“That’s what is important about inquiry…you start with what they are passionate about, remind them of the need to connect with each other, and then: let’s walk together toward that learning, whatever it may be.” ~ Alysse Kennedy
Natural Curiosity is both an entity and an idea. The entity, a nonprofit organization based in Toronto with a lab school and eponymous teaching guide, embodies the ideathat environmental education must center our relations with all things, seen and unseen.
Propelled by unequivocal recommendations from Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Natural Curiosity brings indigenous perspectives into environmental education. It is, as they put it, “the starting point of an important conversation about learning in relationship with Mother Earth.”
Alysse Kennedy and Aleksa Nitsis join me to unfurl what “indigenous perspectives of inquiry” entail, especially in the hands of non-indigenous teachers and learners. And we learn a few things from some 6th graders who model these lessons in a powerful way.
Research shows that this form of active and transformative learning continues to have a positive impact on student agency, student mental health, and their relationships with each another. ~ Aleksa Nitsis
Check out Natural Curiosity!
I really appreciated this self-guided learning series that explains the “Four Branches” of Natural Curiosity.
Theme music by Sean Balick; “A Palace of Cedar” by The Pine Barrens, via Blue Dot Sessions.
You can subscribe to Choose to be Curious on iTunes and Stitcher.
Check out the Choose to be Curious shop!
Listening to the Universe 