There was a time when all education took place outdoors. What children learned from nature was essential to the survival of community and village.
The wild offers diversity of life that no classroom can match. Attention takes on new meaning in environments that are fundamentally unstructured. Profound systems awareness is cultivated through hands-on experience in ecology and survival.
Modern outdoor education takes advantage of this but it is not enough. Models of free play, inquiry and leadership are parts of a greater legacy. Observation without active participation severely limits the capacity of any educational program. Play without community purpose leads to thinking about nature only as a place to recreate. We want to weave nature back into the survival of the community and culture.
At Trackers Earth, we have developed a unique way of education not based on any single model, but rather on purposeful dialogue of fully engaging with the wilderness.
Outdoor education is more than free-play or inquiry experiments. Deep rooted connection can also arise from navigation skills, using a wood carving knife, tracking and ecology, or cold, wet, and quiet nights under the stars. It is way of seeing the world as old as the dawn of human experience.
Our field presents many challenges to these methods of education. Where do you find sites? How are we dependent on funding? Is it a sustainable livelihood? How do we cultivate quality and sincerity in what we teach?
Lead by our most experienced instructors, directors and founders, this series of classes moves beyond prescriptive models and opens a dialogue to explore real world solutions..
Upcoming
Mar 30 Fixing Outdoor Education: Remembering Our Roots While Moving Forward
Founders and directors of Trackers Earth lead this free program and networking event. Current outdoor education presents some serious challenges:
- Why is it impossible for many outdoor educators to make a living wage?
- What are the dangers of focusing solely on funding and benchmarks?
- What are the limits of free play with limited structure?
- What are the limits of inquiry based curriculum?
- Does modern outdoor education truly engage kids?
- Should every kid carry a knife?
- Are you prepared for risk?
- Will outdoor education always be "the alternative," or could it be the norm?
During this night we discuss hard challenges, while looking at unique strategies to build a vision for the field. Taking us far beyond current models our outdoor learning.
6:15 PM - 7:00 PM Networking and Group Challenge. Arrive anytime (refreshments and snacks available)
7:00 PM - 7:45 PM Challenges and possible solutions: Jess Liotta, Trackers CEO and Tony Deis, Trackers Founder
7:45 PM - 8:30 PM Panel discussion with Q & A (Panel of founders, directors and core instructors at Trackers Earth)
Where Trackers Earth Portland | 4617 SE Milwaukie Avenue