GUIDING PRINCIPLES
The Child and Nature Alliance of Canada has the following principles for Forest and Nature Schools:
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Takes place in a variety of settings including local forests, creeks, meadows, prairie grasses, mountains, shorelines, tundra, natural playgrounds, and outdoor classrooms.
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Is a long-term process of regular and repeated sessions in the same natural space.
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Supports children with qualified and knowledgeable educators to identify, co-manage, and navigate risk. Opportunities to experience risk are seen as an integral part of children's learning and healthy development.
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Views children as innately competent, curious and capable learners.
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Honours Aboriginal and Indigenous culture and history as well as traditional ways of learning and living off the land.
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Supports children to develop an ethic of care towards nature and an understanding of themselves as part of the natural world.
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Is grounded in and supports building engaged, healthy, vibrant, and diverse communities.
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Aims to promote the holistic development of children and youth.
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Allows for educators to navigate and balance their role as facilitator, guide, supporter, and co-learner rather than an expert.
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Relies on loses, natural materials to support an open-ended, creative process.
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Recognizes that the process is as valued as the outcome.
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Led by a qualified Forest and Nature School Practitioner who is rooted in and committed to FNS pedagogical theory and practical skills.
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Calls for educators to utilize place-based, emergent, inquiry-based, and experiential learning approaches toward connecting children to nature.