Transformative Educational Leadership Journal | ISSUE Spring 2025
If you are one of many educators who wants to take your students outside and design learning in nature, but you are not sure how to do that, read this article by April and Lauren. In a light and narrative style, these educators share four specific outdoor routines so any teacher can use outdoors to engage learners in deep thinking and learning.
By April Pikkarainen and Lauren MacLean
Our critical friendship started with a commitment to our learners, to the land, and to the families who gifted us with the responsibility of caring for their children that year. It has been ten years since we made that promise and we have come to realize that our commitment was about the preparation of a learning environment that nurtures the habit of curiosity, nature-based inquiry, and life-long learning.
We wanted to ensure that Kindergarteners’ first year of school was rooted in the gift of connections and reciprocal relationships with the land. In Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv (2005) reminds us about the consequences of nature deficit disorder. Being disconnected from the natural world can lead to a range of negative outcomes, such as, physical and mental health issues, decreased environmental stewardship, and loss of imaginative play (Louv, 2005). Through scanning, we noticed our students were excited to engage in sensory and unstructured free play, which confirms what we had learned from Richard Louv. We observed that being in nature sparked their curiosity and imagination in new ways. We saw the instant outlet of excitement, sense of freedom, and renewed sense of purpose. Their joy was palpable. It was as if being outdoors gave children wings to soar and rediscover a new way of being together in community.
Using the Spiral of Inquiry (Halbert and Kaser, 2022) as our guide, we wondered what is it about the natural environment that transforms our learners? Although we didn’t yet have the language to talk about what we noticed, each time we went on a nature walk, students saw new things or noticed from a new perspective. Our hunch was that developing nature-learning habits was imperative in “preparing the soil” for nourishing seeds of inquiry, care, and human connection.
Robin Wall Kimmerer (2016) reminds us that kinship is the recognition that everything in the world exists in relationship with one another. The reciprocal relationships and interconnections lead to our collective responsibility for all to flourish. She also shares about the importance of mosses in an ecosystem. Mosses constantly give to the community and teach us valuable lessons in generosity. As leaders and educators, mosses teach us about what it means to be in service of our community – being attuned to needs and responding in ways that continue to nourish and protect.
Four Core Nature Routines & the Spiral of Inquiry
Recognizing the importance of developing nature-learning habits to nurture reciprocal relationships with the land, we continued on our Spiral of Inquiry journey and developed some key actions that included implementing four core nature routines:
(1) Nature walk: During nature walks, students actively participated in the scanning process, looking closely, listening, observing, and sensing. In walking partners, they shared the sounds, sights, and discoveries along the way.
(2) Circle: After collecting our observations, we gathered in circle in search of an inquiry focus and developed a hunch. Through facilitated conversations and use of strategic questions, we discussed patterns, collective reflections, and other sparks of interest. To conclude our time together in the outdoor classroom, we shared key learnings in Circle and made commitments to our next steps. Adding to our learning story, we took these student-driven perspectives and questions as opportunities for emergent learning.
(3) Sit spot, and (4) Nature journal: Through nature journals and sit spots, students had the time and space to consolidate and document their learning and thinking. These two core routines are the threads to weaving together curricular competencies, personal growth, and nature-based learning.
The path unfolded before us. Their questions and interests were the compass, guiding us which way to explore and uncover the curriculum. Every time we explored outdoors, learners came to understand the natural flow of our time together, learning in community. The Spiral of Inquiry came alive in each of these nature routines.
Role of the Educator
As educators, we engaged in a parallel Spiral of Inquiry, documenting and engaging in dialogue about student learning. Our commitment to transforming education through nature-based learning meant that we continued to share our practice through pedagogical narration. In this way, we hoped to retell the story of learning, of what it means to live well together.
In the OECD article, “Towards an education workforce dedicated to human flourishing”, Valerie Hannon (2023) shares the importance of reframing human endeavours in a wider framework of our place in nature, emphasizing the interdependence with the natural world. She notes well-being as a critical element for a culture of belonging. Further, Hannon (2023) discusses the additional competencies to support a flourishing humanity, which include adaptive problem-solving, ethical decision-making, and aesthetic perception. Reflecting on our time in the outdoor classroom, learners were engaged in developing these competencies through the 4 core nature routines. We re-imagined our roles in the outdoor classroom, shifting from teachers to facilitators and co-learners. At the end of each day, we discussed our own observations of student learning, particularly in developing competencies for inquiry and connections, reflected on our experience, and shared our wonders and insights. We documented our reflections and learnings, rooted in student voice, through pedagogical narration (BC Early Learning Framework, 2023). We shared these documentations as a way to contribute to a network and community of learning, influencing practice beyond the scope of our classroom.
Although our professional contexts have now shifted, our commitment to supporting and growing land-based learning continues to stay true. We have prepared the soil in our way of being as educators and the four core nature routines are seeds planted and nurtured in the flourishing garden of inquiry.
What will nature teach us tomorrow?
Image: Nature-based Learning Habits. Pikkarainen, A. & MacLean, L. (2025).
Reader, here are some questions you might like to bring up with colleagues should you decide to use this article as a way to provoke and ground a professional learning conversation, during a meeting or lunch and learn for example.
- What is one routine you’d like to focus on and how might we scaffold it?
- How would you see your role shifting if you facilitated nature routines in your context?
- How have you been using the Spiral of Inquiry in the outdoor learning setting?
- How might we elevate the Spiral to help us deeply notice, reflect, and be responsive in our planning and teaching?
April Pikkarainen
April is a passionate nature-based educator and principal dedicated to fostering meaningful connections between learners, communities, and the natural world. A recent graduate of the Transformative Educational Leadership Program (TELP) at the University of British Columbia, she brings fresh insights and innovative strategies to the evolving landscape of education. With a strong focus on nurturing systems change, April champions a collaborative inquiry model, empowering educators and learners to co-create meaningful land-based learning experiences. Her leadership inspires a shared commitment to curiosity, sustainability, and collective growth within school communities.
Lauren MacLean
Lauren MacLean is a primary teacher, author, and outdoor learning consultant. Her books—Me and My Sit Spot, Finding Common Ground, and Sitting With Nature—celebrate curiosity, inclusion, and play in nature. She hosts the Teach Outdoors podcast, sharing practical tips and ideas to help educators take learning outside, build confidence, and inspire connection, wonder, and stewardship in children and adults.
British Columbia Ministry of Education and Child Care. (2023). BC early learning framework. British Columbia Ministry of Education and Child Care. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/early-learning/teach/earlylearning/early_learning_framework.pdf
Halbert, J., & Kaser, L. (2022). Leading through spirals of inquiry: For equity and quality. BC Ministry of Education.
Hannon, V. (2023). Towards an Education Workforce dedicated to Human Flourishing. Paper presented at OECD meeting January 2024.
Kimmerer, R.W. (2016). Two ways of knowing: Scientific and Native American views of the natural world. The Sun magazine. #484.
Louv, R. (2005). Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Algonquin Books.
