A Forest Framework

by Chloe Faught and Gillian Petrini

In the following pages you’ll find five lesson outlines that you can use to help guide your students in their understanding of what it means to learn with and from forests. Part of this involves understanding our relationship to and with the Earth and, within these lessons, our specific connections to and with forests. Forests are critical to the health of our planet and the health of our species. Forests function as cohesive ecosystems, reliant on the various life forms within them to grow and thrive. This cohesion provides an interesting analogy for how we might look at education and learning with and from one another, inclusive of the natural world as a teacher. When we look at learning through and with a lens of the forest, it offers a unique framework for a pedagogical approach to learning. When learning through a forest lens, one recognizes and values interconnectedness to all things, the need for reciprocal relationships, the importance of nurturing conditions that invite opportunities for discovery and wonder, and the value of time to explore and allow for learning to emerge, naturally.