"Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results" - John Dewey
Teaching Philosophy
As a teacher, I believe in two forms of education. One that brings to class a diversity of ideas which stimulates critical thinking and second where what students learn inside a classroom can be applied and reflected outside of the classroom as well. In my environmental studies lesson plans, I integrate such forms of learning by encouraging students to engage in critical conversations about environmental conservation and by creating activities which will generate a sense of empathy in students for the nature and its inhabitants. Recently, I designed a short pre-trip lesson where students in the class room had discussions on finding the similarities between their habitats and the habitats of species that live in an old growth forest. This exercise helped generate conversations based on empathy, respect and developed a sense of curiosity among students for the wonders of old growth forests.
Reflections
Teaching more than 30 students in an old growth forest over the course of 5 weeks has taught me a lot about the challenges of teaching outside a traditional classroom. Nature is a great teacher. However, when students with limited interaction with nature are brought to an old growth forest, they have an uncontrollable sense of curiosity for their surroundings. Which made it challenging for me to implement my curriculum effectively when I was teaching at the HJ Andrews old growth forest in Oregon. In order to maximize their attention span, I integrated several games such as ‘Plant ID’, which was a specie identification game based on close observation of essential old-growth species, and, ‘Sacred-Soils, which involved soil layer differentiation using the sense of touch and smell. This aided me in retaining their attention for effectively delivering the learning outcomes.During my teaching time, I experienced non-stop questions about the forest, its species and the overall old-growth ecosystem. Therefore, I am a strong advocate for maximizing learning through observational games and incorporation of all human senses.