Two stories of environmental learning and experience

ABSTRACT This paper highlights action research into the practices of environmental learning through two interconnected stories focusing respectively on educational policy and the details of classroom instruction. Together these illustrate how a framework guides teachers in educational planning and supports the implementation of a curriculum for environmental learning in diverse subjects. Teacher inquiry, focus groups and interviews informed a collaborative writing process involving teachers and academics. The framework offers a conceptual view for environmental learning in all settings providing principles of teaching and learning to guide teachers in activities in a variety of learning contexts. The broader study sets the scene and the context for imbedded teacher inquiry. This study provides a personal perspective on how environmentally focused lessons were developed and researched by teachers. It highlights the story of a Grade 2/3 teacher (Ms. P) as she embarks on a program of action research about outdoor learning exemplary of other elements of the imbedded action research in the broader study. Multiple, overlapping themes emerge as she documents her reflections and students’ interactions with local environments. This paper and its narratives together relate how the concepts of environmental learning and teacher experience empower us to guide learning in new, exciting ways.