Guest blog – Catching up with nature by Heather Buttivant

Heather Buttivant is a writer, educator and marine conservationist based in Looe, Cornwall. She specialises in introducing people to the magic of the rock pools. Her new children’s book, Beach Explorer: 50 things to see and discover is out on 1 April with September Publishing. Her website www.cornishrockpools.com was named BBC Wildlife Magazine’s Blog of the Year in 2017. She is also author of Rock Pool: extraordinary encounters between the tides.

Twitter: @CornishRockPool

Catching Up with Nature

My son and I have a healthy habit of muttering at the news. There has, after all, been plenty to mutter at in recent times. One thing that set us both off recently has been the constant mantra that “school is the best place for children”. My son is a child. He doesn’t go to school and he feels affronted that anyone would think he should.

We are not anti-school. Schools provide a variety of valuable services and opportunities, academic and otherwise, for many children and parents. They also are a haven for those children whose homes are not as safe or supportive as they should be. That said, school is not the best place for all children and it is certainly not the only place where children learn and grow. Many children (and teachers) are not thriving in school for all sorts reasons.

Like thousands of other electively home-educating families in the UK, we have taken a path that looks nothing like school. We don’t have set terms or hours, follow a curriculum or worry about levels. It seems counter-intuitive to those who expect education to be delivered by a teacher, but self-directed, self-motivated home education is at least as good as school in terms of educational outcomes and is not, in any way, an antisocial option. In normal times we are more often outside than in, taking part in many activities and groups and learning through experiences in the real world.

This week, my son and I took advantage of the low spring tides to explore the local shore together. We weren’t thinking about learning, but it was happening – to both of us.

Among other things, my son saw his first Edmundsella pedata sea slug, an amethyst-purple flash of brilliance that took his breath away. He picked up litter (so many golf balls), thought ahead about the incoming tide and learned a new Spanish song about a woodpecker just because he felt like it. By the time he arrived home, he had also mapped out a coding project he wanted to do. Fresh air, play, new experiences and daydreams, it seems, are the stuff of creativity.

Those working in the education system (and parents as a result of seeing what their children were learning in online lessons during lockdown) are aware that there is a problem with the narrowness of the national curriculum and the focus – in English schools especially – on exam preparation. It is no surprise to educators that rising mental health issues, reductions in physical fitness and a disconnect with the natural world are exacerbated by the outdated and pressurized education system. Many fabulous teachers and schools do their best to counter these trends and are rightly proud of their work, but they are fighting an uphill battle of Sisyphean proportions and doing so with desperately limited resources.

Right now, after a whole year of stress and uncertainty, the last thing that teachers or children want are longer hours, shorter holidays and intensive tutoring. Closing the gap caused by disadvantage is vital and academic support will be a part of that, but what kids need first and foremost are the kind of experiences and freedoms that will spark their curiosity and excitement. They need to feel that they are part of the world and that they can make a difference. They need to be in the right headspace before they can learn effectively. They need to get outside.

Many schools, especially at primary level, know this and already doing their best to get children outdoors and encountering wildlife. The highly successful campaign fronted by Mary Colwell, author of Curlew Moon, looks likely to succeed in securing a GCSE in natural history for secondary school students and the government is reportedly considering making nature study a compulsory part of the primary curriculum as a result of the Dasgupta review, which will make a difference too.

It still feels like we are missing a trick though. If we are serious about reducing inequality and creatively tackling our urgent environmental problems, we need to think more deeply about what children and society could gain from an education system that focuses on connection and well-being rather than measurables.

For instance…what would schools look like if we gave all children more time and opportunity to go outdoors, to follow their interests, to direct their own learning and to use their natural curiosity? What if forest school and beach school were not just a once-a-week outing, but the norm? What if educators were trusted more and given the resources to create exciting learning environments? What if we moved away from learning in separate subject silos and looked to investigations and projects led by students’ interests with sustainability and society at their core? Could outdoor adventuring and hands-on learning replace the SATS breakfast club?

School and home education are, of course, very different in terms of the practicalities, but the children have the same needs. In my experience of leading all sorts of groups, children thrive when they are given opportunity and autonomy. When children play and explore outside, they learn to love nature and to care deeply for it.

Given the level of environmental challenges and social division we are experiencing, the need for change could not be more urgent. Let’s start with a massive, national nature catch-up programme.

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