12th Annual SEEA Conference & Research Symposium

Instilling HOPE through EE

This interactive workshop will consider research about the anxieties, distress and disengagement that can result when students (and educators) learn about environmental problems. The need for "HOPE" (a project-based learning framework) will be presented as an essential basis for change, rather than merely a feeling.

Workshop participants will:
- explore physical and mental health benefits of spending time in nature;
- use technology to measure positive impacts on the earth;
- recognize environmental heroes from various cultures;
- observe the resilience of nature;
- consider the potential of human empathy and ingenuity; and
- try instructional strategies intended to help students gain skills, experience, and confidence by solving bite-sized local problems

The focus will be on maximizing the mental health benefits of nature, instilling authentic hope, and engaging students in meaningful and effective problem-solving.

Depression and anxiety can be common reactions to environmental education, affecting both students and educators. Fear does not inspire or motivate students to make a difference in the world: instead, it can result in hopelessness and disengagement. The proposed workshop will share highlights from an eeCourse in development.

Overcoming Obstacles to Outdoor Learning SEEA’s eeLandscape Analysis - and particularly the School Survey - revealed a number of barriers that limit opportunities for students to experience the benefits of outdoor learning. Despite research documenting the academic gains, real world connections to curriculum, physical and mental health benefits, problem-solving skills, self-efficacy, and nature connection that can result from outdoor learning, few classes regularly spend time outside the classroom walls. And those classes that do venture over the threshold often miss out on opportunities for enriching and empowering student-directed learning. This workshop will focus on methods and models for overcoming obstacles to outdoor learning. Building on survey findings and research, workshop participants will explore instructional strategies and approaches that have been effective in getting students outside more frequently, and for more meaningful real-world learning experiences and nature connections.