Learners by Nature
Story appeared in the 2017 issue of QMS Connections Magazine.
BY LEANNE SCHULTZ, OPERATIONS & HR MANAGER
As many scientists and researchers can attest, the campus of Queen Margaret’s School provides more than just a picturesque background to our learning spaces. It has been proven that the harmonization of students’ academic learning with a nature-rich environment also maximizes their opportunities for social, emotional and physical growth.
In 2005, author Richard Louv coined the phrase “Nature Deficit Disorder” in his best-selling book, Last Child in the Woods. Not a formal diagnosis, nature deficit disorder was described as “the psychological, physical and cognitive costs of human alienation from nature, especially children in their vulnerable developing years.” The publication of Last Child in the Woods led to a global movement to re-institute nature back into the everyday settings of young children, either in the form of specialized outdoor education programs, or in the form of biophilic design, where purpose-built schools incorporated natural materials, manufactured green spaces, and replicated patterns found in nature.
Spread out across 27 acres of park-like green space in the centre of Duncan, Queen Margaret’s School students are exposed to nature on a daily basis. Head of School Wilma Jamieson notes one of her favourite times in the school day is walking the Primary bus students across campus to the Primary Centre. Trips are often interrupted by stopping to observe squirrels, jump across puddles, or compare the lengths of the various worms noted along the way. Jamieson is delighted with the many opportunities QMS students have to interact with nature on a daily basis: “They walk through canopies of trees as they go from one learning centre to another, enjoy the lush playing field that anchors the campus, take their morning riding lessons to the accompaniment of birdsong, let their imaginations run loose in the trees and forests that surround their defined playgrounds, and enjoy hands-on experiential learning in the purpose-built outdoor education spaces (gardens and greenhouses).”
Although this is the every-day normal for students at QMS, it is actually quite unique in the wider context of North America. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, over 49 million students in North American are learning in urban environments, and incorporating natural outdoor spaces into learning programs remains a significant challenge.
Learning that takes place in a natural setting contributes to measureable success for many childhood outcomes. For instance, the overall physical health of children is better when they are exposed to more green environments. In 2008, public health researchers discovered that children who were exposed to “greenness” had significantly lower BMI scores. Even more promising, these same children experienced a slower rate of increase of BMI than children who were not regularly exposed to natural greenery over a six-year period. These are important findings, as childhood obesity is a significant measure of childhood health. It seems overly simplistic, but by creating a healthy landscape for our school, QMS has created an attractive outside space for students to play, walk and run, thus increasing the enthusiasm for physical activity and time spent outdoors.
Increased physical health is not the only benefit of learning in a green space: mental health is also posi-tively affected. There have been many fascinating studies that demonstrate how exposure to nature helps manage stress levels. Over 30 years ago, in 1984, Roger Ulrich discovered that children who had watched a stressful film or who had a stressful encounter in a classroom recovered more quickly in a natural setting. Other studies have proved that even having a window view of nature in a classroom allowed students to feel less frustrated and more patient, found their work to be more challenging, and express greater enthusiasm for it, and report higher life satisfaction and overall health.
Even more relevant to a learning environment, though, is the research that clearly links children’s regular exposure to nature to increased attention spans and effectiveness. This has positive impacts on classroom performance, as biophilic engineers (people who design purpose-built, manufactured “green” environments) have demonstrated that students in classrooms with natural light score an average of 20% higher on their test scores than students in classrooms with no to little daylight.
Underpinning the positive effects of a natural learning environment on student health and mindset is the incredible opportunity for environmental stewardship that a place like Queen Margaret’s School provides. In his book How to Raise A Wild Child, author Scott Sampson notes, “Go ask 100 scientists what is the most pressing issue of the day, and you’ll hear about climate change and species extinction and habitat destruction. All of those things are true, and we likely can’t solve them unless people care about where they live. Why would they care if they don’t spend any time outdoors?” Junior School Principal Susan Cruikshank agrees wholeheartedly, recalling a lesson in composting that really struck a chord with her Grade 5 class. “I could tell my students were less than enthusiastic about learning about composting when I led them out to the School’s compost pile for a lesson with one of our maintenance staff. But when Tom Nowlin dislodged some compost to reveal a mother rabbit and two baby bunnies snuggling in the warmth, they became entranced. All of a sudden, school lessons on ecosystems came alive for these students, and doing the daily composting for the classroom became a very sought-after job!”
The advantage that students in schools like QMS have in being surrounded by nature is that they have unique opportunities to really examine their habitat in the context of the greater environment. Whether it is studying the barred owls that live in the forest behind the Senior School or the endangered chocolate lilies that pop up in the far reaches of the campus, students are given a first-hand opportunity to know and name their surroundings. And that, as internationally renowned artist Robert Bateman notes, is essential to being good modern citizens in this day and age: “If you can’t name things, how can you love them? And if you don’t love them, then you’re not going to care a hoot about protecting them or voting for issues that would protect them.”
Clearly, the environment in which an educational program is offered has a significant impact on the success of a child’s learning in many ways. How fortunate are we that our Founders instinctively realized the value of creating a park-like setting for the School, even going to the effort of transporting heritage trees from the UK to create a unique landscape for our School. Did you know that some of our oak trees have a royal heritage? Their acorns were transported from the Royal Park of Windsor (Windsor Castle) by our Founders!
By providing a background for learning that has the ability to improve both the performance and wellbeing of our students, Queen Margaret’s School is maximizing opportunities for everyone to succeed.