Video 1: An Overview of Natural Curiosity
Summary: This video introduces the Natural Curiosity pedagogy, developed at the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study Laboratory School, at OISE-University of Toronto. It will reference the resource, Natural Curiosity 2nd Edition, alongside its authors and other guest speakers to define environmental inquiry, and how it relates to Indigenous perspectives.
Video 2 - Branch 1: Inquiry & Engagement; Indigenous Lens: Lighting the Fire
Summary: This video introduces the first branch of the Natural Curiosity pedagogy, “Inquiry and Engagement”. Connections to Indigenous perspectives on heart-based, community-oriented learning, are drawn through discussion about the Indigenous lens on Branch I, “Lighting the Fire”. Leading educators discuss their role in provoking and supporting authentic student questions throughout an inquiry, with help from the land as co-teacher and using stories as a tool for deepening the learning.
Video 3: Branch 2: Experiential Learning; Indigenous Lens: Sending Out Roots
Summary: This video introduces the second branch of Natural Curiosity, experiential learning. The Indigenous perspective of “Sending Out Roots” expands on the notion of experiential learning to include a sense of deep rootedness in place. Educators share the importance of nurturing children’s sense of place in a nearby piece of the natural world, and the transformative impact that learning “in” the land can have on children throughout the grades.
Video 4 - Branch 3: Integrated Learning; Indigenous Lens: The Flow of Knowledge
Summary: This video introduces the third branch of Natural Curiosity, “Integrated Learning”. Educators discuss the importance of providing students rich and integrated learning experiences that reflect the complexity of real life. The Indigenous lens, “The Flow of Knowledge”, expands on conventional ideas around integration in education to include a profoundly personal, as well as communal perspective that is informed both by seven generations into the past and future. Educators discuss the importance of engaging community and local Indigenous partners in respectful relationships as an essential component of integrated learning.
Video 5 - Branch 4: Moving Towards Sustainability; Indigenous Lens: Breathing with The World
Summary: This video introduces the fourth branch of Natural Curiosity, “Moving Towards Sustainability”. Shifting from a stewardship-oriented model of environmental inquiry, the Indigenous Lens on Branch 4: “Breathing With The World”, promotes a more holistic goal of supporting the development of reciprocal relationships between children and the natural world. Developmental considerations for engaging children in learning about the natural world in ways that sensitively integrate agency, knowledge, hope, and a sense of responsibility, are discussed.