Naturalist Teaching and Learning

The idea of naturalist teaching is an alternative approach to teaching many subjects, especially biology, ecology and environmental science. This article draws from many traditions and ideas and presents some of the differences from traditional pedagogy. The Applications section presents some of the current practices that share naturalist ideas. The Viewpoints section reviews research on the benefits of spending time in nature, and the Issues section deals with problems that confront most teachers wanting to begin naturalist teaching.

Keywords American Association for the Child's Right to Play; Biology; Ecology; Ecophobia; Environmental Education; Kamana Naturalist Training Program; Minimal Impact; Natural Learning Initiative; Naturalist Intelligence; Nature Deficit Disorder; Outdoor Education

Overview

Naturalist teaching describes an approach to education that incorporates many features and spans many areas. However, there are certain guiding principles that help to define naturalist teaching. For starters, naturalist teaching focuses on using nature as a classroom. With students spending more and more time indoors, and shrinking time for recess in many schools, just spending time outside in nature can be valuable.

Naturalist teaching begins with slowing down to the speed of nature. For many students life is fast and full: racing to class, speed walking through the mall or cruising on the highway. Their minds are filled with music, video games, and television. In addition, many children lead overscheduled lives and move from one activity to another without sufficient unstructured down time. It is important for naturalist teachers to first get students into a state of calm and quiet, where they can actually build on developing their senses and powers of observation.

With enhanced awareness, students can interact with nature on deeper and more profound levels, but awareness is just a beginning. Brown (1999), for example, wrote "Awareness without tracking became a shallow experience, where no understanding of the psyche of animals could be achieved nor, for that matter, could the entire fabric of nature be comprehended" (p. 7). Naturalist teachers, then, use awareness as a starting place to open other paths of investigation.

Characteristics of Naturalist Teaching

Heightened awareness and greater powers of observation are perhaps what separates naturalists from casual scientists or observers. Howard Gardner recognized that naturalist skills and interests could not be comfortably fit into his previous seven intelligences, especially in consideration of naturalists like Rachel Carson and E.O. Wilson. Gardner (1999) stated, "A naturalist demonstrates expertise in the recognition and classification of the numerous species-the flora and fauna-of his or her environment" (p. 48). Often the differences in classification are subtle, and require powers of observation and habits of mind that are specific to the naturalist intelligence. Gardner (1999) wrote, for example, "Thus, it is possible that the pattern-recognizing talents of artists, poets, social scientists, and natural scientists are all built on the fundamental perceptual skills of natural intelligence" (p. 50).

Naturalist teaching and learning values experiences over books, depth over breadth, wisdom over intelligence. In short, naturalist teaching is about doing. It is one thing to read about making fire by friction, but it's completely different to actually carve a kit and make fire. Books are useful, of course, especially field guides, but without accompanying experiences, the knowledge can be virtually lifeless. For example, the simple identification of animals without understanding their habitats, growth cycles, behaviors and more. Because naturalists often seek deep knowledge, they can happily sit in the same spot every day, noting and valuing even minute changes.

In a school setting, naturalist teaching can differ greatly from the approaches of biology, ecology and environmental education. Although biologists, for example, can be naturalists, and naturalists can be biologists, differences emerge when the approach of the learning is considered. Many schools lack what most people consider "natural" spaces in which to learn, so the sciences often study about nature, rather than in nature. Whereas science classes are often about abstract processes like global warming, photosynthesis, and mitosis, naturalist classes are about tangible experiences such as identifying a tree by the texture of its bark, or tracking an animal across various surfaces, or exploring what edible plants grow in the neighborhood. These differences are bigger than they first appear to be. Young (1996), for example, found that even in classes full of science teachers, many could not pass a basic test about their local environment.

Finally, naturalist teaching often incorporates many other components drawn from indigenous cultures, including storytelling, hunting, cooking, ceremony, mentoring, philosophy and many more. Those interested in other areas typically outside the scope of the traditional classroom can get more ideas for teaching from Hall (2007), Brown (1983), Brown (1994), Bruchac and Fadden (1991), Garrett and Garrett (2002) and Young (1996).

Applications

Naturalist Teaching Activities

There are many applications that may be considered part of naturalist teaching, including casual hiking expeditions, bird watching, outdoor activities and serious wilderness survival. As mentioned above, however, the approach to any of these is extremely important. Some of these may not be naturalist in the strictest sense, but for many teachers, they offer different places to start. Naturalist teaching can happen anywhere.

An example that can help illustrate this is "people watching." Many people enjoy watching others pass by in the mall, at the park or in other pedestrian areas. They may note interesting hairstyles, unusual clothes, fascinating walks, or other features that draw attention. Rarely, though, do people watchers actually learn from the experience because it is perhaps far too passive. A more naturalist approach would try to draw out more by active observation and generating questions, noting more and attempting to recognize patterns. At a mall, for example, a naturalist might note that most people turn right at a certain kiosk, but periodically, some people turn left. This would then start an entire track of questions to discover what those who turned left had in common.

Outdoor Education / Experiential Education

Although these applications are often much more kinesthetic than they are naturalist, they can be good starting places for teachers. Programs like Outward Bound use nature as a way to further challenge students. Many of these programs use various stations or elements and team exercises to promote risk-taking and to build leadership. The Association for Experiential Education or the Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education, as well as Rohnke (1984) explain some of these activities.

Bird Watching

There are many organizations that promote activities such as bird watching. These can be wonderful introductions to the natural world since they encourage people to actively engage with the environment and to use their powers of observation. However, such activities, which often involve checklists, can lead some people into treating nature as a hobby, much like collecting baseball cards. In addition, there is also the issue of naming and identification.

Expeditions

There are numerous organizations, such as the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), that promote and encourage hiking, biking or other activities. Often these organizations have fairly strict rules or expectations about how to interact with nature. However, if they do not address issues of ecophobia in people, then they may only be minimally useful in true naturalist teaching.

Tracking & Wilderness Survival

Tracking groups are springing up around the country and serious naturalists start many of them. These programs are probably the most naturalist in terms of how they are organized and how the classes are taught. Many of these programs are excellent introductions to naturalist teaching, especially because they focus on skills and experiences.

Any of these can be brought to the classroom to create rich naturalist experiences. Many of the experiential education activities can be done in a classroom, although a gym would offer more possibilities. The idea of bird watching can be modified to suit many classroom settings. Students can observe any number of insects, birds, or even cars on the street. Teachers without access to open space can still go on interesting expeditions to the playground or parking lot. For example, using magnifying glasses, students can go on very short "hikes" to observe the micro world of ants. Teachers interested in hands-on projects can have students carve soapstone or soap, which are both soft enough to not require serious tools. Teachers with access to a sandbox have an excellent opportunity to teach tracking. The list goes on and there are plenty of books about outdoor activities with children. With the right spirit, any of these activities can be used for naturalist teaching.

Benefits of Naturalist Teaching & Learning

Naturalist teaching offers many benefits as described above, but more and more research is showing that simply being in nature can be beneficial as well. With increasing numbers of students spending significant amounts of time watching television, playing video games and surfing the web, there is a huge gap emerging between the students of today and those of even twenty years ago. Researching the implications of today's students spending so many hours indoors compared to generations of the past, led Richard Louv (2005) to coin the phrase "nature-deficit disorder." Some of the many benefits that can be achieved with naturalist teaching are discussed below. Strother (2007) discussed ten facets of Nobel prize-winning Richard Feynman's upbringing that are good examples of naturalist teaching.

Creative Play

Nature provides unstructured opportunities for children to be creative and to simply play. If students aren't spending most of their time in front of a computer or watching television, then many of them lead overscheduled lives. They move from one activity to another without a lot of time for unstructured play and creative time. In addition, there has been a decrease in outdoor nature play due to a lack of adequate natural spaces and laws restricting things like tree forts. As Louv (2005) noted, "Countless communities have virtually outlawed unstructured outdoor nature play, often because of the threat of lawsuits, but also because of a growing obsession with order" (p. 28).

Nature, however, offers freedom and respite. As Louv (2005) indicated, "In nature, a child finds freedom, fantasy, and privacy: a place distant from the adult world, a separate peace" (p. 7). This outdoor play in natural settings allows children to have natural experiences with their senses, and promotes creativity and exploration. Those interested in more about play and outdoor space can check out The American Association for the Child's Right to Play and the Natural Learning Initiative.

Health

Students who are outside are generally more active than their peers who stay indoors for video games and television. Considering the rise in childhood obesity and diabetes, this is already a positive benefit. In addition, as Louv (2005) indicated, "new studies suggest that exposure to nature may reduce symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and that it can improve all children's cognitive abilities and resistance to negative stresses and depression" (p. 34).

Spending time in nature has therapeutic benefits. Perhaps this is why 18th and 19th century doctors often prescribed traveling to remote areas as part of a complete cure. According to Louv (2005), "Children with more nature near their homes also rated themselves higher than their corresponding peers on a global measure of self-worth" (p. 49). As with something like pet therapy, spending time in nature reduces stress, depression and loneliness. As Louv (2005) noted, "One reason for the emotional benefits of nature may be that green space fosters social interaction and thereby promotes social support" (p. 49).

Relevancy & Immediacy

Unlike some subject areas and types of teaching that are abstract, naturalist teaching is real, visceral and immediate. There is nothing abstract about running a hand across bark, smelling fresh loam, hearing raindrops tickle a pond, or watching a coal created by fire by friction slowly come to life. For some students, naturalist teaching is practical, immediately useful and interesting, and, therefore, important.

Increased Senses

As Louv (2005) indicated, in our world of air conditioning, electronics, and synthetics, we are literally losing our senses through atrophy. Students are spending so much time indoors that they do not have sufficient opportunities to develop their senses. This raises questions. What happens to people who have diminished senses? What is their experience of the world? How do diminished senses affect people? Louv (2005) suggested that depression and loneliness result, along with the possibility of other effects, such as attention-deficit disorder.

Naturalist teaching actually provides opportunities for people to use their senses. Whether through classroom awareness exercises, blindfold walks, or differentiating various birdcalls, naturalist teaching encourages students to expand their abilities and awareness of their surroundings.

Patience

Nature teaches patience, or at least it can. In our world where things move at the speed of the Internet, more and more students are experiencing instant gratification. Search engines find answers instantaneously, word processors fix mistakes in seconds, and even inter-continental travel only takes hours. Nature, however, works at tremendously slower speeds. Tracking animals is not instant, creating fire by friction is not easy, and learning birdcalls and how they relate to various situations takes dedicated time. Naturalist teaching, therefore, promotes the development of patience.

Issues

Ecophobia

Perhaps the biggest issue facing any kind of naturalist teaching is ecophobia. More and more students, growing up sheltered from nature, are not only unfamiliar with the woods, but are actually afraid of them. With television shows focusing on bear attacks, newspapers covering stories about ticks and Lyme's Disease, reports of rabid animals, and more, many people fear going into the "wild." Add to this the threat of cold and rain, dirt, lack of electrical outlets, uncomfortable sleeping, and many more factors, and a large percentage of the population would rather stay home. As Louv stated, "Our society is teaching young people to avoid direct experience in nature" (2005, p. 2).

Many that actually do adventure out use trail guides and often stay on the trials, seeing and experiencing only what is along a narrow band of paths. This is largely true of school field trips, where large groups of students scurry into the woods, meet at a destination and then, just as quickly, rush back out. Some organizations that even promote the outdoors, in some ways discourage interacting fully with nature because they suggest or require people to stay on the trails. Although these rules are based on the beneficial idea of "minimal impact," the result is that some people may not fully experience nature.

No Outdoor Space

Many schools face the issue of having no suitable outdoor space. In the most extreme cases, students and teachers have only a concrete landscape to use for naturalist teaching and learning. If there is not a park nearby, then it may appear that naturalist teaching is simply not possible. However, this is not the case. For starters, the parking lot is still natural in the sense that it is still teeming with life. Landscapers use such a variety of plants these days that even a well-groomed school is a veritable garden.

There are a number of plants, such as milkweed, that inexorably grow through the cracks in pavement and along fence lines that can always be studied. Brill and Dean (1994) describe finding and harvesting plants in most locations, even backyards. In addition, there are numerous awareness exercises, adventure games, and initiatives that teachers can do even in indoor spaces, such as the gymnasium (Rohnke, 1984).

Television & Media

Television and the media not only proliferate ecophobia, but they are also contrary in many ways to naturalist teaching. For starters, television creates passivity, not the active learning characterized by naturalists. As McKibben (1992) noted, we "often watch television because of our mood or out of habit, instead of tuning in to see something in particular" (p. 18). Whereas naturalists try to learn deep and profound lessons, the news is full of brief clips and sound bytes that rarely explore anything beyond cursory presentation. In addition, because of television's fast, never-ending stream of information, commercials, colors, and sounds, there is rarely time for reflection or making connections to prior knowledge. Being in nature is a slowing down process, rather than a speeding up one, and provides opportunities for deep thought. As Louv (2005) stated, "Unlike television, nature does not steal time; it amplifies it" (p. 7).

Television shows about nature can be educational, but they can also be misleading. Hour after hour they present footage of dangerous, exotic and rare animals, giving the impression that these creatures are lurking everywhere, waiting for people to pass by. Endangered species don't seem all that rare; after all, how endangered can an animal be if it's shown on television enough times? Thousands of hours of footage are shot for these nature programs, and everything is distilled into a well-edited storyline. This is not nature. As McKibben (1992) wrote, "The nature documentaries are as absurdly action-packed as the soap operas, where a life's worth of divorce, adultery, and sudden death are crammed into a week's worth of watching-trying to understand 'nature' from watching Wild Kingdom is as tough as trying to understand 'life' from watching Dynasty " (p. 77).

Decreased Skills

Is there a price to be paid for technology? Are new inventions and gadgets replacing natural human skills and abilities? Take, for example, the technological camping gear that is available to many people. There is nothing wrong with sophisticated or technical camping gear. As Brown (1983) indicated, this gear saves many lives every year and allows people to go beyond their normal skill levels to new places and experiences. Wilson (1998) too, argued that technology has extended the human senses into realms beyond our normal range, such as cameras that see infrared wavelengths. These inventions have enabled countless additional explorations into remote and even dangerous places around the globe. However, like many technological inventions, the gear and gadgets may actually rob a person of the chance to develop natural skills. Why know how to build a shelter, for example, when a tent can simply be purchased? Why know how to start a fire by friction when matches are faster and easier? Why learn the nuances of hunting when a high-powered rifle can down a deer across a large field?

Curriculum & Scheduling

Many schools have state or local standards for the sciences, and naturalist teaching may seem unable to meet all of the requirements. This may be especially true for teachers who have to spend significant time transporting students to and from natural spaces. However, because naturalist teaching involves so many components, such as storytelling, history, culture, and more, it lends itself to project-based learning, and interdisciplinary or multi-disciplinary teaching. Teachers may find it easier to use a team approach, especially in block scheduling. In this manner, field trips could involve several class periods, reducing the percentage of time spent traveling, and would allow students to engage with several disciplines. Those interested in more can read Starnes and Carone (1999) or Schlemmer and Schlemmer (2008) for how to meet curriculum standards in a flexible way.

Names & Identification

Identifying plants and animals or providing names for things can stop students from observing more, asking additional questions, and genuinely engaging with nature. For example, a student might ask, "What is that tree?" Many teachers and parents have discovered that directly answering the question seems to end the research process. "It's a white pine" is often regarded as the end of the inquiry process, rather than a beginning. For some people who use checklists to observe nature, the name really is the end result. In this example, anything else about the tree, such as how old it is, what lives in the area, what makes it a white pine, what it can be used for, what stories exist about white pines, and more, is all lost or unexplored.

This tendency to reduce an entire inquiry process down to a name can be avoided in order to promote greater inquiry and observation. Strother (2007) noted that this was a feature of Nobel prize-winning Richard Feynman's upbringing. Rather than answering outright by identifying or naming the plant or animal, ask questions that lead the students to use their senses. Using the above example, a teacher could instead start asking a series of questions: "What is the bark like? How many needles are in a cluster? What's different about these needles than the ones we saw earlier?"

Training

Training workshops specifically for naturalist teaching can be difficult to find and even more difficult to work into a teacher's schedule. However, there are many science museums and nature centers that offer teacher workshops in such things as journaling, tracking, and tree identification. Those interested in learning more about indigenous skills can check out one of the many wilderness survival schools across the country. Those who want or need at-home training can begin the Kamana Naturalist Training Program available through the Wilderness Awareness School. This comprehensive program allows students to work at their own paces and offers various levels of assistance throughout the process.

Outdoor Classroom Management

Managing students outdoors is another major issue. The idea of students getting lost on a mountain or injured along a trial is enough to keep most teachers in their classrooms. As Kalvaitis (2007) found in his own research, teachers wanting to go outdoors most feared losing control of the students. However, although students may be more dispersed and distracted outdoors, the basics of classroom management still apply. Wong and Wong (1998) provided useful strategies for classroom procedures that can adopted for outdoor situations. Kalvaitis (2007) provided ideas and suggestions for working with students specifically outdoors.

Medical Concerns

With many students on medication and a large number with allergies of various kinds, it is obviously important to prepare for medical contingencies. In addition, risk of injury far from direct medical attention is enough to steer many teachers away from leading trips. There are courses that offer special certifications, such as wilderness first aid, but many teachers may be unwilling or unable to take them. However, there are many companies that lead trips and cover these medical concerns, along with insurance issues.

Terms & Concepts

The American Association for the Child's Right to Play: The U.S. affiliate of the International Play Association that promotes play as a fundamental right of all people.

Ecophobia: Fear of the environment, particularly the woods or the "wilderness."

Kamana Naturalist Training Program: An at-home naturalist training program that can be completed at one's own pace.

Minimal Impact: A set of procedures or rules for decreasing the effects that humans have on the environment.

Natural Learning Initiative: An organization dedicated to the role of natural design in promoting well being.

Nature Deficit Disorder: The term used by Richard Louv to describe the symptoms of children who are disconnected from nature and natural experiences.

Bibliography

Aydeniz, M., & Hodge, L. (2011). Is it dichotomy or tension: I am a scientist. No, wait! I am a teacher!. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 6, 165-179. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=58744230&site=ehost-live

Brill, S. & Dean, E. (1994). Identifying and harvesting edible and medicinal plants in wild (and not so wild) places. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Brown, T., Jr. & Morgan, B. (1983). Tom Brown's field guide to wilderness survival. New York: Berkley Books.

Brown, T., Jr. (1994). Awakening spirits. New York: Berkley Books.

Brown, T., Jr. (1999). The science and art of tracking. New York: Berkley Books

Bruchac, J. and Fadden, J.K. (1991). Native American stories. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing.

Eick, C. (2012). Use of the outdoor classroom and nature-study to support science and literacy learning: A narrative case study of a third-grade classroom. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 23, 789-803. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=83330516&site=ehost-live

Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence reframed: multiple intelligences for the 21st century. New York: BasicBooks.

Garrett, J.T. & Garrett, M.T. (2002). The Cherokee full circle: a practical guide to ceremonies and traditions. Rochester, VT: Bear & Company.

Hall, M. (2007). Mentoring the natural way: native American approaches to education. Reclaiming Children & Youth, 16 , 14-16. Retrieved December 10, 2007 from EBSCO online database, Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=25296539&site=ehost-live

Kalvaitis, D. (2007). A recipe for outdoor classroom management. Green Teacher, 81, p. 36-38. Retrieved December 10, 2007 from EBSCO online database, Education Research Complete, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=26265485&site=ehost-live

Louv, R. (2005). Last child in the woods: saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books.

McKibben, B. (1992). The age of missing information. New York: Random House.

Rohnke, K. (1984). Silver bullets: a guide to initiative problems, adventure games, and trust activities. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

Schlemmer, P. & Schlemmer, D. (2008). Teaching beyond the test: differentiated project-based learning in a standards-based age. Minneapolis: Free Spirit Publishing, Inc.

Sobel, D. (2007). Climate change meets ecophobia. Connect Magazine, 2, p.

14-21. Retrieved December 13, 2007 from EBSCO online database, Education Research Complete, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=27185468&site=ehost-live

Starnes, B.A. & Carone, A. (1999). From thinking to doing: constructing a framework to teach mandates through experience-based learning. Mountain City, GA: The Foxfire Fund, Inc.

Strother, M.A. (2007). A mind for adventure. Reclaiming Children & Youth, 16 , 17-21. Retrieved December 10, 2007 from EBSCO online database, Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=25296540&site=ehost-live

Wiggins, G. (1998). Educative assessment: designing assessments to inform and improve student performance. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc., Publishers.

Wilson, E.O. (1998). Consilience: The unity of knowledge. New York: Vintage Books.

Wong, H.K. & Wong, R. (1998). The first days of school: how to be an effective teacher. Mountain View, CA: Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc.

Young, J. (2001). Exploring natural mystery: Kamana one. Owlink Media.

Young, J. (1996). Seeing through native eyes: understanding the language of nature. [Audio Cassette Series]. Owlink Media.

Suggested Reading

Ackerman, D. (1990). A natural history of the senses. New York: Vintage Books.

Brown, T., Jr. (1993). Grandfather. New York: Berkley Books.

Gilbert, E. (2002). The last American man. New York: Penguin Putnam, Inc.

Hill, N.R. (2007). Wilderness therapy as a treatment modality for at-risk youth: a primer for mental health counselors. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 29 , 338-349. Retrieved December 10, 2007 from EBSCO online database, Education Research Complete, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=27329700&site=ehost-live

Murchie, G. (1999). The seven mysteries of life: an exploration of science and philosophy. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Postman, N. (1995). The end of education: redefining the value of school. New York: Vintage Books.

Quinn, D. (1992). Ishmael: an adventure of the mind and spirit. New York: Bantam/Turner. Watson, L. (1990). The nature of things: the secret life on inanimate objects. Rochester, VT: Destiny Books.