Beyond Wallpaper: Nature In Outdoor Education | JMBP-E05

Nature has become wallpaper in outdoor education; a backdrop for human-focused activities. But it doesn’t need to be. When it’s only scenery, it’s not easy to get people to engage. From personal experience I know that the natural world is a different place to someone who is seeking food, raw materials for crafts, materials for a shelter, and other necessities for life than it is to someone for whom it’s just scenery, or maybe the place they go to do a ropes course. When you rely on it, like the vast majority of humanity throughout history has, your awareness of the subtleties becomes pronounced. It becomes home. Passing this way of knowing the world on to the next generation should be among the top goals of outdoor education, but it’s not. In this podcast, I discuss why.

It was originally given as a presentation at the Snow Walker’s Rendezvous in November, 2013. I told attendees that it would be on the web as a podcast soon, but as sometimes happens technology got in the way. But with our website migration complete, it’s time to hit the publish button. If you’ve been waiting, sorry for the delay.

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Comments on this entry are closed.

  • jory

    thanks, tim….this gives us a good perspective of what’s happening….how we are often so alienated in the midst of nature. i’m an avid hiker and iceboater….and i hope your words will invite me to slow down–do battle with timism–and just open up my lens a little wider to what might happen, beyond the habits which have grown up over the years….

  • Thanks for the comment Jory. Here’s to opening the lens as wide as it will go!

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