As an outdoor educator teaching our School Overnight Program at IslandWood, a common occurrence is the emergence of a quiet, seemingly disengaged student who seems to not be excited with the various lessons and activities that we facilitate. Every Monday morning, I get to meet a fresh group of 4-6th graders from a myriad of different socioeconomic/cultural backgrounds. These students have their own micro communities formed coming into the week, and it’s my task to find how they learn best. My groups are filled with students who all have different motivations, interests, energy levels and repertoires that I must honor, and with that comes a responsibility to teach in a way that prioritizes the students who have the largest challenges approaching learning environments first. I talk to my chaperones every week before meeting my group at what we call a “trailside chat” where I get to introduce myself, learn more about the adults who are joining my group, and tell them about my approach to teaching outdoors - and how they can be helpful regarding behavior management. I always introduce something IslandWood educators call IslandWood Listening to them. IslandWood Listening is the idea that even if a student is playing with a leaf or stick, crouched down to look at a banana slug, or even making noises or sounds to stimulate themselves while listening to directions, they still are most likely listening and engaged with your directions. Conventional models of outdoor education often rely heavily on group discussion, physical assertiveness, and spontaneous participation - which does not include learners who contribute in non-conventional ways. By scaffolding an exercise with the most diverse learning accommodations in mind, everyone wins.
Firstly, excitement and engagement can be shown in non-conventional or non-verbal ways, and it is my task to recognize when these learners are contributing (Rodriguez, 2021). Quiet students are often mislabeled as disengaged or disinterested. In reality, they may be deeply engaged internally, processing information through observation, reflection, or sensory attunement that I am not validating (Ware, 2006). Susan Cain's (2012) work on introversion highlights the cultural bias toward extroversion in educational settings, as the more extroverted students find it easy to share out and contribute in conventional ways. I myself was an extroverted student, always raising my hand or contributing, even if I was adding things that weren’t directly topic specific. This gives me preconceived notions of how students show up in educational environments - which I have worked to deconstruct during my teaching year. Similarly, neurodiversity frameworks (Singer, 1999; Armstrong, 2010) emphasize the need to recognize and accommodate varied cognitive and sensory processing styles that might be ignored in formal classroom environments. All of these approaches are valid ways to contribute, and should be recognized as such. Here are some strategies I have gained from my time at IslandWood that have helped my students approach learning outdoors.
Strategies for Inclusive Engagement
- Provide Autonomy: Give students agency to choose how they participate in activities (e.g., through sketching, journaling, or quiet observation). This honors multiple modalities of engagement and gives students a diverse set of options to explore their curiosities. I aim to provide every student “challenge by choice”, giving them the opportunity to take breaks or participate in an activity in a modified way if it is too overwhelming for them.
- Understand Sensory Considerations: By preparing students in advance for sensory elements they may encounter (e.g., sounds, textures, smells) I can make sure my activities are appropriate, safe and approachable for all of my students. This is especially important for students who are not accustomed to being outdoors.
- Use Small Groups or Pairs: I often structure group activities to include small groups, reducing social pressure and making it easier for quieter students to contribute. Techniques like "turn and talk" or "pair-share" provide a low-stakes entry point for participation, allowing students to first process ideas with a single peer before engaging in broader group discussions. These methods honor the cognitive processing time that introverted and neurodiverse learners often need, and can be particularly effective when paired with visual prompts or brief moments of individual reflection beforehand.
- Scaffold Structured Reflection: Integrate individual reflection periods before and after group sharing. Use written prompts, drawing, or guided sensory walks to help students process their experience on their own terms.
- Provide Predictable Routines: I establish clear, consistent routines for our field study. By preparing a schedule that has both time slots and illustrations, I can help neurodiverse students prepare for what we have planned at different stages of the day. Predictability helps neurodiverse learners feel secure and better prepared to engage wherever we end up.
- Validate Diverse Participatory Methods: Educators should be trained to recognize non-verbal participation and validate all forms of engagement. Quiet students may demonstrate learning through attentiveness, note-taking, or thoughtful questions posed later.
It is my responsibility to establish a system of reciprocal trust with every student I am interacting with, especially those who don’t subscribe to classical methods of classroom participation. These strategies are ways you can build rapport with your students, help them find success and challenge outdoors, and learn in the ways that suit them. This in no way is an exhaustive list, as there are many other ways of co-creating a learning environment with your students that is inclusive, vibrant and engaging for everyone.
References
Armstrong, T. (2011). The power of neurodiversity : unleashing the advantages of your differently wired brain (First Da Capo Press paperback edition). Da Capo Lifelong.
Cain, S. (2012). Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking (1st ed.). The Crown Publishing Group.
Rodriguez, R. (2021). Engaging the Quiet Student: Digital Back-Channeling in the Composition Classroom. Teaching English in the Two-Year College, 48(3), 354+. https://link-gale-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/apps/doc/A750235136/AONE?u=wash_main&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=76b0e296
Singer, J. (1999). Why Can’t You Be Normal for Once in Your Life? From a "Problem with No Name" to the Emergence of a New Category of Difference. In M. Corker & S. French (Eds.), Disability Discourse.
Ware, F. (2006). Warm Demander Pedagogy: Culturally Responsive Teaching That Supports a Culture of Achievement for African American Students. Urban Education (Beverly Hills, Calif.), 41(4), 427–456. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085906289710
As an outdoor educator teaching our School Overnight Program at IslandWood, a common occurrence is the emergence of a quiet, seemingly disengaged student who seems to not be excited with the various lessons and activities that we facilitate. Every Monday morning, I get to meet a fresh group of 4-6th graders from a myriad of different socioeconomic/cultural backgrounds. These students have their own micro communities formed coming into the week, and it’s my task to find how they learn best. My groups are filled with students who all have different motivations, interests, energy levels and repertoires that I must honor, and with that comes a responsibility to teach in a way that prioritizes the students who have the largest challenges approaching learning environments first. I talk to my chaperones every week before meeting my group at what we call a “trailside chat” where I get to introduce myself, learn more about the adults who are joining my group, and tell them about my approach to teaching outdoors - and how they can be helpful regarding behavior management. I always introduce something IslandWood educators call IslandWood Listening to them. IslandWood Listening is the idea that even if a student is playing with a leaf or stick, crouched down to look at a banana slug, or even making noises or sounds to stimulate themselves while listening to directions, they still are most likely listening and engaged with your directions. Conventional models of outdoor education often rely heavily on group discussion, physical assertiveness, and spontaneous participation - which does not include learners who contribute in non-conventional ways. By scaffolding an exercise with the most diverse learning accommodations in mind, everyone wins.
Firstly, excitement and engagement can be shown in non-conventional or non-verbal ways, and it is my task to recognize when these learners are contributing (Rodriguez, 2021). Quiet students are often mislabeled as disengaged or disinterested. In reality, they may be deeply engaged internally, processing information through observation, reflection, or sensory attunement that I am not validating (Ware, 2006). Susan Cain's (2012) work on introversion highlights the cultural bias toward extroversion in educational settings, as the more extroverted students find it easy to share out and contribute in conventional ways. I myself was an extroverted student, always raising my hand or contributing, even if I was adding things that weren’t directly topic specific. This gives me preconceived notions of how students show up in educational environments - which I have worked to deconstruct during my teaching year. Similarly, neurodiversity frameworks (Singer, 1999; Armstrong, 2010) emphasize the need to recognize and accommodate varied cognitive and sensory processing styles that might be ignored in formal classroom environments. All of these approaches are valid ways to contribute, and should be recognized as such. Here are some strategies I have gained from my time at IslandWood that have helped my students approach learning outdoors.
Strategies for Inclusive Engagement
- Provide Autonomy: Give students agency to choose how they participate in activities (e.g., through sketching, journaling, or quiet observation). This honors multiple modalities of engagement and gives students a diverse set of options to explore their curiosities. I aim to provide every student “challenge by choice”, giving them the opportunity to take breaks or participate in an activity in a modified way if it is too overwhelming for them.
- Understand Sensory Considerations: By preparing students in advance for sensory elements they may encounter (e.g., sounds, textures, smells) I can make sure my activities are appropriate, safe and approachable for all of my students. This is especially important for students who are not accustomed to being outdoors.
- Use Small Groups or Pairs: I often structure group activities to include small groups, reducing social pressure and making it easier for quieter students to contribute. Techniques like "turn and talk" or "pair-share" provide a low-stakes entry point for participation, allowing students to first process ideas with a single peer before engaging in broader group discussions. These methods honor the cognitive processing time that introverted and neurodiverse learners often need, and can be particularly effective when paired with visual prompts or brief moments of individual reflection beforehand.
- Scaffold Structured Reflection: Integrate individual reflection periods before and after group sharing. Use written prompts, drawing, or guided sensory walks to help students process their experience on their own terms.
- Provide Predictable Routines: I establish clear, consistent routines for our field study. By preparing a schedule that has both time slots and illustrations, I can help neurodiverse students prepare for what we have planned at different stages of the day. Predictability helps neurodiverse learners feel secure and better prepared to engage wherever we end up.
- Validate Diverse Participatory Methods: Educators should be trained to recognize non-verbal participation and validate all forms of engagement. Quiet students may demonstrate learning through attentiveness, note-taking, or thoughtful questions posed later.
It is my responsibility to establish a system of reciprocal trust with every student I am interacting with, especially those who don’t subscribe to classical methods of classroom participation. These strategies are ways you can build rapport with your students, help them find success and challenge outdoors, and learn in the ways that suit them. This in no way is an exhaustive list, as there are many other ways of co-creating a learning environment with your students that is inclusive, vibrant and engaging for everyone.
References
Armstrong, T. (2011). The power of neurodiversity : unleashing the advantages of your differently wired brain (First Da Capo Press paperback edition). Da Capo Lifelong.
Cain, S. (2012). Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking (1st ed.). The Crown Publishing Group.
Rodriguez, R. (2021). Engaging the Quiet Student: Digital Back-Channeling in the Composition Classroom. Teaching English in the Two-Year College, 48(3), 354+. https://link-gale-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/apps/doc/A750235136/AONE?u=wash_main&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=76b0e296
Singer, J. (1999). Why Can’t You Be Normal for Once in Your Life? From a "Problem with No Name" to the Emergence of a New Category of Difference. In M. Corker & S. French (Eds.), Disability Discourse.
Ware, F. (2006). Warm Demander Pedagogy: Culturally Responsive Teaching That Supports a Culture of Achievement for African American Students. Urban Education (Beverly Hills, Calif.), 41(4), 427–456. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085906289710
