Immerse yourself in nature, or experience education

We live in a world full of stimuli. We are used to receiving them, analyzing them and drawing conclusions. So why not use this to gain knowledge about the environment? Experiencing nature in an unusual way can yield unexpected results.

Imagine a scene like this: the kids have put their backpacks under a tree and are busily stirring spoons in buckets with mud fished from a park pond, looking for bugs, dragonfly larvae and other aquatic monsters.

How about another? A bunch of preschoolers armed with sticks glide vigilantly along the forest road, turning over all the smashed frogs to see if any gravedigger beetles and other amateurs of carrion have gathered beneath them.

Or: a couple of seniors check out what it’s like to walk barefoot on wet moss in early spring.

Or one like this: a group of employees of a serious corporation chew gout leaves with their eyes closed and search their memory for the name of the dish this taste reminds them of.

What do they all do? They experience. They satisfy curiosity. They derive joy from being outside and interacting with nature.

It is experience that seems to be an important part of nature education, and more broadly: climate or environmental education. To gain knowledge about natural processes, and consequently with our own attitudes, small daily choices and big life decisions to influence the environment, we can use various tools. Relevant content in the core curriculum at school, lectures, books and articles or online courses give access to knowledge, but from this there is still a long way to go to engage the audience, to reflect, to translate the information gained into a broader perspective. Not to mention applying that knowledge, i.e. making changes in thinking and the way we live.

What can we do to make education effective? Engage the senses, engage the emotions, nurture curiosity and self-reliance. And don’t limit ourselves to any age or social group, because people can (and should) learn throughout their lives.

Kolb’s cycle and Helge’s steps, or some theory

Intuitively, we know that immersion in nature increases the effectiveness of nature education, but what about theory? The Experimental Learning Model comes to the rescue. It was developed decades ago by American professor David Kolb, and is more widely known as Kolb’s Cycle [1].

It boils down the learning process to four recurring stages: experiencing, reflecting, theorizing and acting, and is based on the natural ways in which people learn new things throughout their lives.

The first stage, or experiencing, is crucial – using the senses, observing and engaging with the processes and phenomena we encountered here and now.

Experience is followed by reflection (reflecting, reflecting observation), that is, processing the observed phenomena, arranging them into sequences of relationships, matching them with the knowledge we already have and combining them with the feelings they evoked in us.

Then, in the process of conceptualization (thinking, abstract conceptualization), we draw conclusions, formulate theories, and seek applications for the observed and analyzed phenomena.

The last stage is action (acting, active experimenting), during which we try to put into practice in new areas the effect of the previous stages. At this point, we can also design experiments to deepen the knowledge gained – and thus begin the next turn of the cycle.

Kolb’s model applies to general learning theory. Environmental education can also use another, more specific Theory of steps in environmental awareness (Pedagogic steps in environmental maturity), developed by Bjørn Helge Bjørnstad of the Norwegian Forestry Development Institute [2]. Helge stresses that the basis and beginning of nature education should be learning to enjoy being in nature. And what better way to do this than by immersing yourself in nature: delving into a shady forest, wading in a humming meadow or poking a stick in the mud?

The next steps in this model are: experiencing and observing nature, understanding ecological relationships, understanding the interdependence of humans and nature, making decisions with concern for environmental resources, and the last highest step: taking responsibility for the future.

Health from the forest

Acting on the initial educational stages of taking people into nature also has positive effects on their health. The concept of forest bathing (or forest therapy), which originated in Japan but is becoming increasingly popular in the world and in Poland, should be recalled here. Shinrin-yoku – forest bathing – is spending time in the forest to be healthier, happier and calmer. (…) Studies have shown that communing with trees can lower blood pressure, reduce stress, increase vital energy and boost the immune system [3]. Just 20 minutes of undisturbed exposure to the forest environment and contact with the chemical compounds and microorganisms found there is enough for our health to benefit, but the longer, the better.

Something for kids, something for adults

If I had to describe my work in one short sentence, it would be this: I take people to the forest. I purposely do not write children, because I work with all age groups, but first I will tell about an example of an educational activity aimed specifically at children.

For several years I have been leading Forest Bands – classes based on experiencing nature. They are designed for school groups and conceived to combine nature knowledge with learning basic life skills. Children learn to identify plants, start a fire, track animals, build shelters, and safely use a knife or saw. The three-hour classes are held periodically every season at a fixed location, either in the forest or in a park. The kids bond with their surroundings, practice self-reliance and cooperation, but also have a great time outdoors [4]. I observe how, from meeting to meeting, they become less and less afraid (of spiders, nettles or rain, for example), make better use of what they have learned previously, move into the wilderness more willingly and with greater curiosity, and at the same time treat the elements of nature with greater respect and attentiveness.

It’s a lot of fun to watch bandwagoners, divided into small groups at a recent class, build a hut completely on their own, light a fire and cook an infusion on it from edible plants they’ve identified and collected on their own.

At the opposite end of the age scale of participants in my classes I have seniors. Does working with them look different?

Yes, because we don’t have to worry about the core curriculum, participants don’t run around the forest, but you have to take into account their possible limitations when planning the route.

And no – seniors also need to experience. Being in the woods brings them joy and improves their well-being, besides, they will assimilate knowledge better if they engage all their senses in receiving stimuli. So do children.

In the project with seniors, we address human impact on the environment and climate through our daily choices, the way we live and how we treat the resources we use. We introduce each topic – from sorting and recycling to food and growing crops to environmentally friendly technologies – through workshops, nature expeditions and trips rather than lectures. We also have a special series with forest bathing: classes that show how you can take care of your health and well-being using only immersion in nature and a set of simple exercises. Do you think it’s hard to persuade seniors to sniff mulch and humus, walk barefoot on moss or wade in a forest river? No, it’s quite easy. From such an expedition they return brightened, oxygenated, calm and with a desire for more!

Let’s go outside

Conclusions? Let’s take children, adults and seniors outdoors, let’s go into nature, to the forest or meadow. Our health and well-being will benefit. It will immediately. And in the long run, we will better understand the world around us, be more resistant to manipulation, and the decisions we make will be better for the world and people.

Karolina Remuszko – nature and climate educator, forester. Runs a company in the Mazury region called Przez LAS, where she shows children and adults the world of nature, organizes forest expeditions, camping, workshops and trainings about climate and the environment (przezlas.edu.pl, @przez_las_). Trainer of the Forest Band. Educator in the project Caring for the World for Generations funded by the UTW Program – Seniors in Action of the Polish-American Freedom Foundation implemented by the Society for Creative Initiatives.

In the article, I used, among others. z:

[1] experientiallearninginstitute.org
[2] Bjørn Helge Bjørnstad, Forestry Extension Institute, Norway; “Pedagogic steps in environmental maturity,” 2013
[3] Quing Li, 2018. Shinrin-yoku Art and Theory of Forest Bathing
[4] forestnabanda.co.uk