A Focus On Nature, A Vision For Nature
AFON
Vision for Nature : Education and Engagement
Earlier this week, I wrote about politics. A topic I’m not overly familiar with, but one that I am starting to get more interested thanks to A Focus On Nature. However when it comes to education and engagement, I am rather more familiar and it is a subject close to my heart.
I first became involved with environmental education through undertaking a placement year whilst at Aberystwyth University. I was studying for a BSc(Hons) in Animal Science, and didn’t really know where I wanted to head for my future career. I came across the placement position of Education Assistant with the Field Studies Council and was immediately intrigued. Fortunately I was accepted onto the placement, and it proved to be a turning point in my life.
A year of taking children out into nature showed me how unconnected today’s young people are to nature. Rare would a child know the identification of a common bird or know how to look for insects. It was during this year that I realised that environmental education and engagement were vital, and additionally, that I loved doing it.
I am thrilled that Forest Schools (and similar schemes) are more popular and that gradually society is realising that nature is important to children and to people in general. It is too gradual for my liking though, and not evenly spread across society. I feel that we should give everyone the chance to connect with nature, and one of the best (and easiest) ways to do so is when they are in education. Everyone goes through education in the UK, even those who don’t go to a school but are home-schooled. If we can put nature at the heart of education, it will have benefits for everyone – the children, the teachers, society as a whole, the natural environment and all the wildlife that depends on it. How can anyone argue against that?
