BEETLES Guide for
Outdoor Science Program
and Organization Leaders:
Building Capacity for Teaching and Learning
Table of Contents
An overview to what you’ll find in this guide and some foundational knowledge about BEETLES.
Chapter 1: Working Toward Equitable and Just Outdoor Science Organizations
How can we create and sustain equitable and just working and learning environments?
Eight Recommendations for Equity and Inclusion
Effecting Change for Equity, Inclusion, and Cultural Relevance
Working Toward Racial Equity: A Vignette
Debriefing the Vignette
Key References and Resources
Chapter 2: Creating a Professional Learning System
How can we design our professional learning to inspire instructors to become curious about how students learn and to engage in ongoing instructional improvement and reflection?
A Vision of Ongoing Professional Learning: A Vignette
Debriefing the Vignette
Four Elements of Effective Professional Learning
Setting Professional Learning Goals
Choosing and Sequencing Professional Learning Experience
Using BEETLES Student Activities as Professional Learning
Building a Reflective Learning Culture
Chapter 3: Supporting High-Quality Learning Experiences
How can we ensure that all our learners receive high-quality learning experiences?
Vision for High-Quality Teaching and Learning: A Vignette
Debriefing the Vignette
Content in this Section
Equity and Justice in Teaching
The Role of Teaching and Instruction in Moving Toward Equity and Justice
How BEETLES Design Principles Support Equity and Inclusion in Learner Experiences
High-Quality Instructional Materials
Using BEETLES Student Activities in Your Programming
Adapting Your Existing Activities and Creating New Activities
Making Organization-Level Changes to Support High-Quality Learner Experiences
Chapter 4: Building Capacity for Organizational Improvement
How can we assess and build the capacities of our organization?
How to Assess Your Capacity and Make a Plan to Improve It
Capacity Framework
Vision and Reality
Distributed Leadership
Organization Policies and Priorities
Contextual Conditions
Professional Learning and Instructional Practices
Learning Experiences and Instructional Materials
Equity and Justice
Sample Action Plan Process
How can we collaborate with other organizations to build capacity and advance the field?
Introduction to Networks
Lessons Learned
Chapter 6: Implementation Examples
What are challenges and successes others have had with implementing BEETLES that we can learn from?
How have organization leaders approached aspects of program improvement that we haven’t addressed in this Guide?
Vision and Reality
Distributed Leadership
Organization Policies and Priorities
Contextual Conditions
Professional Learning and Instructional Practices
Learning Experiences and Instructional Materials
Equity and Justice
Comprehensive Organizational Transformation
Supporting Social Emotional Learning
Using BEETLES Resources and Approaches
Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Outdoor Science Education in Classrooms, Schoolyards, and Districts
Working with Subnational Networks
Thoughts from the BEETLES Team
Using This Site
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