Why Nature-Based Learning is a Key Ingredient in Neohumanist Education

Ruai Rekha Gregory

“Meaningful outdoor experiences benefit children and inspire them to love and care for nature. Children who are connected to nature have better health, higher satisfaction with life, and pro-environment behaviors.” –- from Children and Nature Network, a website dedicated to the work of Richard Louv, author of “Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, 2008”

I am continually inspired by the efforts of the many who are creating Nature-Based schools. In my work as a Neohumanist educator, working with children, families and college students, I love spreading the importance of nature and inquiry-based education.  The philosophy of Neohumanism is a perfect platform for spreading these ideas. P.R. Sarkar himself gave us a tremendous model in his twice a day “field walks” and beautifully designed gardens and “master unit” communities.

When I began my summer Nature Camp for children in the early 2000’s, the nature education movement was just beginning to take shape.  When Richard Louv’s book came out, it inspired many programs, including the Nature Explore classroom program at Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska.  I attended workshops there and met others who embraced the important task of encouraging and developing nature-based approaches to education, recreation and community planning.

Fast forward a few years and remarkable achievements were made in transforming asphalt playgrounds into natural sites with gardens, trails and inspiring learning centers. These efforts took place in many locations with a wide variety of climates and habitats. Forest Schools and completely outdoor schools were created and new licensing exists to encompass them.  These are tremendous achievements. 

In our own NHE inspired schools, we find some beautiful examples of nature-based learning, especially at the River School in Australia, the Wood School in Bali and New Day School in the USA.

Both Nature-Based and Place-Based approaches are strongly Neohumanistic, though there is room for interpretation.  For example, when looking into a place-based school for my grandson, we were initially put off by the fact that the location of the school was in an agricultural area, which meant there could be farm animals and winemaking! As vegans and neohumanists, our family doesn’t support farming, ranching or winemaking for sure.  But we then found out that the school takes more of a Nature-Based approach.  They do raise chickens but also have class pets (snakes, insects and fish) and do a lot of creek restoration projects and take field trips to science research centers.  Much of their learning takes place outside. Ultimately, it has been the perfect school for my grandson!

My experiences with children in natural settings leaves me with no doubt as to the tremendous benefits inherent in such programs.  The transformed lives of both children and their parents has been truly inspiring.  Here is my favorite example: 

Katie was one of our “city” kids who came to nature camp.  She first arrived the summer she was 6 years old, with her parents from Dallas, Texas, to visit her grandparents in our rural mountainous area.

During her first day, she displayed many of the traits of the “know it all state of mind”, described by Richard Louv as the attitude of someone who’s learned a lot from books and study – and has no need for direct experience.  For example, when we visited the compost pile to meet the worms, she looked away and said “I don’t DO worms.” However, within 5 minutes of observing the other children enjoying handling the worms, she was in there too.  The same experience occurred at the creek when the others waded in.  “I don’t DO nature’s water”, she pronounced firmly – and soon was splashing about with great joy.

By the end of the week, she was an enthusiastic nature camper, happily showing her parents around our trails, treehouse and tower.  When she returned the next year, she excitedly shared her “nature treasure box” with us, which held all her amazing discoveries she’d found over the year, such as feathers, a bird skull and some very special rocks.  This time around she didn’t hesitate to enjoy our nature activities, and in fact was happy to help some of the new children.

Two years later, she convinced her parents to completely change their lives and move out here, embracing a rural and nature-based lifestyle!

Other examples abound, though not as dramatic as that child’s.  Every child who attends our camp develops a strong relationship with the land and keeps in touch over the school year.  I hear frequent questions about how the wise elder tree is doing, what’s going on at the waterfall, where is the bear hibernating and what happened during the latest storm!  Our objectives, which are simple: to help children develop a relationship with nature and gain awareness and appreciation for the natural world – are definitely achieved!

So many Neohumanist values can be learned in a nature-based approach.  I highly recommend it!

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