The spectrum of eco-schools
There is not just one way of being an eco-school. Indeed, it’s likely that any eco-school will evolve over time, and that only some of the ideas and preferences within the school community will become part of its “operating system”. That is to say, while it is worthwhile to strive for consensus around the school’s vision, you can expect a variety of opinons about what the school should be doing more or less of, or doing differently, at any point in the school’s development. This is normal, and not a sign of failure.
Eco-school proponents often assume that all the parents who choose to send their kids to a forest school or an eco-school are focused on ecological education or in a deeper cultural shift from consumerism towards greater harmony with the Earth. In our experience, this is not the case. Although parents may want their kids to learn to be good environmental stewards, that tends to be outweighed by a desire that their children flourish—that they be confident, independent, resilient, able to think outside the box, well rounded, social and, of course, happy. Sometimes parents will choose an eco-school simply because of their children’s negative experiences in mainstream schools.
There is generally strong support for having kids spend more time outdoors. However, that doesn’t necessarily imply big changes to how school is conceived. While lots of parents, teachers and administrators are keen on outdoor activities, field trips, maybe a gardening program, they may never have conceived of more radical possibilities. Or they may have come across one particular model of eco-schooling, or alternative schooling more broadly, that they would like to see replicated. It is rare for people to know much about the range of possibilities that are already being tried around the world, or just in North America. Ideally, one might wish to go and visit a number of existing eco-schools, but this may be impractical given that they are still few and far between.
One area where eco-schools vary quite a lot is in the level of emphasis they put on academics – reading, writing, math, and a wide range of content knowledge. For some schools, covering academics remains central to the curriculum, whereas others stress the notion of “emergent learning,” believing that knowledge, including literacy and numeracy skills, only becomes meaningful when it responds to real-life situations and experiences. There are many possible positions on this spectrum. Some schools also place a lot of value on the students’ freedom
to decide how and what they will learn, viewing the staff and school environment as resources for the students to draw on if they wish, and entrusting important decisions about how the school is run to a democratic process in which the students have the final say.
Public or private?
One pivotal decision that must be faced early in the process is whether the eco-school will operate as a public school or as an independent or private school. It’s possible, of course, that the decision has already been made for you—that your local school board has decided to open an eco-school, or, conversely, has already told you that it has no interest or capacity in that area. If both possibilities are still on the table, however, at least in principle, then it is worth considering the advantages and disadvantages each has to offer.
One point In favour of the public school model is obviously financial. Public funding makes it possible to pay teachers on the same scale as their peers in other schools, and it also gives the school access to the same range of services as the rest of the public system (although, admittedly, those services are often inadequate to meet the full range of needs). The absence of school fees means the school will be more accessible to families of diverse socio-economic backgrounds (though transport and outdoor gear may still present barriers— see discussion in a later section). And although the school community may still raise money to support various aspects of the school’s operation, the major headache of (essentially) running a small non-profit is something it doesn’t have to worry about.
Belonging to a school district usually means that teachers will be part of a union. This is an intriguing and underexplored aspect of developing a public eco-school, as the range of skills required of an “eco-teacher” may differ significantly from those deemed essential for classroom instruction in mainstream schools (see discussion in later section). Because of this, we strongly recommend involving the union early in the school’s development. This is best seen as a process of mutual learning, helping the union understand the school’s needs and helping the school community understand what is and is not possible within the collective agreement. Once the school gets going, the teacher acting as the union representative may have an important role to play in keeping that channel of communication open. (The same principles hold for any other unions involved, e.g. for education support workers.)
The primary advantage of the private school model is the greater freedom it affords to define the curriculum and teaching standards of the school as the community sees fit. That freedom may be very attractive to a founding group, especially if you lean towards the more radical end of the spectrum of possibilities. However, the trade-offs are significant. In most cases, an independent or private eco-school will find it hard to raise enough money to pay teachers and support workers at the scale of the public system, especially when benefits are taken into account (security is also an issue). If families are required to pay fees, this will decrease accessibility for families of modest economic means and limit the diversity of the student population. And being independent often limits the impact an eco-school can have, as it is easily branded as “niche,” “elitist” or “utopian.”
Vision, mission and values
As a group of parents/caregivers and educators comes together to set up an eco-school, there needs to be a process of convergence on a set of guiding principles. The language and metaphors used in these vision documents will likely have a long-lasting influence on the school; among other things, they will play a role in the decisions families make about whether to enroll their children there. So care needs to be taken with how those documents are worded, what they commit the school to, and what is left open to discovery and adaptation over time.
Pay attention to who is involved in those discussions. Consider, for instance, how the natural world itself might be involved in shaping the eco-school’s vision and mission: what wisdom and teachings sit in local ecosystems? Are Indigenous voices included—either in person or through stories of traditional use, colonization, loss, reclamation and restoration? What other local communities are present or absent in the conversations?
You may not know yet who the teachers or the administrator at the school will be, but you will be relying on them to enact a good part of the vision. Having some experienced educators at the table can help in crafting a document that speaks to teachers’ perspectives and values. Especially in the public system, where you may not have full control over who gets hired to teach at the school, you need to be thinking about teacher buy-in. This is one reason why it can be helpful not to spell things out in too much detail, affording teachers some agency in the practical shaping of curriculum and pedagogy. If anything, it is more important to frame the school as an evolving project in learning to partner with the natural world than to settle on particular ideas about what that will look like. Teachers who are curious about their practice will likely fit in better than teachers who think they already know how it’s supposed to work.
For parents/caregivers, too, a willingness to trust the process can potentially avoid spending a lot of time trying to bridge different perspectives. Some may want to stay closer to the mainstream curriculum (though they want their kids to be spending more time outside), while others may want the school to be fundamentally different from traditional schools. Think about crafting a vision where these become ongoing questions in the life of the school. One way of doing that is to focus on what you want students to able to do and to be by the time they complete their eco-schooling. What understandings will they have? What values will they hold? What skills will they have mastered? What is the vision of an “eco-citizen” your school seeks? And how will all these be connected to the land? Again, having a range of voices involved in this discussion will help produce a more inclusive vision.
With new families coming to the school each year, old families leaving, teachers perhaps moving on or retiring, a process will be needed to affirm and explore the school’s core principles on a regular basis so that they remain known and relevant. A lot of parents/caregivers will find it unusual to be asked to be involved in working through these issues with teachers and the broader community; they may not feel prepared, they may lack the time, they may be uncomfortable with open debate. So you need to think carefully about the commitment you expect from families when they join the school, and how to provide coaching, encouragement and facilitation when needed. We would emphasize, however, that these ongoing discussions around the eco-school’s vision and principles may be crucial to preserving its distinctiveness and cohesion.