Curriculum
The Learning in the landscape curriculum is designed to function as a cycle of three interdependent networks based on Sobel’s (1997) identification of empathy, exploration and action as the fundamental elements in children’s relationship with the environment. Lessons cycle through these three networks as activities deepen students’ fluency in the language of nature. Visual thinking, in the form of observation, creation and communication, is the foundational center around which the networks cycle.
The Empathy Network
Seeing nature as a living system, deserving of care.
recognize elements and principles of art within natural systems
observe local history through stories, primary source material and art-historical accounts
learn from local and international eco-artists
visualize natural processes, structures and functions through drawing, painting, sculpting, printmaking, photography and animation
develop ecological fluency through visual thinking
The Exploration network
Constructing knowledge through lived experiences
measuring and mapping
recreate local indigenous practices through the cultivation of native plants
grow, tend and harvest plants in the school garden
hike in local parks
build with natural, local materials
collaborate and cooperate
experience nature through creative play
The Action Network
Rethinking systems to envision and design restorative solutions
plan, design and engineer
become aware of local land use issues from an environmental justice perspective
communicate through murals, site specific sculptures, infographics, printmaking, graphic design, posters
create powerful art works that express transformative ideas through personal discovery
Click on image for curriculum rationale pdf .
Theoretical Framework
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“We cannot overlook the importance for educational purposes, the close and intimate acquaintance got with nature at first hand, with real things and materials, with the actual processes of their manipulations and the knowledge of their special necessities and uses.”
Dewey’s (1925) belief that knowledge is constructed through lived experiences and social interaction, is a powerful rationale for involving students directly with nature. Outdoor experiences require group cooperation, whether it is hiking through a wetland or working in a school garden.
Greene suggests the need for individuals to come alive in connection to educational material (1971). The lived experience of material is especially meaningful when the material is living. Planting, tending, harvesting and eating crops from a school garden literally gives life to the student and their learning.
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The action network draws on the ideas of Paulo Freire as students are treated as experts in their own experience and given the chance to develop their positions and beliefs. Freire’s notion of dialogue as the essential form of education and activism has universal applications. Freirean dialogue consisting of humility, love, reflection and action, is a model for the way this curriculum aspires to reach students.
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When we can read the story of our immediate landscape with fluency, we develop empathy for the systems that sustain us. According to Noddings, “caring about” is a motivating factor for justice (2010). Can a care-driven system of justice be applied to care for the natural?
Art has been shown to facilitate a deeply affective connection with natural places and their non-human inhabitants (Bertling. 2015; Gaylie, 2011; Somerville, 2013). Whether it is through observing the work of local artists or through their own creative responses to the landscape, the empathy network facilitates a deep understanding of nature’s diversity and complexity and guides students to see natural elements as living systems, deserving of care.
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Place-based education which emphasizes importance of learning from local ecologies, is supported by the interdisciplinary nature of arts education( Capra, 2005; Sobel 2013; Orr, 2013; Blandy et. al. 1998; Gruenewald, 2003; Graham, 2007).
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Item description
Arts Based Environmental Education (ABEE) uses perceptual investigation through the elements and principles of art as a point of departure for understanding ecological systems. (Van Boeckel, 2013; Woolery; 2006)
American art educators called for a transformative art pedagogy, based on the land art movement of the 1960’s and 70’s which could engage students in environmental issues. (Blandy, et al., 1988; Lankford, 1997; Inwood, 2008)
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The arts are fundamental for understanding natural systems and “speaking the language of nature” (Capra, 2005).
“This was such an amazing opportunity for our students!
Each lesson was so thoughtfully orchestrated and gave us a chance to learn so many beautiful, beautiful things! Through planting and foraging and sketching - you brought so many important topics to light!
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Let Learning in the Landscape nurture a creative connection between your students and the natural ecosystems on and around your school campus!
Programs
In-School Residencies
Intensive teaching residencies engage students in interdisciplinary, experiential, hands-on projects including
exploring structures, functions and systems in the school garden through the elements, principals, materials and techniques of visual art.
design and implementation of bird and pollinator gardens.
cultural and ethnobotanical practices related to planting, tending and harvesting plants.
communication through murals, signage, and digital infographics.
Workshops, Trainings and Staff Development
Learning in the Landscape can help your school integrate visual art and ecological literacy across grade levels into all areas of your school’s curriculum. Grounded in the Next Generation Science Standards and with a focus on fun, engaging, easy to manage activities, we bring a wealth of experience and expertise in facilitating arts-based, nature-centered learning in schools.
Open Studio and Events
Art centered, ecological learning for elementary and middle schools.
Designed and taught by artist and art-educator, catherine sky
4 - 12 weekly sessions, including materials and instructional planning with teachers
Choose from the following three residencies or request a custom design
Residency 1
Art in the Garden
Students learn to see THE SCHOOL GARDEN AS A DYNAMIC SYSTEM OF INTERCONNECTED patterns, forms, structures and functions
4-6 week Residency includes
planting, tending and harvesting, nature journaling, microscopic observation, drawing, and painting, constructive and imaginative play with plants
8-12 week residency builds on the above plus
indigenous techniques in planting with a focus on ethnobotanical uses of plants for traditional foods and crafts, implementation of compost systems, rain gardens.
Residency 2
Restorying the Landscape
Students learn the geologic and cultural HISTORY OF THEIR LOCALITY AS THEY design and restore pollinaTOR and bird habitats on the school campus
4-6 WEEK Residency includes
exploration of local myths, stories and art-historical images, outdoor exploration, nature journaling, native plantings
8-12WEEK Residency builds on the above plus
planning, designing and implementing the restoration of pollinator and bird habitats on the school campus, communication through multi-modal informational signage; cartooning, painting, puppetry, printmaking, digital media or sculpture
Residency 3
Math in the Landscape
through careful observations on and around the school campus, students will use techniques of drawing, painting and sculpture to visualize the manifestations of math in the landscape.
4-6 week residency includes
observing, drawing and painting mathematical patterns, sequences and more
8-12 week residency builds on the above plus
developing site-specific artworks including sculpture, painting on canvas, murals, mosaics, digital design and more
All Residencies Are individually designed to support learning across all levels, TK-8
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We loved your calm, firm, loving presence. We loved your organization, thoughtful set-up, and flexibility to adapt to what the children brought forth. I loved how you had their hands in the dirt and working with tools. You wove art and literature into lessons which aligned beautifully with the curriculum.
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Partners and Projects
McNear Elementary School, Petaluma CA 2018 - present
Art in the Garden
Habitat Restoration
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“Catherine was a huge support to our bird habitat garden project. This was my first experience in 30-plus years of teaching that a specialist teacher so fully came on board to support a classroom project! Her curriculum design skills were much appreciated and without doubt, expedited the progress and success of the project.”
Kirsten A. Franklin
Fourth Grade Teacher, McNear School, Petaluma City Schools
LAGUNITAS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, LAGUNITAS, CA 2022
Restorying the Landscape
“You were a FANTASTIC leader in the garden. Great guide on the side with the different ways to approach the garden: Background, draw/study, then do. I loved it!
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Grant Elementary school, Petaluma, CA 2021- present
“Catherine Sky is a major asset to the Grant Elementary community, teaching garden classes to every child in our school. As the Grant garden coordinator, along with the school garden club, we searched for years for someone who could help us build a program filled with art and science in the garden, and give kids a chance to learn and grow in this amazing outdoor space. Catherine coordinated scheduling with each teacher and planned an engaging curriculum that both students and teachers (and parents) are excited about.”
Kim Laidlaw, Garden Coordinator, Grant Elementary School, Petaluma, CA
Art in the Garden
“This was such an amazing opportunity for our students!
Everything we did - they loved - as did I! Each lesson you prepared was so thoughtfully orchestrated! It was a perfect balance of stations in that each student had the opportunity to work in their journals as well as tending the garden and investigating a new topic at the experimentation table.
You know it is "good stuff" when the kiddos come in saying, "Yeah, it's Garden Day"! We enjoyed every treasured moment!”
Tammy Elliot, 3rd Grade Teacher, McNear Elementary, Petaluma CA