Research Shows: Go outside, take the time to do it right, let students lead

What Works, and What Doesn’t

Kestrel’s model was developed in response to prominent research in the fields of environmental education and child development.

Worldwide studies consistently show that childhood exploration of wild and semi wild places, alongside caring adults, is the number one predictor of adults who are actively engaged in working to protect the natural world. Studies also show that authentic experiences are the most effective learning conduits, and that true, indelible understanding and personal mastery is constructed by learners, with adults as skilled guides.

We know that environmental education (EE) can have a significant impact on attitudes towards, positive action for, and awareness about the natural environment.

Properly implemented, EE is also shown to promote academic achievement, depth of learning, civic engagement, and overall physical and emotional well being.

However, not all environmental education has the desired effect. Exposing very young children to worldwide disasters while keeping them disconnected from their own nearby wilds has been shown to cause fear and disengagement from the natural world. Kit - based curriculum and scripted or adult driven curriculum has limited benefits, over -simplifying complex concepts and keeping children from learning to use critical thinking and collaboration to seek understanding and find solutions to new problems.

Research also shows that being given cursory information about the environment may not have much long term impact on attitudes and behaviors at all.

The danger here is that we teach children about the overwhelming environmental issues facing the world, without giving them the tools and skills they need to solve them. The result can be “Ecophobia” (coined by David Sobel), or “Nature Deficit Disorder” (coined by Richard Louv). Both can negatively impact children’s health and well being, and make them paradoxically less likely to become strong and effective advocates for the natural world.

We simply must make time for environmental education, and for direct experiences in the natural world that foster connection to and understanding of place.

Research- Based Recommendations

Leading researchers on the impact of environmental education programming during school time recommend programming that involves direct connection with nature, takes place over an extended time, and involves the students in substantial decision making and leadership of project based learning.

They also recommend “widening circles” of study, with the youngest children focused on their immediate surroundings, and waiting until children are older to study faraway places.

The teaching models that fare best in impact studies are those that anchor locally based topics to academic studies throughout a whole semester or year. Those that fare best also are authentic and ask students to complete work that will be valued outside of their classroom, by peers and adults.

The same methods also prove to be effective routes to academic achievement and better socio-emotional outcomes.

isn’t it more important to teach children about environmental problems so they know how to solve them?

Kestrel believes in using research as our guide, and the research shows that wild play and relationships to wild place, building love and connection to nature, should always come first. To quote David Sobel, “love preceeds concern.” We are heavily influenced by David Sobel’s essays and research reviews, most especially Beyond Ecophobia, and “Look but Don’t Touch” cited below. Based on his work as well as that of other educational theorists and researchers (see citations), we have developed a model that is child centered, based on developing positive attachment to the natural world and thoughtful analysis of natural systems. “ “If we want children to flourish,” David Sobel says, “to become truly empowered, then let us allow them to love the earth before we ask them to save it.” Extensive research and research reviews by Louise Chawla shows similar effects: “connecting with nature and acting to protect nature can be mutually reinforcing. Children and adults with higher measures of nature connection report more pro-environmental behaviours of many kinds … while programs that successfully increase connection with nature often involve nature conservation activities.”

Kestrel’s Response to the Research

All our school-based programming was designed in response to the leading research on the impact of environmental education, and is continuously updated based on new findings. While our program depth ranges from two hours in the field to semester-long inquiry projects, all programs are based on inspiring and practicing direct and positive connection to local wilds, and guiding students to analyze findings and invent solutions.

We ask children to become scientists and naturalists on their own town’s land. These inquiry-based experiences involve children in creating and sharing something original (maps, field guides, scientific reports) that incorporates their own findings.

Our elementary school programs highlight local natural systems and our place in them, and do not emphasize large scale ecological disaster or far off places. Our middle and high school programs do take on environmental issues such as habitat loss and endangered species, but generally focus on local places and local species, and engage the students directly as they help monitor rare local species and map the life in sensitive habitats.

The Research

The 2015 Environmental Literacy Report compiled by the National Environmental Education Foundation found that concern for environmental issues is down substantially over the past decade, and that concern for the economy is stronger than concern for the environment. The Yale Project on Climate Change showed about half the country is lacking basic understanding of fundamental concepts about the climate.

The North American Association for Environmental Education has produced a set of guidelines for excellence in environmental education. They all include skill building, observation, and thoughtful analysis. NAAEE guidelines have as a principle foundation the idea that K-12 students must engage directly with the natural world through observation and inquiry over time. Click here to view the K-12 guidelines.

The Environmental Literacy in America report from the the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation states: “Real change usually emerges from educational strategies that give the learner a sense of involvement and ownership. Hallmarks of effective EE programs include hands-on activities, investigational approaches, out-of-the-classroom experiences, and student-directed learning. Too few of our schools make use of these approaches, relegating EE to a traditional lecture style, "information only" format. Teachers need to be trained in these more sophisticated forms of student-directed instruction.”

The National Environmental Education and Training Foundation studied the impact of using the natural environment as a context for learning in schools: “Students learn to “do science” rather than just “learn about science.” Using nature as an outdoor laboratory helps create conditions conducive to learning. Students’ natural interest in the environment motivates them to learn and understand the complexities of their world. Increased student motivation was observed in all of the schools and classrooms included in this study.”

Research and Literature Sources and Links:

Beyond Ecophobia Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education, by David Sobel https://orionmagazine.org/cart/nature-literacy-series/new-beyond-ecophobia-reclaiming-the-heart-in-nature-education-second-edition

“Look but Don’t Touch” by David Soblel: https://orionmagazine.org/article/look-dont-touch1/

Education for Strategic Environmental Behavior; Environmental Education Research, by Louise Chawla

A summary of research, curated by the Children & Nature Network and the North American Association for Environmental Education.

https://youthoutdoorpolicy.org/why-youth-outdoors/

Executive Summary from NAAEE / Stanford University Study: https://cdn.naaee.org/sites/default/files/eeworks/files/k-12_student_key_findings.pdf

Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv

The Case for Constructivist Classrooms

Dimensions Foundation Summary of findings - helping children love the Earth