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In this episode, Derek and Chris sit down with Nicole Turner to explore the realities, challenges, and opportunities of outdoor learning across grade levels.

Nicole shares her journey from outdoor camps to classroom teaching and her work with EcoJustice, along with insights from her master’s research focused on helping teachers increase outdoor learning in their practice. She also discusses the creation of a widely used resource hub designed to make outdoor learning more accessible for educators.

A key theme throughout the episode is Nicole’s belief that “small is beautiful.” Rather than focusing on large-scale trips or complex planning, she encourages educators to start with simple, local experiences—using nearby green spaces, schoolyards, and spontaneous moments of curiosity as powerful entry points for learning.

The conversation highlights:

• The ease of inquiry-based learning in kindergarten and early years
• How outdoor environments naturally spark curiosity and engagement
• The social and emotional benefits of getting older students outside
• The importance of revisiting the same outdoor spaces to build connection and familiarity
• Strategies for lowering barriers to outdoor learning, including simple planning and resource sharing
• The role of community, care partners, and guest experts in enriching learning experiences
• The importance of reconnecting students with the natural world and their local environment

Nicole also shares practical classroom examples—from ladybug inquiries to bird studies and place-based exploration—that demonstrate how outdoor learning can be both simple and deeply impactful.

Links to Nicole's Work

Outdoor Learning Support Document for Teachers

Breaking Out of the Textbox - Increasing Outdoor Learning

Outdoor Learning Resource Hub - This guide was developed for Saskatoon School Divisions but most of the information should be applicable (with some degree of variance) to any school within the province.

Access our research, project ideas and more at:
https://engagedstudent.weebly.com/outdoor-learning.html

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In this episode of The Outdoor Learning Podcast, we’re joined by Camille S. Edwards and Dan Kriesberg, co-creators of Diversity Education in Nature. Together, they bring decades of experience in DEI work and environmental education, using the natural world as a living classroom to explore inclusion, interdependence, and belonging. We talk about how observing ecosystems—biodiversity, mutualism, and connection—can help educators and communities reimagine what equity and community-building look like, both outdoors and beyond.

Camille Simone Edwards is a DEI practitioner of fourteen years and currently serves as the Director of Student Affairs at Friends Academy, a Quaker independent school on Long Island, New York.

Dan Kriesberg has been a middle school science teacher and environmental educator for over 40 years at both public and independent schools. He is the author of two books on outdoor environmental education, over 100 articles on environmental education, and essays about his outdoor experiences.

Resources:

"An Invitation to a Brave Space" by Micky Scottbey Jones

Connect with Camille & Dan:

Diversity Education In Nature website

https://www.dankriesberg.com/

Access our research, project ideas and more at:
https://engagedstudent.weebly.com/outdoor-learning.html

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We meet up with Aron Knudsen, teacher in Saskatoon Public this week.

We talk about Land-Based Learning, the imporance of community in the classroom, as well as working with your community to create learning opportunities, and how to get students outside in a highschool setting.

Access our research, project ideas and more at:
https://engagedstudent.weebly.com/outdoor-learning.html

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This week we catch up with Jenn Herrod, teacher in Saskatoon Public. She shares with us her Weather Weaving project that she uses with her elementary students. We also talk Affordances, gush about Robin Wall Kimmerer and chat about why Polar Bear Clubs are awesome and how Jenn works hers.

Access our research, project ideas and more at:
https://engagedstudent.weebly.com/outdoor-learning.html

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This week, we connect with Keri Albert, the creator and teacher of IGen, an intergenerational program for grade 6 students that takes place at College Park School and the Sherbrooke Community Center. She shares with us how intergenerational learning provides “real-life” learning and why it is important for students to learn in these kinds of environments and the kinds of things that they might encounter in long-term care that they might not have the chance to learn anywhere else.

If you want to learn more about the iGen program, they have their OWN podcast talking about the program and how it works in more detail. It's called, Welcome to iGen.

Chris's Research Corner

Greg Mannion, & Claire Adey. (2011). Place-Based Education Is an Intergenerational Practice. Children, Youth and Environments, 21(1), 35-58.

Access our research, project ideas and more at:
https://engagedstudent.weebly.com/outdoor-learning.html

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Today we connect with Ian Wilson, a long time Principal in Saskatoon Public. Ian is a strong supporter of outdoor learning. We chat a bit about his experiences with Outdoor Learning , things that he does to support and encourage outdoor learning in the teachers that he works with, and he shares some ways that teachers can help bring their administration to become supportive of their use of outdoor learning.

Chris' Research Corner

Oberle, E., Zeni, M., Munday, F., & Brussoni, M. (2021). Support factors and barriers for outdoor learning in elementary schools: A systemic perspective. American Journal of Health Education, 52(5), 251-265.

Access our research, project ideas and more at:
https://engagedstudent.weebly.com/outdoor-learning.html

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In this episode, we kick off season 2 with a conversation between the two of us about some of the things we have been working on this past summer that are designed to support other outdoor educators in taking their students out of the classroom and into the natural environment.

These include identifying some of the challenges that specifically outdoor learning teachers face and potential solutions to those challenges, a how to take your students camping handbook, and a tried and true risk management handbook. All of these have been worked on in collaboration with a bunch of experienced outdoor learning educators and are available on the website listed below.

In this episode, we delve a little deeper into the risk management portion of the website today giving an overview of what you will find on the website and sharing some stories from our own outdoor learning experiences.

Access our research, project ideas and more at:
https://engagedstudent.weebly.com/outdoor-learning.html

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In today's episode we meet up with a former student from Derek's program, Chance Blythe, to talk about his experiences in Outdoor Learning as a student throughout his educational career and how it might connect to his future goals of becoming an educator.

Chris' Research Corner

Richmond, D., Sibthorp, J., Gookin, J., Annarella, S., & Ferri, S. (2018). Complementing classroom learning through outdoor adventure education: out-of-school-time experiences that make a difference. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 18(1), 36-52.

Access our research, project ideas and more at:
https://engagedstudent.weebly.com/outdoor-learning.html