were composed and sung. As is often the case, this integrated study was also a student led inquiry.

Collaboration

Since that first year, all staff members have spent more and more time outside with students. As we mentored each other, the program gained momentum and was adopted school-wide. As part of a fairly organic process, different grade classes often work together on projects.  With more and more collaboration, broader friendships have developed between staff members and between students in different grades. The school population is becoming like a super large family displaying more and more responsibility and caring for one another. For the staff, this understanding and friendship has spawned even more willingness to work collaboratively. We are experiencing renewed enthusiasm for our chosen career. Often more work feels like less work and at the end of the day there is more success, satisfaction and camaraderie amongst both students and staff.

Example 1: Butterfly Garden The grade three class had a visioning meeting to determine what a butterfly garden would look like.  They discussed who would be involved in the various parts of the project, the timeline for the project and what materials were needed. They also discussed how to raise the money they needed and involve the local community. But as the project evolved, ideas were revised, and new ideas were incorporated. The grade twos and fives became involved in a still-larger garden project for the front of the school by adding raised vegetable beds and a large garden to grow hybrid squash for a local food festival.  Community groups became involved as did parents, who helped with weekend watering. The resulting gardens are wonderful and productive. But it did not become an adult garden, nor did it follow the original vision. One can clearly see the influence of the young students who created and adapted it along the way to suit new ideas. But true to the initial goal, the garden is in place and the butterflies have come, all due to the students’ diligent research and collaborative work. And they will happily take you on a guided tour and explain everything to you!

Example 2: Art in the Park Three teachers combined their classes for an outdoor arts experience in a local riverside park.  Our idea was to use the outdoor setting for inspiration, and to have mixed grade level groups participating in three distinct art activities. One teacher facilitated a drumming and dance workshop. Another conducted a visual arts project and the third assisted with poetry writing. At the end of each workshop the students delightedly performed for each other, debriefed in a circle, and celebrated the results.  This illustrates how the varied strengths and interests of staff in a school can combine to generate a rich and varied learning experience for students.  The location could have been anywhere, but having lots of space in a local park worked best.

Community Partnerships

From the beginning, we realized that we needed help. While our resident “internet queen” was on a maternity leave, she spent much time searching for mentors who could provide help and schools that were already doing what we hoped to do. With her help, we found partners and established relationships with people and organizations that had the experience we were looking for. Local enviro-education experts provided tips and coaching and most importantly encouragement to go forward. Our local government`s greening committee provided a small grant and invited us to participate in their projects. This led us to other local citizens and staff at government agencies who had projects of their own that we could be part of, and by participating, we would help them meet their mandates.

By the end of the third year, we were involved with about thirty organizations and had to start being choosey. Now we go proactively to organizations with ideas of how we could help them. Partnerships are key and also nurture a collaborative approach to learning. Students see how working together brings results. Even the mayor came to the school this year to ask our students for their opinion on an issue. We have also learned to use parents as community liaisons, since they often know more about what`s happening in the community than staff members and many have useful connections that we do not have. With a vested interest in helping out, their contributions have been invaluable.

Example 1: Flying Squirrels A parent introduced the grade fours to Steve Patterson, the “Flying Squirrel Guy”. He does presentations with flying squirrels, shares his knowledge, and over the past 2 years, he has helped us to establish and monitor 20 nesting boxes in our area.  Having learned about flying squirrels and forest ecology, our students have shared their information with provincial Ministry of Natural Resources staff. This learning has motivated them to make connections with the natural world and their community.

Example 2: Redside Dace This endangered small minnow needs clean water and a lot of shade.  Partnering with Ontario Streams, the grade fours have planted shade trees along the Credit River, and distributed information to students, parents and community members about the Redside Dace for the last couple of years. While learning many connections between this minnow, its habitat and human water practices, our student’s community involvement has enabled them to realize that they can make a difference. They now understand how simple things like picking up garbage, recycling, and composting are all connected to the health of the Redside Dace.  This makes unappealing chores like emptying the compost bucket all the more likely to happen!

If you were to visit us on any given day, you would see some classes working indoors with information they gained in the field or on curriculum items that are best done inside.  Other classes would be on the playground working on curriculum that would have previously taken place indoors. Still others would be out in the community actively involved in their own project or that of a community group. And you would notice that student-led inquiry has generated some of the work – as a natural evolution on our learning.

We know we have come a long way and we have a long way to go. It has not always been easy. We’ve faced the usual roadblocks from a system that exists to perpetuate itself and has had a top down military approach for decades. But, we would never go back. As a community college student said to us as we worked together on a project by the Credit River:

“I wish school had been like this for me. I would have learned more. These kids get it. They know why they`re learning this stuff. It`s important to them. It took me a long time to figure it out. It was just stuff in books. They can see how it works!”

As we share our approach with other teachers and schools, it is sometimes dismissed because at Belfountain, we have nature at our fingertips.  In response, we are quick to point out that our program is not about nature, it is about connecting with your community.  And as a small, rural school, we face some disadvantages as well. We don’t have a built environment around us. We cannot survey modes of transportation in our community or watch the construction of a new apartment structure or mall down the block.  These are equally rich learning opportunities that await any teacher in those communities to mine for curriculum.  Nor is this an approach that is dependent on funding: outside of the funding we received in our first year to support teacher professional development, our funding needs have been minimal.  You don’t need to pay for a bus to take you out of the community when the opportunities are in the community.

It does take time to help students develop into a community of learners who recognize that being outside the classroom is okay and, dare it be said, fun.  All you need is a long term vision and a willingness to achieve it in small steps.

Applying integrated learning to an outdoor setting with student-led inquiry as part of the mix is not only an effective way to deliver programs, but it has also encouraged a more humane atmosphere and collegial spirit in us all. When reporting to parents, we have real things to discuss, and their children actively participate in that process. They can more readily speak about their work because they helped to shape it.

We are thrilled to be part of a new face of education in schools. As this shift continues, we are seeing students who are more attentive and focused on learning the curriculum together in the out of doors. We see students actively participating in their community. We see collaborative decision-making becoming the norm and children becoming emotionally attached to the natural environment.  Students and staff alike are becoming passionate about treading lightly and lovingly on the earth which supports us. And we see the personal interests and natural curiosity of individual students beginning to shape and drive our program. Student-led inquiry is becoming a reality at Belfountain School. Spread the word. It can be done!

Footnotes

  1. http://www.hummingbirdservices.ca/index2.html (See Steve’s ad on the inside back cover.)

[/content_protector]

To view the photo-rich magazine version, click here.

 

If you are not already a subscriber, please subscribe to read the full article

Pamela Gibson, Bryan Bibby Smith and Janice Haines all teach at Belfountain School in Caledon, Ontario.  In May 2010, Belfountain School won the Outstanding K-12 School award given out annually by the Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication.