The next volume is one that is perhaps my favorite in the series. In Field Notebooks and Natural History Journals: Cornerstone of Outdoor Learning, Lois Mansfield makes the case for the pedagogical importance of field notebooks and nature study within Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education. Lois Mansfield is Professor of Upland Landscapes at the University of Cumbria in Ambleside, England as well as Director of the Center for National Parks and Protected Areas. She argues that field work not only helps children learn about how to care for creation, but that they also cultivate observational skills that transfer easily to other domains of knowledge.

Nature study is a hallmark subject in a Charlotte Mason education, and at times nature study has been misunderstood. Mansfield clarifies many of the cognitive skills that are developed through the use of field notebooks in nature study, helping us better situate this subject within the wider curriculum. In addition to clarifying the role of nature study with Charlotte Mason’s educational vision, I think this book also helps classical educators understand the role of natural history within the liberal arts tradition.

Field Notebooks in the History of Science

Mansfield situates field notebooks within the development of scientific inquiry. She notes how “there has been a shift from biological field observations to laboratory work, modelling, and theoretical investigation” which has coincided with the decline of the study of natural history (18). We can picture scholars with notebooks in hand traversing diverse landscapes taking notes and sketching specimens. This is a tradition that goes all the way back to the ancient world, with figures such as Herodotus, Aristotle, Strabo, and Pliny the Elder contributing to our knowledge of the natural world (20-21). Collectors of plant and animal specimens in the Victorian era were celebrated for adding knowledge of new worlds (21).

Much of the development of medical knowledge comes from the field observations of generations of scholars, particularly in the Middle Ages in both Europe and the Middle East (21-22). We can see the connection between field observations and the development of the scientific method during the Enlightenment with figures such as Francis Bacon and Carl Linneaus codifying and systematizing the domain of scientific knowledge. Mansfield summarizes the work of natural historians:

“Trained naturalists were able to employ empirical observation through the scientific method along with accurate record-keeping through written accounts and illustration in notebooks and journals.” (24-25)

It seems like something was lost in the transition to laboratory and theoretical work that has diminished not only an exciting arena of learning, but also a vital connection with the outdoor world that ought to be reconsidered by educators today.

Charlotte Mason’s Use of Field Notebooks

The students who attended the Charlotte Mason’s House of Education in Ambleside were required to keep a field notebook, where they recorded observations about the surrounding landscape. Mansfield gives us a sense of the development of skills at the training school:

“They recorded anything and everything related to the natural world, be it geology, landform, landscape, plants, animals, insects, or other things. Many notebooks were richly illustrated with brush drawings using watercolours to support their written observations, but like all student work, content started slowly and developed over the two years of their training.” (25)

These notebooks were assessed by a panel of external examiners, and certificates were awarded for satisfactory completion of the notebooks. These inspectors would take the students on a yearly nature walk, providing in-depth instruction, with the result that entries were lengthier and more detailed as a consequence (27). This gives the impression that the field notebooks were not simply a hoop to jump through on the journey to certification, but a genuine learning exercise cultivating a rich connection to nature that left an indelible mark in the lives of these future teachers, who themselves would teach children to use field notebooks.

Deep Learning and Field Notebooks

One might think that nature study is a lighter subject, something along the lines of a free play or recess. Mansfield demonstrates that in fact nature study is a mean to deep learning and the development of key skills. She writes:

“These notebooks operated at a number of levels through the application of different learning styles in a complex interrelationship of consecutive, synchronous, and asynchronous approach, which are of value today.” (30)

One of the learning styles Mansfield highlights is the domain of kinesthetic learning. Alongside visual, auditory and reading/writing, kinesthetic learning provides a more physical engagement in learning. In the creation of field notebooks whilst out in nature, students are learning and processing in ways that are unavailable in the classroom or lab.

“They [field notebooks] were, in point of fact, a form of embodied cognition, where all senses and motor skills were employed to experience and learn about natural history to make sense of our perceptions, which can contribute to memorisation abilities.” (30)

The kinesthetic “embodied cognition” connects to experiential learning where students encounter items in their natural setting and transform this experience through observation, conceptualization and experimentation. (33-34) Mansfield demonstrates that the student who asks “Here is a new insect I do not recognize; how do I identify it?” (32) is processing information is a way that utilizes these experiential learning skills in new and ever-changing natural settings.

Through observation and recording, Mansfield identifies how students are engaged in reflexive learning. This differs from reflective learning, where a student “analyzes what has happened.” With reflexive learning, the students “automatically self-assesses and reacts to synchronous circumstances.” (35) In other words, the child is placed in a natural setting where they encounter something in real time and use a variety of thinking skills to interact with something right in front of them.

This deep learning occurs via processes that carry a low cognitive load. Field experiences and the keeping of a field notebook draws upon previous learning by providing students with models and diagrams that enable the identification of specimens in such a way as to reduce cognitive load. (36-38) (Cognitive load theory is something I plan to delve into in a future article to further situate the concepts here within the whole curriculum.)

Developing Observational Skills

One of the distinct advantages of field work and the keeping of a field notebook is the efficient development of observational skills. Mansfield sees this as a hallmark of field notebooks within Mason’s methods. Nature notebooks “formed a cornerstone for out of door life for children and arguably are the fundamental building block to gaining scientific knowledge to understand the world.” (38)

Mansfield clarifies that observation is not merely looking at something. Instead, one applies knowledge and reflexive thinking to understand what one is looking at. She differentiates how a child observes when compared to a trained botanist:

“[Expert botanists] collect observations about various morphological structures and compare it to other plants where they have seen similar diagnostic features, and are able to identify it drawing on their a priori (previously known) knowledge of taxonomy, plant morphology, and ecological context. Children, on the other hand, do not have this prior knowledge to draw upon, so their observations focus on surface features in front of their eyes to start, until they begin to build associated knowledge.” (39)

This comparison between novice and expert helps us to see where we as teachers provide coaching and training to help develop observational skills. Consider how a child that is given lessons in the basic leaf shapes, bark textures, branch patterns of trees will be able to use this knowledge in their observations of trees. In their field notebooks, we would be able to track growing observational skills as they use these identifying characteristics to specify what it is they are seeing when out in nature.

Mansfield includes a set of sample student work from one of Mason’s students in their nature notebook entries:

“April 23^rd On climbing up near Dungeon Ghyll we saw several snails amongst the bracken and rocks.”

“Dec 27^th There were more than a dozen Peewits [Vanellus vanellus] collected together in the free wide open space of a field. In flight the wings are short and rounded at the ends, they flap slowly and heavily. A Peewit flied forward for a few yards, then turns suddenly and seems to tumble right down almost to the ground, then another turn and he is flying close to the ground, or upwards to descend again suddenly.”

Not only did the entry in the notebook become lengthier, we see more specificity in the second entry, with the student using the flight pattern of the bird to confirm her identification of this species.

Contemporary Field Notebook Methods

When it comes to using field notebooks today, there are a few different methods that Mansfield shares. She highlights the work of John Muir Laws (55-56), who has written a number of guides teaching nature journaling. His work promotes a joyful and artistic approach to field work, encouraging children to illustrate, write and measure the natural world around them. For those wanting an entry-level guide, his 2016 publication, The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling is a great place to begin. Teachers might like his How to Teach Nature Journaling (2020), co-written with Emilie Lygren.

Next Mansfield discusses the Grinnell method (56-57), named after the biologist Joseph Grinnell. This is the method used by universities and museums, which is a more technical and standardized procedure for keeping a field notebook. It may be that this method due to its rigorous standard is best learned by advanced students. High schoolers going into fields such as geography, geology, environmental sciences and ecology may find it useful to learn the Grinnell method. Yet, even with a foundation in basic approaches to field notebooks will establish a good foundation for the skills of observation and data collection.

Field Notebooks in the Classical Tradition

Hopefully by reviewing this book, we who are part of the classical renewal movement will gain an appreciation for the role field notebooks played within the liberal arts tradition. From the ancient world through the middle ages and even into the post-Enlightenment era, field notebooks were the means by which great minds interacted with the natural world. Teaching students to use this tool connects them to a rich tradition of inquiry and creative engagement with creation. Kevin Clark and Ravi Jain call for poetic knowledge in the natural sciences.

“Thus, natural philosophy values poetic insight, intuition, and imagination in addition to rational demonstration. This approach interweaves the objective and subjective into a transcendent unity. It also acknowledges that our understanding of an object, while true, never exhausts the intelligibility of the object. A foundation in the seven liberal arts provides the common reason that is required to adjudicate the truth of arguments and justify or demonstrate the claims of reason. Natural philosophy offers students today a critical opportunity to hone their arts of reason in discussions of the natural world. When all the arts are employed, natural philosophy teaches students to think properly and promotes true wisdom.” (Clark and Jain, The Liberal Arts Tradition, 114)

What this amounts to is an engagement with the natural world that integrates the imagination and emotions. This harkens back to the work of James Taylor’s Poetic Knowledge who calls for a non-analytic approach to education. We do not need to necessarily adopt an anti-analytic approach to gain value from what might best be described as a hand-on pathway to the mind. In fact, the poetic knowledge available through a rich and varied field notebook containing ample personal encounters with the natural world (full of illustrations, quotations of literature, emotional responses, spontaneous expressions of praise to God for his creation, etc.) comes alongside a highly analytical approach to categorizing, measuring and identifying objects. This is truly the classical foundation for the natural sciences.

And so I highly recommend this book as a means to explore the implementation or refinement of a program at your school or homeschool that utilizes field notebooks in nature study or science. Mansfield provides a deep understanding of the key role field notebooks played in the history of natural philosophy while also providing concrete examples of what these might look like for younger and older children.

Watch an in-depth training session by Jason Barney on how to use the teaching tool of the apprenticeship lesson plan. Learn how to use a time-tested approach to coaching students in the acquisition of a new skill.

Gain practical skills to help your students develop mastery of a process that can be replicated, whether solving a problem, performing a task, or applying one of the liberal arts. You will have the opportunity to ask questions as you aim to implement the apprenticeship lesson plan.

The post The Study of Nature: Book Review of Lois Mansfield’s Field Notebooks and Natural History Journals appeared first on .

The concept of banning mobile devices in schools should be thought of first and foremost about the learning environment. As we consider the role that phones play in the lives of children, there are good reasons why families might consider placing a phone in their child’s hands. There is a feeling of safety to be able to contact one another at a moment’s notice. Parents have the ability to find their location through tracking apps. Not only is there a feeling of safety, but there is also a feeling of technological advantage in a world that is so driven by devices. Or to put it another way, parents feel that by not entrusting these devices to children, they will fall behind their peers in ways that might have implications for their education and careers.

However, more and more parents, teachers and leaders are waking up to the idea that mobile devices are harmful for children. Haidt highlights four ways that phones have harmed children: social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, and addiction. There is much onus on parents to lead the charge in the battle to save children from these harms. But there is equally a burden of responsibility on schools to not only protect children from these harms, but also to educate and train students to rise to the challenge of our phone-based society. To that end, we need to talk about phone-free policies for our school. On top of that, we need to go beyond restrictions to encourage healthy face-to-face interactions within the school environment, to train students in gaining deep focus, and to provide a holistic framework that equips students to understand the role of technology in their lives.

A Review of The Anxious Generation

The 2024 release of Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation has swept the nation, appearing on the New York Times bestseller list for nonfiction every week since its publication in late March. This is not the first time he has written on topics pertaining to mental health and its modern causes, having co-authored The Coddling of the American Mind with Greg Lukianoff. What is not in question is that children today are describing themselves as experiencing greater depression and anxiety than previous generations. The debatable matter is what exactly has caused this increase to occur. Haidt’s answer is what he calls the “phone-based childhood.”

Without a doubt, the presence of smart phones in the pockets of our children has dramatically changed the experience of being a child. Haidt spells out the factors that contribute to the rising anxiety among children, adolescents and young adults. There are serious psychological implications for children growing up in a world that is hyper-connected to the internet. In particular, there are “four foundational harms” associated with a phone-based childhood, according to Haidt. First, children are deprived of face-to-face social interactions. Social media is often consumed in isolation within a virtual world at the expense of being physically present with others in the real world. Haidt writes, “Children need face-to-face, synchronous, embodied, physical play” (121). The absence of this kind of in-person interaction means that children lose out on the opportunities to learn the skills of social exchange and personal identity within groups where you have to navigate complex human dynamics.

Second, children are deprived of the sleep they need not only to support healthy physical growth, but also to consolidate their internal selves. When we sleep, there is a tremendous amount of activity that processes our experiences of life, be that what has been learned in school or the social interactions with friends and family. Haidt cites a study by Jean Twenge that found that “heavy use of screen media was associated with shorter sleep duration, longer sleep latency, and more mid-sleep awakenings” (124). Screen use, then, comes at a cost that can go unseen. Reduced hours of sleep and poor quality of sleep will have a dramatic impact on aspects of children such as concentration and mood.

Third, children are deprived of the power of attention. Smart phones increase the number of notifications and interrupts linear thought constantly. Haidt spells out the implications:

“Attention is a choice we make to stay on one task, one line of thinking, one mental road, even as attractive off-ramps beckon. When we fail to make that choice and allow ourselves to be frequently sidetracked, we end up in ‘the confused, dazed, scatterbrained state’ that [American psychologist William] James said is the opposite of attention.” (127)

Such deprivation of the power of attention has an obvious and significant impact on learning. The importance of attention has recently been expressed as the key factor driving excellence. According to Daniel Goleman in his book Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, attention connects to every aspect of life and achievement:

“In very recent years the science of attention has blossomed far beyond vigilance. That science tells us these skills determine how well we perform any task. If they are stunted, we do poorly; if muscular, we can excel. Our very nimbleness in life depends on this subtle faculty. While the link between attention and excellence remains hidden most of the time, it ripples through almost everything we seek to accomplish.” (2-3)

For this reason, the deprivation of attention strikes a blow at a core level, crippling the ability to students to shape their lives through the application of skills they might acquire.

Fourth, children suffer from the addictive nature of the apps on their smartphones (and in many cases other screen-based devices). Haidt is clear that the addictive nature of these devices does not mean that students are therefore addicted. He does, however, point out that “their desires are being hacked and their actions manipulated nonetheless.” (130) To put it another way, the pings, notifications, and alarms have a Pavlovian effect on children at a stage when they are most neurologically maleable. Social media and online games are often created to trigger addictive responses by teenagers, leaving them vulnerable to techniques that cause the them to spend more and more time in social media apps like Instagram and online games like Fortnite.

Additional Recent Research

Haidt’s book is well written making it an engaging and fairly easy read. This can potentially mask how well researched The Anxious Generation in fact is. Looking at the long list of references in the back, it is clear that Haidt has spent considerable time poring over the data. Even so, there does remain some amount of research that in the main corroborates Haidt’s perspective that smart phone are detrimental to children and adolescents.

One such corroboration is found in a review study published the summer of 2022 in the journal European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. The authors reviewed 25 studies published between 2011 and 2019 finding that the use of mobile phones and wireless devices “may be associated with poorer mental health in children and adolescents.” (Girela-Serrano, B.M., et al. “Impact of mobile phones and wireless devices use on children and adolescents’ mental health: a systematic review.” Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 33 (2024), 1621–1651.) What I find interesting about this review is that for the first decade of the existence of the iPhone, scientists were already aware of potential detriments to children and adolescents.

More recently, Bora Colak, in an essay published in 2024, explores recent data to examine the association between the use of smartphones and social media and problems children and adolescents experience in mental health. Similar to Haidt, Colak recommends increased awareness and policy initiatives to protect children and adolescents from harm. (Bora Colak, “Potential Harms of Excessive Social Media and Smartphone Use on Youth Mental Health,” in Dancyger, et al., eds., Pediatric Nonadherence (Springer, 2024), 59-70).

Granting that not every child experiences smartphone addiction in the extreme, the potential for continual harm for children and adolescents exists. One recent study looked at potential molecular and neurological pathologies associated with smartphone addiction, suggesting the implementation of anti-addiction therapies to mitigate the impact of smartphone addiction. (Faijan, et al. “Smartphone Addiction among Students and its Harmful Effects on MentalHealth, Oxidative Stress, and Neurodegeneration towards FutureModulation of Anti-Addiction Therapies: A Comprehensive Survey basedon SLR, Research Questions, and Network Visualization Techniques,” CNS & Neurological Disorders – Drug Targets 22 (2023), 1070-1089.)

Taken together, these and other recent studies should alarm parents and educators of the harm that smartphones and social media can inflict on children and adolescents. The potential harm to children is great enough that in 2023 Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released an Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health. The advisory states, “Extreme, inappropriate, and harmful content continues to be easily and widely accessible by children and adolescents. This can be spread through direct pushes, unwanted content exchanges, and algorithmic designs.” (8) In other words, the individuals who are most vulnerable to harm are not properly protected against some of the ways these social media are designed. Murthy strengthened his statement a year later in piece he published in the New York Times, calling for warning labels on social media platforms along the lines of those found on cigarette boxes.

Advice for Schools

What is clear from Haidt’s book and recent studies is that smartphone and social media use by children and adolescents can be harmful. As a result, parents and schools should amplify their protections for children. In this section, we will outline a few steps that can be taken in schools to proactively respond to these trends.

Become Truly Phone Free

Many schools have phone policies of some sort. Haidt amplifies the issue when he writes, “A phone ‘ban’ limited to class time is nearly useless. This is why schools should go phone-free for the entirety of the school day.” (249, emphasis original). Such an approach requires a secure location for phones where they can be parked far enough away from where students do academic work for them to be truly separated from the device.

At Clapham School, we implemented a program where a phone storage cabinet was placed near the receptionist desk. As students enter the school, they place their phone in the “phone home” and proceed into the school where they learn in classes and interact with one another without phones present. The advantages of this approach are that the phone is in a secure location and there is a responsible adult present at all times. The presence of the adult is important both for the security of the phones, but also to facilitate accountability for the students. Rather than sneaking access to the phone during passing periods, breaks or lunch, students are more inclined to interact with each other. If a situation arises where the student needs to ask a parent a question, they are permitted to go to the receptionist area to use the phone in a designed location. Unsurprisingly, these needs have been fairly rare. When the phone is not easily accessible at all times, many of those “needs” seem to evaporate.

As you consider implementing a phone-free policy at your school, there are few principles to keep in mind. One, the policy needs to begin with the security of the students’ devices, because if they feel their property is not secure, there will be immediate resistance. Two, the policy needs to have some amount of flexibility where students can have a designated location where they can transact any interactions that come up during the day. By having that location near the receptionist, an appropriate approach can be that the student use the school phone to reach parents, thereby negating even further the “need” for the personal device. Three, there needs to be true separation. A location in a classroom can end up being quite the distraction as the phones buzz and squawk throughout the day. It can be difficult to find a central location that can accommodate the student traffic and maintain optimal security. Four, having an adult present at the secure location means there’s on-the-ground support for policy implementation. Finally, there needs to be an inspiring set of ideas that motivate the policy. Showing students the pathway to rich fellowship and deep learning helps them to know that there is something good and worthwhile they are committing to, rather than seeing such a policy as solely the deprivation of their property.

Write a Technology Policy

Now, having a phone-free school does not mean having a technology-free school entirely. The reality is that students must be well equipped to navigate a world full of technological and virtual components. At one level, schools need to develop a strong technology policy. The guiding principle should be the academic use of technology. Students must learn how to use basic apps such as Word, a school-based email account, presentation platforms and spreadsheets. Most of these tools can be incorporated into the general objectives across the curriculum. For instance, teachers can articulate objectives that will see students able to format text, format documents, set up tables, integrate graphics, set up templates, use table of contents, use different methods of citations including footnotes. These kinds of objectives situate technology within a set of learning outcomes that wed technology to academic production.

The next level of technological training should incorporate the use of video production. After Covid, the use of video meetings has become a reality even in the academic space. Thus, when we think about rhetorical training, students should not only think about written and oral production, but what it takes to be not only comfortable on camera, but to view this as a medium for persuasive communication. Along these same lines, I could see schools articulating objectives where students learn how to develop their own blogs and complete assignments by producing video content. This set of outcomes equips students to inhabit the virtual world that is part of their reality not solely as consumers but as creators. As such, I think they are more likely to have a greater sense of their own identity consistent with their real-world selves rather than being swayed by an onslaught of influences through social media platforms.

In order to accomplish these technological outcomes, I do think there should be a some clear parameters set with regard to the use of technology in school. Three immediately come to mind. First, devices – and here I mean predominantly laptops or tablets – should only be taken out under the direction of a teacher. Here I am trying to push back against the inundation of devices in the classroom. Students should still experience school as a place where paper books are opened in literature class, and math problems are solved with pencils in hand. Second, it should be expressly stated that there is no social media or entertainment sites open in school. The sole purpose for devices is their academic use. This curtails the switching between windows to support singular focus on the work at hand. It also encourages face-to-face interactions outside the classroom, rather than students gathering around a laptop to watch a YouTube video. Third, screens ought to face out towards the public. This means that anybody walking by or circulating in a classroom can quickly and easily see what is happening on screen. These kinds of approaches to the technology policy enable accountability and mentoring, strengthening the habits of students in the school context.

Get Parent Commitment

Implementing a phone-free school program cannot happen without good parent partnership. Schools can help parents by providing readings and workshops to address the issues facing parents today. Administrators and teachers should invite discussion with parents to learn more about the pain points they experience raising children in a world with smartphones and social media. In all likelihood, a phone-free school is exactly what they would want for their children. That being said, good communication is necessary in order to assuage fears parents might have about their ability to stay in touch with their children when out of the home. These fears are often associated with safety concerns, so they will want to know the measures the school will take to ensure the safety of their child.

One way to amplify parent commitment is to embed the phone-free school program within a larger movement. A compelling vision has been cast by Justin Earley, author of Common Rule and Habits of the Household. He sets forth ten practices that help individuals, households and communities to develop healthy relationships with technology. One of the ten practices is a phone-free school. Set within a context of personal, family and community standards, the alignment of this visionary approach enables everyone to work together towards the goal of healthy approaches to technology in our lives. One of the tools available to individuals is a commitment form that can be signed. What something like this can do for a community is to put some kind of stake in the ground that states a commitment to certain standards of conduct. You can find more information about the movement, the practices and the form at hangtenmovement.com.

Get Outside

Returning for the moment to Haidt’s thesis that we have increased vigilance regarding playing outside and decreased vigilance regarding playing online, my advice to educators is to get the students outside. Children need more time experiencing the real world in unstructured play out of doors, particularly in contact with the richness that nature has to offer. There is actually good research to support this. The mindfulness movement gathered momentum in light of the Covid epidemic, and much of the research tells the tale that being outside in nature improves mood and decreases anxiety. Walking in nature can improve one’s mood even more than physical exercise alone, according to a 2020 study (Olafsdottir, et al. “Health Benefits of Walking in Nature: A Randomized Controlled Study Under Conditions of Real-Life Stress,” Environment and Behavior, 52 (2020), 248-274). Even if an immersive experience in nature is hard to come by, even taking a walk in an urban environment was shown to have positive results on the mood of students (Jingni Ma, et al., “Effectiveness of a mindful nature walking intervention on sleep quality and mood in university students during Covid-19: A randomised control study,” EXPLORE 19 (2023), 405-416.) The long and short of this is that we should enable students to experience the benefits of real world.

There are lots of ways that you can enable students to make rich connections with the outdoors. Sometimes even a simple walk taking only five to ten minutes can completely change the mood of the day for your class. Getting outdoors can take a more formal approach by planning a nature study lesson. Plan field trips where the day is spent at a local garden, farm or arboretum. The goal is to get outside and have a meaningful interaction with the physical space we inhabit.

Training the Prophetic Voice by Dr. Patrick Egan is a must-read for classical Christian educators seeking to build a robust rhetoric program. Grounded in biblical theology, this insightful book provides a framework for developing students’ prophetic voices – the ability to speak with wisdom, clarity, and conviction on the issues that matter most.

As an experienced educator, Dr. Egan understands the vital role rhetoric plays in shaping the next generation of Christian leaders. Through time-tested principles and practical guidance, he equips teachers to cultivate students who can articulate the truth with passion and purpose.

Whether you’re looking to revitalize your existing rhetoric curriculum or lay the foundation for a new program, Training the Prophetic Voice is an invaluable resource. Discover how to empower your students to become effective communicators, courageous truth-tellers, and agents of transformation in their communities and beyond.

Order your copy of Training the Prophetic Voice today and unlock the power of your students’ voice in your classroom.

The post Are You Ready to Become a Phone-free School? appeared first on .

And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Our modern world does not know what to do with nature. As a result, neither do our schools. For some, nature is a victim of humanity, a primordial entity (Mother Nature?) in need of rescue from the sins of industrialism. For others, nature is a tool, a utilitarian pathway to increased lifespans, decreased global poverty, improved technologies, and an overall brighter future. 

In scripture, we see that nature is the result of God’s creative activity. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” we read. The earth, in its earliest moments, is formless, empty, and dark. And yet, as the creation narrative unfolds, things change quickly. A once formless world is now given shape. Emptiness is replaced with life to the full even as darkness is swallowed up by light. “And God saw that it was good.”

A Calling to Cultivate

How might we lead our students to study the natural world in a way that is aligned with this biblical vision?

To do so, it seems, we must keep reading:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”… And God blessed them. And God said to them [humankind], “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

Genesis 1: 26-31 (ESV)

Here we see humankind’s distinct responsibility: to rule creation as God’s royal deputy, stewarding the natural world with authority, dominion, and prudence. To rule is not to oppress as some might interpret the word “subdue,” but rather to oversee or govern toward a state of flourishing. This is the creation mandate, a divine injunction for the human race to bring order to creation, which will be latter mirrored by Christ’s own mandate to his followers to bring this order to fulfillment in the kingdom of God.

Wisdom of the Natural World

In the classical tradition, the study of nature was considered a subset of philosophy, “the pursuit of wisdom.” Natural philosophy, hence, is “the study of wisdom about the natural world.” And yet, in modern schools today, we study science, not nature. Our students learn the scientific method, the process for conducting experiments, and the importance of evidence-based reasoning. Through this study, they become devotees to scientism, modern scientific investigation, and are trained to gather “data” about the natural world to attain the desired ends of society.

But amidst this process, are students actually encountering this world for themselves? Are they being equipped to prudently rule and steward creation as God commands them? Are they learning to see it rightly for what it is, indeed, to love it?

Here I am reminded of a famous scene from the 1997 film Good Will Hunting. In a crucial moment of dialogue between Will (played by Matt Damon) and his professor-therapist Dr. Maguire (played by Robin Williams), Dr. Maguire confronts his pupil with a prophetic word:

You’re just a boy. You don’t have the faintest idea what you’re talking about. You’ve never been out of Boston. So if I asked you about art you could give me the skinny on every art book ever written…Michelangelo? You know a lot about him I bet. Life’s work, criticisms, political aspirations. But you couldn’t tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You’ve never stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling.”

In the story, Will, a self-taught genius, can rattle off facts like a human encyclopedia, and yet, he does not actually know in the deepest sense. Why? He has not experienced the truth, goodness, and beauty of what he has studied for himself. He has not opened himself up to real experiences, becoming vulnerable to these things, and risking the opportunity to love.

Connecting Children with Nature

If we are not careful, we as educators can inadvertently commit the same error in our modern educational approaches to studying nature. In efforts to make knowledge useful, we can seal off the possibility of encountering beauty. In aims to train students to have power over nature, we fail to experience its healing powers over us. In objectives to increase A.P. test scores, our students can tell us everything about flora, except which specimens grow in their own gardens.

To be clear, I fully support and respect the processes and achievements of modern science. I would not be able to write this article in the nexus of modern technologies swirling around me in good conscience if I did not. But if we are going to educate children to study nature in the fullest sense, we must lead them to encounter nature for themselves.

In Volume 1 of her Home Education Series, Charlotte Mason writes,

He must live hours daily in the open air, and, as far as possible, in the country; must look and touch and listen; must be quick to note, consciously, every peculiarity of habit or structure, in beast, bird, or insect; the manner of growth and fructification of every plant. He must be accustomed to ask why–Why does the wind blow? Why does the river flow? Why is a leaf-bud sticky? And do not hurry to answer his questions for him; let him think his difficulties out so far as his small experience will carry him.

Home Education, p. 264-265

Here we see Mason’s instruction that for children to properly love and know nature, they must spend time outdoors. This time can be spent with generous amounts of free and unstructured play as well intentionally led nature studies. During these studies, students can observe a specimen closely and allow their minds to ponder what they observes.

In a later volume, Mason writes,

On one afternoon in the week, the children go for a ‘nature walk’ with their teachers. They notice for themselves, and the teacher gives a name or other information as it is asked for, and it is surprising what a range of knowledge a child of nine or ten acquires. The teachers are careful not to make these nature walks an opportunity for scientific instruction, as we wish the children’s attention to be given to observation with very little direction. In this way they lay up that store of ‘common information’ which Huxley considered should precede science teaching; and, what is much more important, they learn to know and delight in natural objects as in the familiar faces of friends. 

School Education, p. 237

Formal science instruction has its place, including the opportunity to conduct experiments and practice the scientific method. But in the earliest years, the goal of nature study is to put children in direct contact with nature. Through the nature walks described above, students self-direct their own observations, empowering their minds to explorer, wonder, and discover.

From Abstract to Concrete

In “The Parents’ Review,” the monthly magazine edited by Charlotte Mason, guest writer J.C. Medd, writes of nature study:

Its aim is to bring the child into direct relation with facts, to lead him from the abstract to the concrete, and to stimulate him to investigate phenomena for himself. This is to promote that process of self-instruction which is the basis of all true education.”

J.C. Medd, Volume 14, 1903, pgs. 902-906

In conclusion, a philosophy of nature study must begin with what nature is and our role as human beings in relation to it. In scripture, we see that nature is nothing less than God’s good creation, a masterpiece of God’s perfect design, echoing His love for beauty, design, physicality, life, and growth across ecosystems. We, as humans, are called to govern this great masterpiece, cultivating the natural world toward a state of flourishing. To lead our students to know nature for what it truly is, we must vacate our classrooms for a different classroom, one created a long time ago, and accessible by every child to be discovered, known, and loved.

The post Towards a Philosophy of Nature Study appeared first on .