FOREST SCHOOL TEACHER TRAINING
Sept - May (3 days a week)
One of the most intensive Forest School Teacher Training courses available.
Program Details
Duration
September 10, 2018 - May 18, 2019, with breaks Thanksgiving, Winter Break, and Spring Break.
Field Days & Overnights
Weekly training days every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. Field days offer hands-on projects and team-based expeditions. The program also has overnight camping and field trips.
Thursday Skills Evenings
You also attend our evening Wilderness Skills Club (one Thursday a month) and our Open Archery Range (every Thursday, Friday, Saturday).
Field Practicum & Experience
Practicum and Observational Filed Days can occur outside of regular class days and are scheduled with your instructor. Ride-along with Trackers Earth programs with a primary focus on the age group and content of your choice. From that time, you write sample curriculums and schedules based on your course learning and field experience. We share this working program development as a class cohort, with all students participating in feedback to further develop your educational toolkit. We recommend at least one Practicum and Observational Field Day a seasonal term—students are welcome to schedule more. Since every student will observe at least one youth program, background checks are a prerequisite for before starting field practicums.
Overnight Camping & Seasonal Expeditions
8 weeks of the program are overnight camping at our forest campus or on traveling expeditions. Expeditions are a huge part of the program and occur throughout the year. Your first week will be an overnight at Camp Trackers, our 90-acre site out in Sandy, Oregon. Our final expedition is a rite of passage, testing your skills and kit in a week-long Wilderness Survival Expedition. Key expeditions include:
- Tracking at the Oregon Dunes
- Coastal Foraging along the Oregon Coast
- Shelter Building at the Bull Run Educational Center
- Stone Tools in the high desert of Eastern Oregon
- Outdoor Education & Forest School West Coast tour
- Three additional overnight trips that vary from year-to-year
Overnights average between 3 - 7 days. The West Coast tour is 10-days total (may be split into 2 shorter segments). To assist students in accommodating personal and work schedules, the overnight itinerary is available 3-months before program start.
Location
Many field days take place at one of our two wilderness locations in Sandy, Oregon: Camp Trackers, 80-acres on the edge of the Bull Run Wilderness and the 91-acre Bull Run Education Center. Other Field days include excursions to other sites for harvesting and expeditions.
Housing
As of Fall 2018 limited on-site and local housing (cost is separate from tuition) will be available in Sandy, Oregon — Contact Us for details.
If you choose to live in Portland, there are many excellent opportunities for individual or group housing in the Trackers Community. Upon registration, we connect you with online forums within the Trackers community where you can inquire about potential housing opportunities with fellow students or other community members.
Tuition Options
We offer several payment options to meet student financial requirements. Limited scholarship awards are also available on an application and need basis.
- Option 1 - Payment Plan $100 deposit with 10-monthly payments of $985 (total $9,950).
- Option 2 - Pay in Full Total of $9,450 due by Sept 1 (save $500).
- Early Registration Savings Register by April 20, 2018 for a $500 tuition discount.
- Financial Aid Options Limited Scholarships awards are available. Contact Us for information. Ask about our 10% Military Discount!
Instructors
Mentors include core educators at Trackers Earth. Through specialized field days and development days, you also get access to the entire community of wilderness skills teachers at Trackers Earth. Guest instructors come in to teach throughout the year.
Visits
Visit our weekend Wilderness Survival Immersion program. Contact Us for an appointment.
Potential Employment
This program is not a requirement of employment nor does it guarantee a job with Trackers. Employment with Trackers Earth is a separate application process. Most people begin with us in summer camp educator positions and a few from this seasonal staff may continue with us year-round. There are 13 students in a cohort, and throughout the year we have very limited positions available. In this program, we teach all the skills that we look for in an outdoor educator and how each student applies those skills is ultimately up to them. To learn more about available positions and how to apply visit our employment page.
In this 9 month, comprehensive program, gain the core skills and essential principles for Forest School education and operations. Study curriculum development for interdisciplinary environments to blend academics with hands-on, outdoor learning. Reconnect with nature while developing your own capacity in wilderness skills, forest craft, and ecological awareness. Become an ambassador for a culture that needs to exist.
Ecology of Education
As a Forest School Teacher, learn to develop educational curriculum with an ecological perspective.
Through the diversity of the natural world, the wilderness itself becomes an important teacher for your students.
Ecology of Education - Field Experience
Child Development
Our program focuses on all levels of development and learning. From early childhood to adolescence, we need Forest Schools and their teachers to serve all ages in education.
Ecology of Education
Cultivate your ability to craft interdisciplinary learning environments that blend academics with hands-on, outdoor learning. Understand core educational standards and how to potentially exceed them by leveraging the benefits of Forest School.
Field Practicum & Experience
Get hands-on experience observing real Forest School classes and outdoor education courses. Apprentice with leading Trackers Earth teachers while learning to develop and implement your own curriculum.
Forest School Strategies
Experience and identify the nearly limitless learning strategies possible through the natural classroom. From nature play to harvesting through seasonal rounds, from classical naturalist studies to the profound depth of animal tracking and ecological mapping, Forest School education provides countless opportunities for both teacher and students.
Forest Craft: Live What You Teach
Forest Craft is our foundation for connection to the natural world.
In this program, you experience the wilderness as a class community and village: foraging, gathering, and wildcrafting.
Your 9 months-of-study and preparation culminate in a 1 week Wilderness Survival Trek graduation.
Forest Craft: Live What You Teach – Wilderness Skills
Gathering, Foraging & Fishing
Forage for roots, leaves, fruits, and shoots. Learn skills of identification and safe harvest of wild foods. Fish and forage the rivers, lakes and coastlines for aquatic life. Preserve what you gather for your larder and pantry.
Wilderness Survival & Forest Craft
Find shelter, water, fire, and food. Craft with stone, bone, and fiber. Navigate and stay safe in the wilderness. Develop essential safety skills for long-range wilderness travel.
Homesteading
Your class joins a shared farm plot at our 90-acre campus in Sandy, Oregon. Learn to preserve the bounty and harvest of the land.
Primitive Kit
Make the gear you take. Weave baskets, craft fire makers, and create stone tools. Forge your knife through blacksmithing. Use what you make in a 1 week Wilderness Survival Trek in the spring.
Natural History & Ecology
Learn to read the stories of the forest. Track herds of elk and the trail of the bobcat. Fit these pieces together towards a deeper understanding of ecology and personal connection to nature.
Archery + Bow Making
Develop functional field technique for using the bow in a wilderness setting. Improve form and accuracy. Handcraft your own wood bow and stone-point arrows.
Guiding and Operations
Unique to this program is an overview of essential organizational, operational, and professional skills. We help you to explore the market for both employment and entrepreneurial development within the fields outdoor education and Forest Schools. Begin to understand everything from simple budgets to new business plans.
Guiding and Operations – Leadership Skills
Outdoor & Organizational Leadership
Develop your capacity and experience for leadership on all organizational levels. Learn essential practices, from guiding groups in the field to managing large and small organizations.
Livelihood & Business Planning
Strategically chart your course for a sustainable and ethical livelihood as a Forest School Teacher. Learn how to write a business plan for organizational development.
Outdoor Safety & Operations
Receive your Wilderness First Responder Certification. Keep yourself and your students safe in the outdoors. Learn to manage the day to day operations of program gear and logistics.
Trackers Outdoor Education
Trackers Earth is one of the leading providers of Forest School and Outdoor Education. Offering both youth and adult programs, we serve over 20,000 students per year in our educational camps, school, and skills courses. The Trackers Forest School is one of the few Forest Schools encompassing Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle School and High School. We train and work with a staff of over 300 outdoor educators on an ongoing basis. Our teachers bring this history and depth of experience in the real world of outdoor learning to your education.
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Become a Forest School Teacher in 9 Months