我们的指导原则

人类是自然系统的一部分，而不是与之分离. 因此，我们的身体健康依赖于自然界. Our social-emotional and spiritual health also depends on the natural world. 这对所有人都适用——无论他们的年龄, 能力, 种族, class, 无论他们生活在城市还是农村, 等. 不仅是人类的健康, 以各种形式, 受到自然世界的影响, 我们认识到人类的行为直接影响着自然世界.

在我们与教育领导和学校的合作中, we support all types of early childhood programs—whether they serve students in urban, 农村, high-income and/or lower-income areas—in their efforts to implement a nature-based approach. We also serve all programs no matter their starting point on the continuum of implementation of the nature-based approach, 只要我们对努力的方向有共同的愿景. 在内部, we live this belief at 萨马拉早期教育 by being conscious of how our business decisions impact the natural world and making reasonable adjustments to reduce negative impacts while maximizing positive ones. 进一步, we ensure our team members have time and opportunities to nurture their own connection 与 the natural world.

学习和教学都是社会文化活动. 这是, 我们通过反思自己与他人的经历来学习, 在特定的文化背景下. This philosophy aligns 与 social-constructivist perspectives articulated by a variety of education theorists including Vygotsky.

While this philosophy is demonstrated in our perspectives on working 与 children, 这也体现在我们与客户合作的方式上. 我们相信师徒关系而不是契约关系. 换句话说, we believe in building the client’s capacity to do this work on their own rather than us doing it for them. 此外，运用社会文化价值观意味着关系很重要. The connections we make 与 one another influence our 能力 to reflect on and learn from our experiences.

Just as diversity in the natural world makes for a healthier system, so does diversity in education. 因此，多样性不是要容忍的，而是要拥抱的. Diverse perspectives and experiences provide more opportunities to learn and in turn improve our practice. Embracing diversity also means valuing and sustaining the cultures we work 与in.

In our work 与 schools and education leaders this means we not only acknowledge the specific context but leverage that culture as an asset. It’s for this reason we see the nature-based approach as a set of principles rather than a predetermined script or checklist of practices that must be implemented. 没有一种“正确”的方法来实现基于自然的方法. Instead, the approach must be responsive to the unique context where it is being implemented.

Systematic study of the world is foundational to our experiences 与 nature as well as our teaching and learning. This is true for our impacts on the environment as well as how we interact 与 children.

In our work this means supporting pedagogy which encourages children’s scientific sensemaking of the natural world. It also means continual investigation of the best teaching practices to ensure we’re efficiently achieving our desired outcomes. Through active participation in research along 与 supporting practitioners we bridge the gap between research (i.e.(学术界)和实践. True to science we also continue to refine and revise our understanding of best practices over time.