Lobethal Community Kindergarten, Nature Connect 2016 lobethalkgn.sa.edu.au Blog Post Term 2 final : The Pedagogy of Nature Play

The research behind why we do what we do! The path that has lead us to where we

are today with our Nature Play program

has been a journey over many years. It

has been a journey which has seen us

constantly reflecting on our own values,

strengths and abilities, seen us examin-

ing our own professional beliefs, and

most importantly seen us striving to fur-

ther broaden our knowledge base by

examining current research and meth-

odologies around executive functions

(Martin Westwall), mathematics and

numeracy (Lisa Jane O’Connor), the

importance of children connecting with

nature (Richard Louv, Nikki Buchan),

growth mind sets (Carol Dweck ) intel-

lectual stretch and ways of sharing our

children's learning (Wendy Lee ) It is

only through this constant and ongoing

professional development that we can

fully understand our children's learning

styles, support and extend the develop-

ment of their learning dispositions, no-

tice and respond to the learning oppor-

tunities that arise, as well as make sure

meaningful intentional teaching oppor-

tunities are a valued and integral part of our program. It is also through our profes-

sional development, first hand experience with our children and own life experiences

that we can develop both personal and team pedagogies that support our children

to become proficient 21st century learners.

In the past our children’s education has been more able to prepare them for the ca-

reer paths they may wish to follow by teaching them specific skills and values “When

most workers held jobs in industry, the key skills were knowing a trade, following direc-

tions, getting along with others, working hard, and being professional—efficient,

prompt, honest, and fair. Schools have done an excellent job of teaching these skills,

and students still need them” (https://k12.thoughtfullearning.com) The children who are at the

beginning of their educational journey today will more likely move into jobs that as yet

do not even exist (Shift Happens, Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod 2013) It is our job to pre-

Pedegogy [ped-uh-goh-jee, -goj-ee] is the discipline that deals with the theory and practice of

education; it thus concerns the study and practice of how best to teach.

Effective pedagogical practices have a strong research base, are clearly understood by educators

and are direct responses to students identified learning needs.

pare them for this by valuing and nurturing a different skill set to that traditionally

’taught’ in the educational system. As children enter the kindergarten setting, we

want them to learn how to learn. To develop learning dispositions that will enable

them to be life long critical and creative thinkers who are prepared to take risks,

make mistakes, be resilient, be able to communicate with others, and work collabo-

ratively to achieve outcomes. We want them to have the skills to lead, to take ini-

tiative to think in new ways, and do things no one has done before. We want to

give them the building blocks and a skill base to take through life and prepare

them for these jobs that do not yet exist. “To hold information-age jobs, though, stu-

dents also need to think deeply about issues, solve problems creatively, work in

teams, communicate clearly in many media, learn ever-changing technologies,

and deal with a flood of information. The rapid changes in our world require stu-

dents to be flexible, to take the initiative and lead when necessary, and to produce

something new and useful.” (https://k12.thoughtfullearning.com)

We strongly believe that providing a play based program, especially one which

sees children spending extended time out in nature provides the best way for us to

nurture all of these skills. Richard Louv, author of Last child in the woods puts it quite

simply “Now, more than ever, we need nature as a balancing agent.” In a society

that is very technology focused it is more important than ever to provide our chil-

dren with the opportunity to play in nature. There has been a lot of research into

the importance of the development of executive functions during early childhood.

Executive functions are basically the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus

attention, remember instructions, and multi tasks successfully. The specific functions

are Working memory - which governs our ability to retain and manipulate distinct

pieces of information over short periods of time. Mental flexibility - this helps us to

sustain or shift attention in response to different demands or to apply different rules

in different settings. Impulse control, enables us to set priorities and resist impulsive

actions or responses. Children are not born with these skills, but they are born with

the potential to develop them. It is an ongoing and lifelong process and many will

not be fully developed until early adulthood. The connection between the devel-

opment of these skills and children being provided with time for self-directed play,

such as that offered as part of our Nature Connect Bush Kindy program, is backed

by research . “It is important for children to exercise their developing [executive

function] skills through activities that foster creative play and social connection,

teach them how to

cope with stress, involve

vigorous exercise, and

over time, provide op-

portunities for directing

their own actions with

decreasing adult super-

vision.” (http://

developingchild.harvard.edu/

science/key-concepts/executive-

function/)

Not only is there world

wide research about

the benefits of children

Lobethal Community Kindergarten, Nature Connect 2016 lobethalkgn.sa.edu.au Blog Post Term 2 final : The Pedagogy of Nature Play

and nature play, our own anecdotal evidence is full of examples of the amazing ways

we see the development of our children’s executive functions and learning disposi-

tions through being out in the bush. They start with the very easy to observe skills of

early development of impulse control. Children are allowed to play away from the

direct contact of an adult. They are aware of needing to be in sight of one. Through

conversations, ongoing learning and the development of a respectful and reciprocal

relationship with each other they resist the urge to wander off alone. We also see im-

pulse control as we observe children pausing to risk asses a situation before they pro-

ceed. Its a subconscious and yet imperative part of the process, and one which bush

kindy provides constant and ongoing opportunity for. Children spend much of their

time playing in the bush, with their peers, creating structures and games which involve

leadership, co-operation, communication, the development of rules. They develop

resilience as they work through balancing the needs and wants of others with their

own. They use their working memory to acquire and piece together the parts of a

game that each person brings to the experience, as they remember previously

learned skills and and processes and are able to transfer this knowledge to their cur-

rent play to extend and develop its meaningfulness.

They explore and discover, their lan-

guage and mathematical develop-

ment constantly amazing us. The

knowledge bank these children are

piecing together about themselves, the

world around them, their place as

learners and teachers to others, and

how it all fits together is constant and

grows exponentially as they take on

board every new life experience they

encounter.

When the children are engaged in self

directed exploration, there are more

questions than answers, there is the

time and space to develop theories

and hypothesise about outcomes of

each decision, time to make mistakes

and use them not as a negative, but as

an imperative and integral part of the

learning process. “If no one ever tried

anything, even what some folks say is

impossible, no one would ever learn

anything. So you just keep on trying

and maybe some day you’ll try some-

thing that will work.” Richard Louv. (Last

child in the Woods)

In a previous blog posts we have highlighted much of the amazing learning behind

many of the experiences that children are invited to be a part of at bush kindy. It is

also important to look behind all these developing literacy and numeracy skills and

see the building blocks that need to be in place before children are ready and able

to move on to more formalised expressions of learning such as reading and writing.

Without a solid foundation, one which is custom build at each child’s individual pace,

Lobethal Community Kindergarten, Nature Connect 2016 lobethalkgn.sa.edu.au Blog Post Term 2 final : The Pedagogy of Nature Play

on strong base of reciprocal relationships, combined with a reflective program

based on current research and observations of every child, and the acknowl-

edgement of the physical and emotional skills that need to be in place prior to chil-

dren reaching a developmentally appropriate stage to begin acquiring these skills,

there is little point in pushing our children to sit and read and write before they are

ready. David Whitebread, a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Education at the

University of Cambridge brings together the underlying message in much of the on-

going research outcomes when he says “a considerable body of evidence clearly

indicates the crucial importance of play in young children’s development, the

value of an extended period of playful learning before the start of formal school-

ing, and the damaging consequences of starting the formal learning of literacy

and numeracy too young” There are some children who are already using written

language and reading out in the bush, and these skills are nurtured, encouraged

and valued as an ongoing part of that child’s journey, as are all the social, physical

and emotional skill, and all important learning dispositions that they are developing

at the same time.

The time spent valuing and nurturing the building of these strong foundations will

provide the children with the skills to question, acquire knowledge, inquire, re-

search, persevere, and be the best they can be. Each journey is unique and

equally important, and our pedagogical stance is one that strongly values the im-

portance of a play based program both at our home kindy and at bush kindy, and

acknowledges the research showing this model of learning is one that provides the

optimal outcomes for each and every child during early childhood. Nature Con-

nect is helping to develop the knowledge base and skill acquisition our children will

require to become proficient, resilient, lifelong 21st century learners.

Written by Nic July 2016

Lobethal Community Kindergarten, Nature Connect 2016 lobethalkgn.sa.edu.au Blog Post Term 2 final : The Pedagogy of Nature Play