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I believe that there is no greater gift you can give a child than to show them you are invested in who they are becoming and how they experience the world.

I recently visited an elementary school in northeast Seattle that would be attending Islandwood, a school in the woods, the following week. Met with many raised hands and lots of energy, I shared with the students a few things to expect, guided them through a model investigation, and (most importantly!) asked each of them to complete a short fill in the blank letter. I take these letters back with me to deliver to their instructors. As I poked through the letters from the students in my group I took note of their ideas about what they want to be when they "grow up.” It seemed this coming week we had several doctors, a landscaper, two veterinarians, and a few kids who were still pondering their paths.

Transformational teaching prioritizes a foundation in relationships. It is connected to student’s lives, invested in their motivations, trustworthy in nature, and respectful of their emergent identities. The following week the elementary school students arrived at Islandwood and I picked up the group I would be working with. As we got started we took pause for one of the most important moments of our week, learning each other’s names. I circled my group up at the first possible moment and invited them to each share the story of their name (or a fun fact should they prefer). This moment of connection is often so special, students share about how they got their nicknames, how their name is pronounced, changes to their names over the years, and many connections to community or family. This is an applicable way of showing students that throughout this week we will be invested in one another as a group and even be learning new things about our peers from school. In just a few minutes we started the transformation from operating as individuals to starting to function as a micro-community.

Throughout the week, as we started activities I would frame up what we had learned about each other - for our aspiring doctors here were medicinal plants, for our future landscapers we free explored in the garden, for our passionate veterinarians we stopped at every caterpillar or slug and made room for its safe passage on the trail. As we grew in our knowledge of one another so did our opportunities for learning and connection. Students are navigating their transforming identities and we as educators are there to facilitate enriching opportunities for them to do so. Students deserve to feel connected to and seen by their peers and instructors. There isn’t a cookie cutter way to connect with every kid. As we come to know our students, we can listen for feedback about their motivations and relevant interests and use this to design motivational learning. Slowing down to honor the relationship you are building over the content we are all so passionate to convey will only create stronger outcomes for all students in the long run.

This particular student group spent one evening together wandering into the forest and making identity sculptures out of natural objects. Our challenge was to have one aspect of our identity represented through the design that we could share with the group. We navigated (careful not to step on any sculptures!) to each student's exhibit and listened patiently to what inspired them before asking questions. The unique characteristics of each kid were so evident in their designs. Bearing witness to the development of young children’s identity development is a privilege and great responsibility. Relationships encourage us to be respectful, they help us remember that our curiosities are reflections of our identities. As an outdoor educator in a residential school program, respect is learning about students needs before they arrive and listening to my student’s perspective in whatever format it may be delivered. Strong student-instructor relationships allow us to more intentionally model stewardship, care, and respect for our community and environment.

In what always feels like the longest week ever and no time at all in a 4-day outdoor education program, the students packed up two days later and got ready to go. As they settled into the bus I snuck in for a last goodbye, waving to all the kids I had worked with that week. As I handed each student a little note of encouragement for their continued learning, I felt emotional. Transformative teaching is mutual. It impacts us as educators as much as it does the students. With every relationship we build we learn, grow, stretch, fail, succeed, or reflect in some way or another - a small but mighty transformation all around.

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As a graduate student at IslandWood, I am often tromping down literal and figurative trails. It seems like a constant process of making new discoveries, whether it’s learning how to reach a challenging student, witnessing different stages of plant life cycles through the seasons, or falling down rabbit holes of research material about exciting passions. A “path” that started as a bushwhack and now has become a widened, well-traveled trail for me is what it means and looks like to “Indigenize” our education field. My interest springs from my own personal journey in exploring my Native American roots, as well as learning about and from an ancient system of knowledge that has survived the colonization and genocide of settlers, but has yet to be acknowledged by mainstream education as a viable model. I strongly believe that not only will Indigenizing our education spaces benefit our Native youth, but will have what is known as the “curb-side effect”, meaning that it will inherently benefit all who are involved, as it is a holistic and balanced approach to teaching and learning.

Based on readings and personal experiences, I’ve outlined four characteristics below of Indigenizing education (identified by “From Where the Sun Rises: Addressing the educational achievement of Native Americans in Washington State”); ways that I already see it in Environmental Education; and ways that we can further Indigenize education spaces (taking it a step further).

Belonging: Children are cared for by caring adults and treat each other as related.

  • Environmental Education: acknowledging and teaching students that they are a part of an ecosystem to which they belong and depend on for survival. In turn, these systems rely on the reciprocal relationships of humans in order to thrive in harmony.
  • Take it a step further: to provide opportunities embedded in the learning experience in which youth are interacting and learning from their elders/older generations and vice versa (intergenerational learning).

Mastery: Fostering balance for spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical competence.

  • Environmental Education: learning is experiential and takes its own course in time for each learner. Learners will learn what they need to know when they need to know it. Storytelling and learning by doing are primary modes of learning about the world and how to foster a relationship within one’s ecosystem and community.
  • Take it a step further: acknowledging students as whole people that have spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical needs met by their relationships with their family and community. Connecting students with those community members and inviting those members into the learning experience to provide more opportunities for these needs to be met.

Independence: Individual freedom and self-management. Never rewarding for doing well, the reward is appropriate self-management.

*I relate this to “self-regulation”, which is understood by Western science on a more neurological developmental level (controlling emotions and impulses, thinking ahead and planning, calculated decision-making, etc). The idea of “never rewarding” can be compared to Western concepts of intrinsic versus extrinsic rewards/punishments.

  • Environmental Education: promotes self-regulation/management by providing opportunities such as team building and sharing vulnerability with peers and adults, facilitated by educators trained in creating positive and supportive spaces. Outdoor educators have observed a trend of longer attention span and less impulsive behavior with students labeled as “ADHD” or with low impulse control issues after being immersed in nature for a few days during school overnight programs.
  • Take it a step further: Be diligent about usage of praising language or indications that some students are “better” or “more advanced” than others. Emphasizing all students gifts within the learning community as equal in importance and significance, while expecting and believing in each student’s’ ability to be responsible beings.

Generosity: Giving to others and community. Unselfishness.

  • Environmental Education: learning and committing actions of stewardship in own ecosystem and community. Expressing gratitude through language or actions to others and/or reflecting on personal gratitudes.
  • Take it a step further: practicing giving to others with no expectation in return, doing it for the sole purpose of upholding one’s own end of the relationship (true reciprocity). Serving those that have not given to you before for the sake of serving and being generous.

I’d like to note that the characteristics of belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity are not the entire or only ways of Indigenizing the education space, but merely starting points. As we all continue to tread forth in our education endeavours, I’d encourage all educators to reflect on how they embed these elements into their teaching practice, as well as how they can further Indigenize their teaching space (being careful not to be appropriating or misrepresenting). Check out some readings and resources in the sidebar if you’re interested in learning more about what it means to Indigenize education spaces and examples of those doing the work right now.

If you have any questions you can contact the author at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Photo of the author and one of her field groups visiting “Mama Cedar” at IslandWood.

For further reading, see:

The Conflicting Educations Of Sam Schimmel (NPR segment): https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/05/30/610384132/the-conflicting- educations-of-sam-schimmel 

Education for the Eighth Fire: Indigeneity and Native Ways of Learning by Melissa K. Nelson

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The fifth graders had been asking me about nettles since they arrived on Monday. Asking where they were, how to identify them, if the group could eat the nettles, how bad they sting. And though our days were full of reflection, formal investigations, and cued observation time, I decided to go rogue from my scheduled plan when I saw a patch of the jagged heart-shaped leaves growing erect in a thicket.

Lopez Elementary School’s fifth grade class was participating in IslandWood’s School Overnight Program, a residential science program on Bainbridge Island, focused on stewardship of self, community and the environment. IslandWood graduate students seek to facilitate interdisciplinary lessons including Next Generation Science Standards, place-based culture, history, and the arts. Scientists, I remind all of my students, are not all men with crazy white hair who wear lab coats and have chemicals in glass beakers everywhere. We are all scientists because we make observations and ask questions—and sometimes those questions involve other subjects beyond science. Lessons are most effective when they can represent a Venn diagram of interconnections. Through interdisciplinary teaching practices, students are able to synthesize new ideas and topics, incorporating them into their lives to increase relevance, which will result in more meaningful learning and more “stickiness” with the topic at hand. When new information ceases to be compartmentalized, students have more agency in their learning and the relationship they develop with the new information.

The Art of Questioning

“Have any of you ever seen this plant before?” I ask my students. Some are very familiar with Stinging Nettle, Urtica dioica, others less so. Using my arm, bent up with my hand jutting out perpendicularly to represent the leaf coming off the stem, I show how most of the “stinging parts” are on the stem itself and on the underside of the leaf. So, it’s possible to carefully pinch the top of the leaf, as I demonstrate pinching my hand, folding my thumb to meet my pinky and pull away from the stem.

Students watch me demonstrate on the real plant and I pass the leaf around closely in front of them and ask what they notice. They observe that the “stingers” are on the top and bottom of the leaf, and we wonder and make claims together about why we don’t get stung when we touch the stingers on top (at least most of the time), or why this plant needs to have the ability to sting, anyway.

I mention that a lot of people are afraid of it because of the word “sting” in its name. But this has been a very important plant for thousands of years right here on Bainbridge Island among the Suquamish people. I ask students why native plants are so important, imagining what it must have been like to be an indigenous person discovering through observations and questioning the benefits of this sometimes painful plant.

Team-building and personal growth

It is now time for my students to harvest their own leaves. I remind them that it is not required, but that they have the option if they want to. Previously in the week, I drew a circle in the dirt on the ground, then a larger circle on the outside of that. The circle in the middle represents their Comfort Zone, which contains things like brushing your teeth, eating breakfast, and playing with friends. The larger circle on the outside is their Challenge Zone, which incorporates the things that make your tummies do flips, but which make you feel proud after you’ve accomplished them. For example, making your own lunch, going on a hike, petting a dog, painting a picture, talking to a new person, etc. Anything that is not within these circles is in the Danger Zone. These are things that might actually cause trauma if a person if forced to do them. For example, if I put a spider next to someone who is afraid of spiders, I might harm them and lose their trust. I highlight how unique we are as individuals which is demonstrated by the fact that all of our Comfort, Challenge, and Danger Zones are different from each others. My goal for students, I share, is that they keep challenging themselves while they’re at IslandWood and beyond, and soon they will see their Comfort Zone start to grow, causing their Challenge Zone to expand as well.

Chemistry

A few moments into harvesting, I start to hear a few “ouches” and I see students staring at their fingers, looking for a mark or a stinger. I use these brave souls as examples, asking questions like: Did you find a stinger? What did it feel like? Did it remind you of anything? This is the perfect moment to address alternative conceptions of the sting from the nettle being comparable to a bee’s. I begin to talk about pH and balancing acids and bases using a  student relevant example. “Has anyone ever eaten something spicy?” I ask, and many hands shoot up. Students share that the solution to get the spice sensation out of their mouths is not by drinking water, but by drinking milk. By drinking the milk, I explain, they are neutralizing the acid by adding a base; and water is already neutral. The sting from the nettle is not stinging because of anything sharp, but because of an acid. So what should we do? Neutralize it! For students who decide the pain is unbearable, I use the alkaline baking soda in my First Aid Kit. Several students turn to the Sword fern, Polystichum munitum, sharing that the “little brown dots,” spores, on the underside of the fronds help make the sting go away. (Using sword fern spores to cure pain is another cultural medicinal use of a plant that some students have learned previously.) Moving beyond chemistry, those inquisitive fifth graders have just opened the door to talking about plant adaptations, plant reproduction, and plant-based medicine.

Cultural Connections

Although my background is in farm/garden-based education, I never ignore the importance of pre-agrarian societies. Urtica dioica is a crucial plant in many cultures, including among the people of the Coast Salish tribes, specifically the Suquamish people on Bainbridge Island, right where I stand with my students. From making textiles and dyes, to food and medicine, this plant is rich in its varied uses, and rich in nutrients. Students’ ears perk up when they learn that people drink nettle tea to help with seasonal allergies. Since many students visiting suffer from seasonal allergies, this convinces those who have been weary of harvesting to try it out. This is a wonderful opportunity to have a discussion with students about whose land we are using, where we get our information, human impact on the land and on each other, and the rich cultural history of where their feet are currently standing. There is a tendency when incorporating indigenous people in a lesson to use the past-tense, but the tribes who lived on this land since time immemorial are still present to this day, and my students and I honor that. We use the gatherer’s creed and ask permission of the plant before we harvest, and we practice only taking what we need. We consider the living things from which we are harvesting, wondering what they’re feeling, and wondering what would happen if we harvested all of the nettle leaves we could see.

Community Stewardship

On their final day, students harvest more nettle. This time, to be more inclusive, I have gloves and scissors—though not enough for each student. They must work together with the materials present (and bare hands, if they choose) to carefully harvest and put the leaves in a paper bag, which we will bring to the garden. Students work together to harvest the nettle and encourage each other; they are also looking out for each other and comforting one another if they get stung. I hear a lot of students asking “Are you okay?” and “What does it feel like?” to the students who have gotten stung, offering support and even feeling admiration. Back at the garden, we steep our harvest in hot water, add honey, and enjoy our community tea as we wrap up the week of richly interdisciplinary experiences, with the concept of stewardship running throughout. IslandWood’s major curricular outcome is the concept of Stewardship. This concept is interleaved throughout the week--from picking up a piece of trash on the ground to join the Dirty Pocket Club, to learning about each other as part of a growing community, to challenging ourselves to embrace adventure. As stewards the entire week, students took care of themselves, of their community, and of the environment. This sense of stewardship is one of the main skills we want our students to walk away with. If the practice of stewardship can be transferred back to a student’s home community, it will become a baseline mindset when students consider their actions as they go on to make their own decisions the next day and for a lifetime.

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“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than the things that you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain

If you want to increase a student’s confidence and improve their sense of self, provide them with opportunities to embrace adventure. Embracing adventure increases a students learning and helps them cultivate a growth mindset, which will provide them with a foundation to take on future challenges with courage and resilience.

Why Does Embracing Adventure Matter?

Embracing adventure can help a student expand their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Lev Vygotsky, famed educational theorist, developed the idea of the ZPD when studying how people learn. The ZPD is often defined as the distance between what a learner has mastered and what they can do with guidance. Research has shown that the most learning occurs when an individual is asked to accomplish a task that is beyond their level of mastery or outside their comfort zone but not so far beyond their comfort zone that is causes their reptilian brain to kick in, which can inhibit learning. Creating a space for students to safely exit their comfort zone is a key tool in helping a student shape a positive sense of self.

Additionally, challenging individuals to exit their comfort zone and enter the learning zone gives students the opportunity to cultivate a growth mindset. Carol Dweck, Ph. D., professor of Social and Developmental Psychology at Stanford University, defines a growth mindset as a way of thinking that is “based on the beliefs that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts” (Dweck, 7). Giving students multiple opportunities to try things they had not before thought possible provides them with evidence that they are capable of accomplishing new challenges with hard work and determination.

Defining embracing adventure

So how do you actually help students gain confidence and buy in? First you must set the stage by defining embracing adventure. Each student’s definition of embracing adventure is different. What is within one student’s comfort zone may be very uncomfortable for another. Here are a few activities you can try to allow your students to safely identify what embracing adventure looks like for them.

  • Journal Prompts: If your students have field journals, ask them to write about what embracing adventure means to them. This will give you an initial idea of what comes to mind when they hear the words embracing adventure.
  • Anonymous voting: have students stand in a circle or a line with their backs facing you before an activity that involves embracing adventure. Ask students to rate on a scale of 1 to 5 how they are feeling about the activity coming up by showing you with one hand behind their back. 1 meaning “I’m feeling confident” and 5 meaning “This is very outside of my comfort zone”. This is an opportunity to get a sense of where students are at before an activity and students an opportunity to share their fears in a safe space.
  • Pop- up Pookaloo: Prepare a list of statements that your students may relate to. Statements can start out more lighthearted like, I like waffles or my favorite color is blue, and become deeper as you go like, my parents are divorced or heights make me nervous. Have students lay on their stomachs in a circle with their heads down. Instruct them to only lift their heads and look around if the statement you read is true for them. This is a great way for students to gain more comfort with their peers by learning about what they have in common with one another and can give you an idea about what students are or are not comfortable with.

Activities that Help Students Embrace Adventure

Working with young people outdoors provides many opportunities to facilitate embracing adventure. If you are unsure where to start, here are a few ideas for how to set up opportunities for your students to embrace adventure in the outdoors.

  • Solo walks: You will need two leaders for this activity. Along an established trail, lay out a trail of cards for students to follow. The cards can have inspirational quotes on them, directions to engage students senses, or questions for students to contemplate. Have the second leader send students every 3 to 5 minutes.
  • Space walks: similar to a solo walk have your second leader or a chaperone send students along an established path every 1 to 2 minutes. Students should be able to see their classmates in front of and behind them but should still have enough space that they would not be able to talk to their classmates at a normal volume. The space walk is a nice way to scaffold toward a solo walk if students are feeling particularly nervous about being outside alone.
  • Blindfolded walks: This can be done at night or during the day. While blindfolded, have students walk in a straight line with their hands on the shoulders of the person in from of them for a stretch of trail.
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