Land-Based Learning

By Andrea Barnes

As a classroom teacher and an Environmental Educator with Alberta Parks, one of the silver linings of this past three years has to be the dramatic uptake and motivation for teaching outdoors. As we move through another school year, hopefully this energy and passion for getting kids outside continues. With this in mind, I’ve compiled what I think are the five fundamentals to connecting students to the land…but first, what is Land-based learning and why is it important?

It is commonly understood that we take students outside for four main reasons: to enhance their physical and mental well-being, to connect them to nature, to engage them with their broader community, and of course, to teach the curriculum. Land-based learning incorporates all of these important reasons but with one important addition: it also lifts Indigenous knowledge of the land and ways of knowing.