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I see you, educators, during these stressful days. Working hours on report cards, planning engaging lessons, thinking about graduations, end of year celebrations, and maintaining all of this with a smile each day.

I feel your joyful moments, educators, during these sunny days. Finding moments of shared humour with students, laughing with them during classes and letting them know how much you care. Cultivating relationships with your colleagues where you can support one another through this last month of the school year.

I know it’s hard, educators, during these demanding days. It’s hard to imagine the work will ever be done, deadlines will ever be met, and that in a few short weeks we will be saying good-bye to students who occupy a space in our hearts and lives.

I share your excitement, educators, during these inspiring days. Reflecting on how far the students have come, their growth, and their friendships. Seeing the difference you have made this school year as you have worked shoulder to shoulder with children to help them realize their potential.

I understand your wonder, educators, during these evolving days. Some of us are taking on new roles or challenges in your school board or union and wondering what the next year will bring. Some of us are retiring and wondering about what life will be like in September without school bells and announcements to guide our days. Some of us are moving to a new school with curiosity and excitement about what change will bring. Some of us are in the same positions and already reflecting and planning ahead about what we’ll do differently next year.

I recognize myself in each of us, educators, during these very full days. I, too, am making lists so I don’t forget anything. I’m writing notes and sticky notes and putting them in places to remind myself of things I want to think about when I have some time later. I’m using my timer to make sure I schedule in enough work time – but also enough break time – and stocking up on soooo many snacks and caffeine and sparkling water to get me through the next few weeks.

I’m embracing emotions with you, educators, during these June days. Embracing all of the range of emotions we both feel, similarly and differently, each June. I’m holding space for the messiness, for the chaos, for the joy, and for every beautiful moment while knowing that it’s all just a few weeks before it ends.

This past March, I was able to attend the workshop Educating for Social Justice at the ETFO Provincial Office. It was an incredible experience! Sharing space and learning with other like minded educators is always so cup filling. The connections and conversations with other women were so meaningful over the course of the workshop.
To me, social justice in education is multi-faceted. It includes the way we interact with and care for students. It is a mindset that values diversity, equal opportunity to tell one’s story, and celebrates all identities. In this workshop we had so many examples of how to embed social justice in the daily classroom.
Dr. Stephanie Fearon, from York University, was the incredible keynote speaker. Her address was titled “It’s More Than Just Teaching: Storying Liberatory Learning Spaces”. She focused on storytelling and it’s importance in the classroom. I loved the way she used storytelling to share about her own family and identity. She invited us to be active learners in her presentation, and to critically think about how we tell stories and how we might unintentionally perpetuate stereotypes.
Something that I really appreciated was how Dr. Fearon framed the critique circle for us. She demonstrated a lesson for us and asked us to critique the lesson. She had us repeat that we ‘do this in service of the educator’ to ensure that everyone knew a critique was different from criticism. The idea that educators should seek critique of their work when we are striving to better our teaching practice was at the heart of the idea of a critique circle. We are all seeking to improve our practice and build trust in our fellow educators to give feedback that is meaningful and important.
Next, was a presentation by Jen Matsalla titled “Who Am I? Using Visual Arts to Explore Identity”. In this interactive workshop, we had a wonderful community building activity with open ended questions and the opportunity to think and explore our identities and the identities of others. I loved that everyone could have an entry point and it was low risk art activities that would be accessible to every student. Each table created a collaborative arts piece and we put them all together on the floor to make a large, beautiful collage of art.
We had the opportunity to listen to Michelle McKay’s presentation “Engaging in Teaching and Learning About Truth and Reconciliation in the Elementary Classroom”. This incredible early years educator shared with us her experience of working in kindergarten to provide opportunities to build students’ relationships with the land in a meaningful way. The activities she shared helped students to see themselves as stewards and in partnership with the land and community in their neighbourhood. She also shared a video clip with us of students as activists, appealing to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for better care of the environment. It was so inspiring!
Lastly, we participated in a series of hands-on activities thanks to Gail Bedeau and Helen Vlachoyannacos. Their workshop, “Teaching Critical Literacy through a Social Justice Stance”, had us thinking about all kinds of texts, from visual designs to short stories and poetry. Using a variety of different strategies, these educators had us work through different tasks to experience and consider how we might use these strategies in the classroom at different grade levels to have students interact meaningfully with texts that share identities and social justice themes.
This conference is a must for educators! As an educator, it was a wonderful opportunity to learn with and from others’ experiences. I came away so inspired by Dr. Fearon’s presentation, with a full toolkit of strategies to use in the classroom, and great connections with colleagues across the province. If you’re looking for the chance to really think about how you can embed social justice into your classroom and teaching practice, this is a great place to start. Hope to see you there next year.

In part one of my post, I talked about the importance of breaking from narratives about the outdoors that do not serve the communities we teach. What are some next steps we can take toward helping students feel a sense of belonging in the Canadian outdoors?

We can start by reimagining outdoor learning from a stance of cultural responsiveness.

In her book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, Zaretta Hammond provides an anti-oppressive and anti-racist framework for teaching culturally and linguistically diverse learners. While I will even attempt to summarize her entire work, I want to draw your attention to a few key ideas that will help us make our final learning goal actionable.

Based on Hammond’s framework for culturally responsive teaching, here are 6 approaches we can use as outdoor educators to support student well being.

1. Know and Own your Privilege

To assume a culturally responsive stance, it is important to be aware of your own social position in the outdoors. Explore the following questions:

What is your relationship with the land you inhabit?

What is your proximity to power?

How might you use your understanding of your intersected identities to rethink the way you plan and program for learners?

You can use tools like the Wheel of Power and Privilege to reflect on your social position so you can be better prepared to practice compassion and listen openly to others, especially the students you work with.

2. Leverage Representation to reduce social and emotional stress

Studies over the last 20 years indicate that historically, racialized and marginalized groups are underrepresented in the outdoors. As a kid, I remember reading the popular story of outdoor survival, Hatchet, and then still seeing it taught in schools as a much older educator. Does anyone here know that book? It’s absolutely riveting – but there are lots of other great choices to offer students in today’s increasingly diverse publishing world.

Representation matters, and when students see and hear stories where they can see themselves and their community in an authentic way, the impact is powerful. And I want to take a moment to emphasize the importance of authenticity, because there are many books that will tell the same stories but simply change the colour of the character’s skin, especially in picture books.

The publishing industry, like many other media platforms, have started to diversify its cent. As someone who has rarely ever seen people that look like me show up in books and media, I can personally attest that the shift in representation has been exciting and identity affirming.

3. Recognize the difference between individualism & collectivism and how they show up in different activities.

Let’s move on to the next culturally responsive approach, which is to recognize the difference between individualism and collectivism, and how they show up in different activities.

Individualism is typically associated with Western societies that value traits like independence, competition, and achievement without any outside help. Many cultures outside of Canada are more oriented toward collectivism, which is associated with interdependence and community.

We don’t always realize it, but the games we play and the activities we plan often reflect deep cultural values. Many outdoor activities celebrate and explore individualism, conquest, aggression and competition – which may not be valued by all communities. As a result, some students may experience a lot of discomfort when engaging in such activities.

For a more culturally responsive approach, incorporate outdoor activities that encourage community building, self-reflection, and personal wellness. Providing different options for kids to choose from can go a long way in fostering a connection between your students and the natural world.

4. Broaden your understanding of how different communities interact with the outdoors.

This brings me to the next approach, which is to broaden your understanding of how different communities interact with outdoor spaces.

It is a powerful practice to honour the different ways students and their families already engage with the outdoors as a foundation for learning.

People from different cultures bring different knowledge about the outdoors and the environment. As an educator, it is totally worthwhile to talk with students about what they do with their families outside, what types of clothing they wear in different conditions, and how their communities connect with and interpret nature.

They may camp, play sports, visit the beach, picnic, play music, or gather in large groups. Some communities may cope with environmental challenges differently, especially if they have arrived from a climate that is significantly different from Canada’s.

It is important to understand these differences so we can better respond to student needs and help them to feel more confident in challenging physical environments. Talking about nature in this way also builds cultural competence, and positions students as partners in learning with educators.

5. Make instructions, activities, & information comprehensible and relevant to students and families.

Next, let’s talk about the importance of making instructions, activities, and information comprehensible and relevant to students and families. As a teacher of multilingual learners, I cannot stress enough how important it is to bridge communication gaps between the school and home. In an outdoor learning context, where there is often an element of risk, maintaining clear communication is critical.

In my school board, more than half the learners are multilingual and in the process of acquiring proficiency in English. They often have families that are also learning the dominant languages in Canada. It is becoming increasingly commonplace for students to arrive with limited and interrupted schooling due to environmental events and political crises.

When we are engaging in land based and outdoor activities, it is important to know linguistic variability among students so you can provide appropriate scaffolding to make the learning, information, and instructions comprehensible.

Create a supported environment by pairing or connecting same language speakers during lessons, adjusting the pace of your speaking, or by using physical gestures to help students understand whatever activity you are engaging in.

Communicating with families about outdoor learning in the school in the languages spoken throughout the community may also help families feel more secure and confident when field trips and offsite learning is being offered. They will also know more about the role of outdoor learning in their child’s education.

6. Create supportive, trauma-informed environments that cultivate a desire to explore, play, take risks, and experience awe.

Finally, I want to talk about the last approach: create supportive, trauma-informed environments that cultivate a desire to explore, take risks, and experience awe.

Newcomers to Canada and marginalized communities often experience economic and physical barriers to outdoor spaces and may not come with the same background experiences as their peers. Though outdoor learning challenges that involve risky play are excellent ways for students to build confidence and problem solving skills, it is important to understand that some students may approach the activity much differently based on their lived experience and background knowledge.  Challenge and support students based on their level of safety and comfort.

Take into consideration that some students may have complex relationships with recreation and play. This is something I struggle with personally as a child of immigrants. My parents worked a lot, especially during time of economic uncertainty, and play and relaxation was something I believed needed to be “earned” or “worked for”.

In her book “Permission to Come Home” – which I recommend for any of my East and Southeast Asian colleagues here today – Psychologist Dr. Jenny T. Wang writes about the difficulty many communities have accessing play as a result of learning in childhood that play must be postponed for survival. As educators we can use this awareness to support students in finding their way to play so they can experience its gifts: rest, joy, creativity, and the freedom to explore and experience awe in nature.

Finally, with any activity, know your learner, especially if they have experienced recent or significant trauma that may impact the way they show up in the outdoor learning environment. Leverage nature as a resource for practicing activities that reduce anxiety or provide an outlet for releasing difficult emotions, such as meditation or other sensory activities.

I’ve spent my life being really critical of my artistic abilities so this blog took me out of my comfort zone!  Lately I’ve been wanting to give myself a chance to create art, especially after learning that putting your hands to use can be an excellent way to relax your brain and get some good feelings from dopamine. 

There is data to back up the theory that busy hands are good for your brain. Knitting, painting, carving, needlework, cooking, gardening and so many more activities that use our hands also help us feel happy and calm.  Studies by neuroscientist Dr. Kelly Lambert explore the effort driven reward cycle.  She believes that moving our hands to produce satisfying creations may help prevent depression and have other positive benefits on mental health.

Applying this science to ourselves and our classrooms could very helpful! Lambert encourages us to get off screens and put our hands and minds to use in more productive ways. 

I’ve included a suggestion for an art lesson. You could definitely do this with a class but honestly I also do it for myself. My brain needs a break too!

What you need

Paper – watercolour paper is great but try experimenting with old music sheets, pages out of discarded books, box board, etc

Watercolour paints – I have very inexpensive ones

Small paintbrush – since this is very blobby art, the brush doesn’t matter much

2 containers of water (one for washing brush and one for clean water to add to paint)

A marker, pen, pencil crayon or crayon

Scissors and glue (optional)

Technique

1. Use masking tape to frame the paper and attach to the work surface.
2. Draw curvy  intersecting lines with your marker – many of them
3. Where the lines intersect make them thicker and  more curved
4. Spray your water colour paints with water and let them sit for a minute 
5. Dip your brush in and paint one of the empty spaces.
6. Continue filling the empty spaces with colour.
7. Allow colours to mix or leave each blob as a colour of its own.
8. Let it dry.
9. Options: 

• Fold it and use it as a card.
• Cut out shapes and glue them on a card.
• Frame it!

If you enjoyed this activity then I encourage you to follow Andrea Nelson on Instagram. She often references that creating art soothes her brain. Her videos inspired me to do this!