An audience of everyone

*except heartless people who don't care about students

Hi Again,

Things are pretty good here. There? 

Since I confessed to the world (well, to my substack readers which are just a bit shy of the whole world) that “I DO write a book,” I am going to keep chipping away at it bit-by-bit.

As I mentioned, I’m working away at

Kimberly Nicholas

publishing-related advice:

1. An elevator pitch “In MY BOOK TITLE, I argue that X” Read my See: first draft elevator pitch (designed for a very tall building).

2. A compelling argument for why this book is needed in the world.  See: Rallying Cry & How-To Manual

3. Who is the audience? 

4. Why should I write it? (establish my credibility)

5. A Table of Contents-style outline of chapters w/ some ideas about what goes into each and how they are related

6. A reasonably strong draft of at least one full chapter 

Today, I’ll try to (ahh Yoda again!).

In today’s letter, I define the audience for Learning by Nature. 

My Audience

Everyone. 

Done. ✅

😬 Eek - As I write that, I fear my audience is hopelessly broad. By trying to please everyone, maybe I will reach exactly no one?

Let’s try this:

The people who need this book are people who care about students. 

Oh, just stop.

I see your raised eyebrows. 

By defining my audience as “people who care about students,” I am not-so-secretly creating an audience of *nearly* everyone. There must be some people out there who don’t care about students. This book is not for them. So there. Look at me ruling out potential readers!   

Readers and Do-ers

☝🏻My plan is that y’all (readers and do-ers) are NOT a passive lot. I see you for the movers and shakers you are. I see you — my peeps — who will take action to make nature-based learning common practice in schools.

For visual folks, I’ve created this diagram of concentric circles of sub-audiences. Students are at the center. Each ring as you go out represents a group of people who I think care about students. 

Feedback is welcome. This is what we teachers refer to as a “WIP” - work-in-progress. 

• Students: Students are at the center. They are the most critical audience, even if they won’t be the main readers. And - I hope to find a good way to have student voices leap off of my pages. Students spend LOTS of their waking hours¹ in school – so I think those hours should be awesome. By awesome, I mean those hours should nurture whole students – their personal and interpersonal wellbeing, their sense of self and community, and their individual and collective successes (academic and otherwise). Globally, there are 1.5 billion (BILLION!) students – nearly 20%!!! of the world’s population.²

• Educators: Right after students, this book is for you. Because you work with students, yes. This book is also for YOUR health, wellbeing, agency, and joy. I will write to you about why nature-based learning is healthy, healing, and joyful (for your students and for you) and HOW you can adopt nature-based learning practices in your instruction and classroom design. While I’ll focus on how formal educators (all 60+ million³ of you!), can apply nature-based learning practices in daily instruction and classroom design, I know informal educator co-conspirators – from math tutors to drama camp counselors – will find something for your practice too. Because you care about students.

• Family: If you are a family member involved in a student’s schooling, I will write to you about why and how you should and can advocate for nature-based learning on behalf of (and WITH!) your child/grandchild/sibling/etc…. I imagine this audience is first filled with parents and guardians⁴. It also might include siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, neighbors, and more.

• Community members: If you are a community member in a place with a school⁵, I will write to you about why and how you should and can advocate for nature-based learning for kids in your community. At their best, schools are community organisms – gathering places and vibrant social, sharing, learning settings. For many community members, the wellbeing of the young people in your neighborhood is super important; you can play a key role in advocating for and supporting nature-based learning’s success in your community’s schools.

• Professionals (other than educators): I’m writing directly to you if you are a professional who works with and for the care of humans in ways directly or indirectly linked to students. As a starting list, this includes health care providers, planners, architects, insurers, and philanthropists. I am going to write to you about why and how you should and can support nature-based learning design to create the conditions where *high-quality* nature-based learning — especially outdoor nature-based learning — is happening daily in all schools everywhere. 

• Political Leaders: From local school board members to national leaders – I am writing directly to you about why and how you should and can support nature-based learning design through legislation, advocacy, and partnerships so nature-based learning is happening daily in all schools everywhere. 

• The Earth and Other-Than Human Nature: Mother Earth and other-than-human Nature — I know you care about students. For you, Mother Earth and company, I won’t tell you why, how, and what you should do. Rather, I am writing in partnership with you. Because I think this matters to all of us.

Ok - that’s all for this week folks.

📣 Call to Action

Tell me who I’m missing! Or what you would change.

Take care,

Becca

1. Estimates range from 10-20% of their waking hours are in school - with variability around the globe.

2. As of 2021, there were an estimated 1.5 billion (BILLION!) students in schools across the globe. @Publishers - even though only a fraction of these students will be readers - mostly secondary and post-secondary students - that’s still a lot of peeps!

3. There are an estimated 60 million (MILLION!) educators in schools worldwide. Not shabby for an audience! Plus, as my friend and education maven @Liza Eaton mentioned, ‘Teachers love buying and reading books!’ @Publishers - MORE readers! In the US alone, there are about 4.5 million educators in schools.

4. In the US alone, there are an estimated 32 million (MILLION!) households with school-aged kiddos ages 6-17; the number increases to 41.5 million households if you extend the age range to 3-17. @Publishers - That’s a lot of households who need this book!

5. I don’t really know how to quantify this except to give you the global population - 8 billion (BILLION!) and counting. @Publishers - I know not everyone in that group is a reader — and, again, even a small fraction of 8 billion is a very big number.