Writing About Nature

Rationale

As with anything worth doing, one must question why. Why is it worth instructing my students about nature? The answer to that question is multifaceted, and I only fully appreciated it in week two of the intensive session in Jill Campbell's seminar on writing about nature. There was beauty in actual nature and in the poems, short stories, and articles. As the steward of my profession, what compels and motivates me to write and teach this unit is the notion that I am bound as an educator to pass this newfound knowledge on to my students. I owe it to them to bring a more profound knowledge and understanding of nature, and how we choose to interact with it or not has lasting impacts on not only Hearne but the world. To not teach this unit would be a massive injustice that equals an educational felony in that I would be robbing my students of culturally responsive instructional practices that could give them a new appreciation for nature.

I want this unit to be a two-fold awakening for my students. With that awakening, I hope a sense of urgency will be born. There is an urgency to call on black and brown people who look like us, who do not fit the typical mold of those who usually engage in shared public spaces in nature, to break that mold and begin to do so. My goal is to awaken my students' cognitive dissonance with nature and the environmental injustices they face because they do not know what they do not know. The second call to action that this unit will provide is a sense of pride in oneself. As students interview their family members and listen to their peers' stories of how their ancestors and families interact with nature, they will become more inclined to have a sense of pride in where they are from and a sense of belonging with where they are going. 

Paul Turner said that if we wanted to see nature in its splendor, we had better go soon as that beauty, unfortunately, will not always be here to marvel at. The idea that this curriculum unit could be used as a springboard to help foster and nurture a relationship with nature for my students gives me a sense of pride and hope. I hope that this unit will produce future world travelers, artists, social or political activists, poets, and biochemists. The possibilities are endless. Rachel Carson says it best: "A child's world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. Exploring nature with [a] child is largely a matter of becoming receptive to what is around you."⁵

Mental health has not been mentioned at all in this unit. It is worth noting that there is research suggesting that being in nature supports more stable mental faculties. Teachers are not equipped to be the first line of support for our students’ mental health. I do not endorse trying to triage that aspect of my students' overall well-being, as I lack the qualifications, degrees, and certifications to diagnose or treat. However, I notice and can tell when my students are not themselves. Chia-Chen Chang et al. stated, "While urbanization has advantages, urban living is, nonetheless, associated with poorer mental health, reduced subjective well-being, and a higher risk of psychiatric disorders. Reducing nature experiences in urban environments is a key risk factor for mental health issues and is associated with an increased risk of anxiety and depression."⁶ Nature orientation (the willingness and desire to experience nature) and nature opportunity (places with nature more readily available) are not independent of each other; I want this unit to promote both of those entities with my students.