Learners to Leaders: Learning Pathways in the Parks

What does it mean to be a life-wide learner? How does one travel a learning pathway?

Educators talk about moments when students “light up,” or demonstrate curiosity and an interest in learning more. Last year, I had the opportunity to spark those light-up moments while working with Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy educators as an Activation Lab Design Fellow, a position with the Activation Lab, funded by the The Grable Foundation.

My goal? Design life-wide learning environments (learning that takes place both in and out of school) that ignite interest in students and encourage persistent engagement.

Young Naturalists teaching youth how to identify macroinvertebrates.

To do this, I worked with Parks Conservancy educators on designing learning pathways that would lead students from the High School Urban EcoStewards program (a program through their schools) into the Young Naturalists program (an independent summer opportunity).

Teachers were critical partners along the pathway. They identified students who would be a good fit for the Young Naturalist program and supported them through the application process. With teachers as “learning brokers,” programs successfully drew youth from multiple high schools and neighborhoods. Strategic social support encouraged students to explore opportunities offered by other organizations. In fact, this summer, two of the Young Naturalists will be involved in field study and conservation work in our national parks as Student Conservation Association crew members.

Informal learning programs encourage rich learning experiences that build on what happens in the classroom. Programs like these in the parks are more flexible in honoring joy, humor, compassion, spirit, risk-taking, innovation, and curiosity as essential elements of knowing, learning and relating. They allow learners those chances to “light up,” cultivate a deeper sense of interconnectedness, and create their own personalized learning pathways that break out of the often-rigid structure of schools.

We didn’t test the Young Naturalists to see if the program improved academic performance; rather, we observed them engage with the natural world around them with increasing confidence, ask questions to further their understanding, and listened to them as they described how they carried their learning into their everyday lives.

The five Young Naturalists presented to hundreds at the Sprout Learning Pathways Summit at the end of their program.

Every run I have on Falls Ravine trail in Frick Park triggers a memory of the Young Naturalists guiding young summer camp participants in finding and identifying macroinvertebrates in the creek.

Every day I think about a conversation with one of the participants in which she explained how she now catches herself instinctively identifying trees on her walks to school.

These memories are evidence of how informal learning programs can enrich and empower our young people, and I draw from them often to inform my own research, which I hope will contribute to the design of practices and infrastructures that expand equitable access to rich learning contexts.

Imagine if learning pathways like these were available for every learner in our region for whatever topic they were interested in? The Parks Conservancy was successful in bringing together a diverse set of learners through social support on a pathway that spanned the divide between in-school and out-of-school learning. Organizational practices like this have the potential to transform our regional learning landscapes from a set of individual programs to truly interconnected learning contexts that support the learning and development of all youth.

Stacy Kehoe is a doctoral student in Learning Sciences and Policy at the University of Pittsburgh. Previously, she developed enrichment models for a public high school in Brooklyn, linking students to programs for travelling abroad, pre-college, visual and performing arts, the environment, and youth leadership. She is pursuing her graduate degree to study the incredible results she saw in Brooklyn and replicate them here in Pittsburgh.

Leading and Learning with the Young Naturalists

We could tell stories for days about the incredible crew of high school students — our first batch of Young Naturalists — that we worked with this year.

Such as when they surveyed salamanders, mastered tree identification, or worked as a team to raise a trail out of the mud.

Or when the Young Naturalists led a gaggle of under-ten-year-olds on an educational nature hike through Frick Park, becoming instant role models.

Or when one of the naturalists said she has started looking for colleges that excel in environmental studies rather than fashion.

Instead, we’ll let them tell their own stories. Already stand-outs from our High School Urban EcoStewards program, Allana, Michael, Kate, Michael, and Geneva  pioneered and excelled in our five-week Young Naturalist program. Below are their stories:

 

 

 

These young adults, and Parks Conservancy staff who worked with them along the way, will be presenting to hundreds of learners young and old at next week’s Learning Pathways Summit. Come and check them out!

Let’s Get Digital: City of Learning and Digital Badges

Do you consider yourself a nature nerd? Do you geek out outdoors?

For up-and-coming environmentalists with diverse interests, a new opportunity to build and share skill sets is about to go viral. The Sprout Fund, in collaboration with 20 organizations (including the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy) has unleashed the City of Learning initiative. Through this program, students are challenged to climb their own personal achievement ladders to gain new skills, then digitize their success.

In our hyper-connected world, young people not only have to be well-rounded, but well connected. The Sprout Fund aims to engage over 3,000 students this summer through a myriad of studies, then plug them in to digital badges as a way to quantify and share their accomplishments with teachers, college admissions, and future employers. By working through specialized curricula designed by each organization to earn badges, students can strive for cyber certifications of their achievements.

What exactly is a digital badge? Think scouting badges meets LinkedIn, explains Taiji Nelson, a Naturalist Educator here at the Parks Conservancy. Under his guidance, a team of five exceptional high school students — graduates of our High School Urban EcoSteward program — will be the pioneers not only in working towards these digital badges, but also of our Young Naturalists program. Starting in June, these Young Naturalists will spend five weeks developing expertise on park stewardship, ecology, tree identification, and much more — all while working towards badges that will show the world what they know.

Week by week, Young Naturalists will earn the following badges, embedded with data and particular to the skills that they’ve mastered:

Beginner tree ID badge

Our budding botanists and future foresters will learn to identify the common trees of Pennsylvania by their leaves, seeds, buds, bark and branches. They do this by recording observations of 10 different native trees, learning to use field guides, attending an identification hike with a tree ID expert, and writing a field guide entry in the form of a blog.

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Birding basics badge

Naturalists will learn the basics to identify all of the birds that flit, tweet and roost in the parks. They do this by using field guides and journals to learn how to identify 10 species of birds,  hiking with a birding expert, and writing a detailed field guide entry for one species of native bird.

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Healthy parks, healthy cities badge

Earners of this badge explore and study parks to learn about the important role of trees in forest ecosystems. They will participate in a transect-survey (studying trees along a specific path) of several forest plots and gain experience with collecting and interpreting data, use scientific tools and methods, and practice systems-thinking.

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Urban EcoSteward badge

The skills needed for this badge are generally developed long-term in our Urban EcoSteward program. To earn this badge, EcoStewards must learn how to properly use the tools needed to work in the parks. They will also master invasive plant species identification. To earn this badge, they’re required to plan and complete at least one restoration project to manage erosion, canopy loss or fragmentation, litter, and invasive species.

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Young Naturalist badge

Earners of this badge gain experience making and recording observations in nature journals using a variety of scopes, methods and mediums. Analyzing the features of plants, animals and landscapes strengthens their ability to compare, contrast and synthesize many observations to form a conclusion. Analyzing natural change strengthens their systems thinking and ability to form assumptions and predictions.

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Young people that participate in the City of Learning not only benefit from working with The Sprout Fund and the many civic, educational, creative, and outdoor organizations associated with this initiative, but they’ll also be connected to a larger network across the country kicking off similar digital badge programs. Through City of Learning, we hope to see that young people gaining new skills in the parks can translate that into success throughout their lives.

Dear Journal,

In this week’s blog post, we have to give it up to some grade A high school students.

Students from Perry, Pittsburgh Science and Technology, City High, Ellis, and Westinghouse High Schools have been gearing up in gators and gloves all year as High School Urban EcoStewards, taking on ecological restoration projects in the parks while learning about science and stewardship. As part of this program, students are given time to find quiet places in the park to observe, reflect, and  journal about their experiences. This week, as we say goodbye to this year’s High School Urban EcoStewards, we want to thank them for their work and share some of their entries. 

Walking from point A to B
Not just to plant some trees
We learned about invasive species and natives, too
It’s really hard work that we do
Working in snow, sleet, and rain
Definitely does not ease our pain
But the thought of us making our earth a better place
Keeps a smile upon our face
Sprained ankle, and sick to the bone
I was determined to come for what there was to learn
We dedicate our bodies and time just to balance the world
We don’t discriminate — you can be a boy or a girl
Everyone is welcome to join a great cause
For this experience deserves an infinite amount of applause
I want to say thank you to Bailey and the staff
We got to talk and even got to laugh
I had a great time and I can finally say
An EcoSteward is what I’ll stay
-Ronnay, Pittsburgh Science and Technology

Students got up close to plants in the park, observing and learning through the journals they kept.  They made detailed sketches of invasive species such as jetbead to take note of distinctive characteristics. This helped them learn to properly identify and remove these plants on their site.

The park in the fall
Red, orange, yellow leaves
The rain makes me calm
-A High School Urban EcoSteward from Ellis

Students are taken on neighborhood walks, where they visit three sites around their schools’s neighborhood and sketch each site from a bird’s eye view. After, they determine what percentage of the site is permeable (water can seep through it) and impermeable (water cannot seep through it) to learn how green spaces impact storm water management.

 

Throughout their experience as High School Urban EcoStewards, students develop the skills and confidence to take concrete action to improve the natural environment. Given the time to thoughtfully observe, explore, reflect and restore, they become conscientious stewards of the world around them. We thank them for all of their hard work this year!

Parks as classrooms, parks as offices: A Public Ally perspective

When I first applied to Public Allies, an AmeriCorps-run leadership development program, my idea of working in a professional office setting was stereotypical. I envisioned boring, tedious tasks. I pictured myself sitting at a desk all day, slaving away at paperwork and waiting desperately for 5:00 to roll around. These thoughts made me nervous, and I considered not going through with Public Allies. After my first week of placement with The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, I found out how wrong I actually was. Many Public Allies are now going through the cliche office experience, but thanks to the Parks Conservancy, I probably spend enough time out of the office for them to be jealous of me.

Reading two poems about nature before sending HSUES students into Frick Park to journal

These past few weeks have been a huge surprise and loads of fun for me. I thought this job would bring boring, slow days, but I was definitely proven wrong. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. The first day of Habitat Explorers started it all. Habitat Explorers is a program that teaches kindergartners and 1^st graders about habitats in nature. The program also teaches the students about community, both in our society and outdoors. Children from a variety of schools, including Colfax, Faison, Community Day, and Propel Braddock Hills participate in the program.

1st grade Habitat Explorers throw seed bombs at a praying mantis target in a meadow

The program includes an activity that involves throwing seeds into a meadow. This activity helps the meadow grow back healthier the following spring. Seeing how interested the kids were during the lesson about community and habitat and how much fun they had exploring the meadow also made me very excited. Observing the students’ thirst for knowledge gave me a sense of hope, especially for the future of society. These kids loved the idea that they were scientists, taking samples and bringing them back to the laboratory – even though the labs were only a tent and a tool shed. Some of the smallest findings – a tiny spider in a goldenrod flower, for instance – seemed unimportant to me, but were huge breakthroughs for some of the kids.

Seeing how fun learning was to the kids made me look at things in a different way. I was always a curious person, asking questions about everything I saw, especially as a kid. As I grew older, though, I lost some of the passion I had for learning and being curious. When I started working with Habitat Explorers, I started to reevaluate how I felt about learning. I thought, if these young 1^st graders are just starting their education and are this excited to learn new things, shouldn’t I, someone that knows so much more, be even more excited than they are? Every time that I have participated in a Habitat Explorers session, the students inspired me to become more and more interested in learning new things.

HSUES students reflect on their surroundings, keeping a journal throughout their time in the program

High School Urban Eco Stewards (HSUES) is another Parks Conservancy project that I enjoy. HSUES is a program that began as a way to teach high school students about watersheds and ecological restoration. The program actually takes the kids out into the parks to do hands-on field work that is truly helping the park environment. Sci-Tech, Westinghouse, Perry Traditional Academy, Ellis School, and City High participate in HSUES. These past few weeks, my coworker has been taking me to the HSUES sites to give me a feel for the work that we will be doing. Each high school has their own site (a section of woods that the school stewards throughout the year). Although I have not worked with HSUES in the field yet, working with students so close in age to myself as an instructor will most likely bring some interesting experiences.

Another program that I will be working with during my time here at the Parks Conservancy is the Mission Ground Truth (MGT). This program takes 7^th and 8^th graders into the forest to evaluate and determine the health of the forest and any streams that it contains. Students learn about how humans impact the environment. Just like the other programs, everything that MGT teaches is hands on. The students that participate are doing the jobs of real field ecologists with professional tools, such as pH sensors for measuring pollutants.

MGT students use GPS to map their site locations

A big part of my job is further integrating technology into our education programs. Many people believe that technology has taken children’s interest away from the outdoors and nature. I am trying to get rid of this pre-conceived notion that technology and environmental education cannot coexist. This will come by trial and error through different facets of the program. I am hopeful and excited for all of this to come together, and I am looking forward to a big year for the Parks Conservancy and for myself.

Lynn Johnson, Pittsburgh Parks Public Ally