Connecting with the Environment

As I’ve explored outdoor learning, one idea that continues to stand out is the importance of helping students connect deeply with the environment not only to learn about nature, but to learn from it. Many Indigenous worldviews understand the land as a living teacher, emphasizing reciprocity, respect, and relationship. This perspective transforms outdoor education into an act of care and belonging rather than simple observation.

Ideas to Bring Into Practice

• Learning Walks: Taking students outside to observe, listen, and reflect, focusing on the sights, sounds, textures, and changes in their local environment.
• Elder Involvement: Inviting an Elder or Knowledge Keeper to guide the experience and share teachings about the land, community, and seasonal cycles.
• Storytelling: Using traditional and local stories to build understanding of balance, gratitude, and interconnection.
• Reflection Activities: Encouraging students to respond through drawing, journaling, or storytelling to express what they noticed and how they felt connected.
• Stewardship Projects: Linking lessons to hands-on activities such as planting native species, maintaining gardens, or caring for a local green space.

Key Concepts & Learnings

• The Land as Teacher: The environment itself offers lessons in patience, observation, and empathy.
• Indigenous Perspectives: Learning from those who have lived in balance with the land for generations brings authenticity and depth to environmental education.
• Environmental Stewardship: Students develop care and responsibility for the Earth through direct experience and reflection.
• Well-being Through Nature: Outdoor learning nurtures mindfulness, gratitude, and community connection.
• Reciprocity and Respect: Caring for nature becomes a reciprocal act the land gives, and we give back.

Language and Respect

An important part of connecting students with the land is also honouring the language and people of the territory where we live and learn. In class, Ms. Kostiuk showed a helpful resource called FirstVoices an online platform that allows users to hear and practice the pronunciation of Indigenous words from many Nations across Canada. Including this resource in lessons could help ensure names, places, and traditional terms are spoken with care and accuracy. Teaching students how to respectfully pronounce local Nation names and greetings is one small but powerful step toward reconciliation and cultural understanding.

Why This Matters

Research shows that integrating Indigenous perspectives into outdoor learning fosters well-being, belonging, and environmental care.
Educators who take this approach highlight themes of:

• Engaging the senses and heart
• Belonging and gratitude
• Reciprocity and respect for the Earth
  (Outdoor Play Canada, 2025)

Similarly, Indigenous land-based education supports environmental stewardship, community connection, and cultural continuity, providing students with a more holistic sense of place and responsibility.
(Yellowhead Institute, 2023)

I also found the First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC) resources incredibly valuable. Their Learning First Peoples Classroom Resources offer lesson plans and frameworks that help teachers respectfully integrate Indigenous knowledge and perspectives across the curriculum. These resources emphasize land-based learning, cultural respect, and authentic connection to place, which aligns closely with the goals of outdoor education and environmental stewardship.