FOREST & WILDLIFE Education Project Teacher Professional Development and Forestry Field Trip Project 2020
Inside Education’s ongoing commitment to forest education, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, saw the creation of a series of 6 in-person and 2 web-based teacher professional development workshops through the month of October. During these 8 workshops, 111 teachers from across Alberta and B.Ed. students from four universities participated in hands-on, interactive programing and received a fantastic forestry field trip kit for their school.
Inside Education leads award-winning student forestry field trips for thousands of K-12 students and teachers at seven sites across Alberta. With pandemic restrictions placed on field trips (mainly due to travel to field sites) for at least the first half of the 2020-21 school year, we asked, “How can we continue to support teachers in facilitating meaningful forestry and wildlife education for their students?” The solution was to provide teachers with knowledge, experience and tools to lead local field trips closer to their schools during these difficult times, and to provide engaging tools for them to use even when things return to normal. With this, we launched the Forest and Wildlife Education Project this October and were thrilled with the interest and uptake from teachers province-wide. In addition to providing each participating school with a field trip kit, we coordinated full-day, in person professional development experiences for teachers. The program involved a mix of local forestry and wildlife experts, hands-on experience with forestry, environmental and wildlife monitoring tools as well as engaging outdoor activities designed by Inside Education. In the pages that follow we will outline the successful implementation of this project, and we should note that a highlight for both the teachers participating and for Inside Education was a return to a feeling of normalcy. To gather in a safe outdoor environment, with an eye to personal and professional development aimed at helping Alberta young people be tomorrow’s environmental and natural resources leaders, stewards and career practitioners.
“ “
It is a fanastic kit and the handbook is perfect! Really well laid out and easy to use. CHRISTINA REID CONNECTIONS FOR LEARNING, STONY PLAIN