In Collaboration with Nature
In Collaboration with Nature
Infinite tangible purposeful hope
Dear People Who Care About Students,
Today I’m going to share a short story of nature-based learning. The real deal. Because I want this whole Learning, by Nature Substack to showcase how nature-based learning is real and tangible and possible because it is real and tangible and happening in schools right now. Although I like big ideas, I fear that letters like last week’s are getting a bit too esoteric, drifting cloudward. I prefer writing stories firmly rooted to the earth.
Tl;dr (a super short summary for those in a hurry)
Nature-based learning has infinite manifestations. I love this specific example of Andy Goldsworthy-inspired art in nearby nature because it’s as profound as it is simple. And it gives me a sense of tangible, purposeful hope.
Appreciation
This post goes out to the innovative and exceptional educator in Lake County School District who has brought this nature-based learning into the world and made it ever more beautiful with her care and artistry. I’ll let her reside in some level of anonymity (her preference), but bask in the warmth of knowing that she is showing the world how simple and profound it can be to take learning outdoors to nearby nature.
Rocky Mountain High
The choir crowded on the steps of the outdoor amphitheater singing John Denver’s Rocky Mountain High. Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi. Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World.
Folks arriving stopped to get hot chocolate or apple cider, wrapping their hands around the warm paper cups, their breath mingling with the steam from their beverage.
It was early October – still warm in much of the country – but this was Leadville, Colorado. At 10,200 feet (~3100m), a thin layer of snow clung to the building’s north-facing shadows, the rest burned off from high-altitude sun. Attendees wore jackets or Melanzana fleece hoodies, the town’s unofficial uniform.
Students, parents, neighbors, teachers, administrators, even Leadville’s mayor had come for In Collaboration with Nature Forest Gallery Art Exhibition featuring Andy Goldsworthy-inspired student artwork displayed en plein air in a forest gallery.
Goldsworthy is a British photographer, sculptor, and environmentalist known for working ‘in collaboration with nature’ to create ephemeral artwork. Do me a favor: after you’re done reading here, do a quick Google Image Search for Andy Goldsworthy. It’s worth your time.
Dozens of people wended their way down the path leading to the forest. They stopped to read nature-art quotes – translated in English and Spanish – and studied examples of Goldsworthy’s work as they arrived to the Lodgepole pines to see what Lake County students had created echoing Goldsworthy’s example.
Some students rushed their parents to the forest, proudly dragging moms and dads to see their own creation.
The students’ nature sculptures, created over the previous two months, rested in an authentic state of disrepair – leaves blown away, sticks moved by dogs, seeds transported by squirrels. On pieces of plywood hanging in a nearby trees, laminated photos and student artist statements told the story of each student’s learning process and showed their artwork in pristine condition.
As some narrated their personal learning odyssey — recounting tales of wind carrying away building materials and sticks falling over after everything was perfect — other students took guests to see their peers’ creations.
Climbing inside a sculpture-cum-fort, one student shouted to all nearby,
“Isn’t this cool?”
Yes, it’s SO cool
The In Collaboration with Nature Forest Gallery Art Exhibition just happened again last month at Lake County Intermediate School. Although I’m far away living in Nairobi now, a few friends who know how much I love this event – and how deeply it embodies nature-based learning – shared a few photos.
Each year it gets more beautiful and bolder, bringing in more elements, more students, more community members, more nature. It is the culmination of weeks spent studying Andy Goldsworthy’s work.
In this learning expedition, third through sixth grade students at Lake County Intermediate School, guided by their talented and innovative teacher, learn about patterns, colors, symmetry and the idea of impermanence. They learn to observe, ask questions, be curious, collaborate, and communicate.
Over the two months leading up to the event, they regularly head outside to the forest immediately adjacent to their school — to collaborate with each other and with nature — to create.
What I love about this particular project is how rich the learning is and how DO-ABLE it is.
For the cost of 50 pieces of plywood (cut from a few sheets, reused year-on-year), a box of nails, two big jugs of hot chocolate and cider, and some annual printing and lamination expenses, 300+ students each get almost a dozen hours of nature’s benefits. All for less than $1 per student.
The design is simple. Walk outdoors. Observe. Be curious. Create. Collaborate – with each other and with nature.
The results are profound: creativity, curiosity, community, collaboration, connection.
In the words of a 5th grade student,
I learned how to work with nature to make art and I had never thought of ideas like this until we did this in art class. I enjoyed gathering my tools and being out in nature to find what I needed. I was happy to be outside and help others.
Asked about what this project means to her, this exceptional teacher shared:
Taking kids outdoors renewed my faith in kids’ ability to use their creativity – with no screens, no phones, and no technology, kids would work on their project for over an hour and complain about having to stop. They were able to focus and successfully collaborate at levels that I have yet to see within any of my classes in the classroom after 8 years of teaching.
I haven’t asked her if this still rings true 15 years into her career as a classroom teacher and in the post-COVID educational quagmire.
I don’t have to ask because I know the answer: It rings truer.
And, although I’ve never gotten to talk to him about nature-based learning, I know Goldsworthy understands.
We often forget that WE ARE NATURE. Nature is not something separate from us. So when we say that we have lost our connection to nature, we’ve lost our connection to ourselves.”
― Andy Goldsworthy
This project is but one of infinite manifestations of nature-based learning because nature-based learning is as varied as the educators who are facilitating it and as unique as their students and communities and places and environment. It embodies nature’s boundless diversity.
This is one example I turn to when I am searching to feel more grounded, firmly rooted in tangible, purposeful hope of nature-based learning. Maybe it’ll do that for you too.
❤️Becca
PS - Please…