Scholarly Journal Articles

Organizations that work to introduce urban students to the outdoors face many challenges. Bringing students into nature and exposing them to activities like skiing, climbing, rafting, or hiking is often expensive and full of risks. In addition, organizations must work hard to ensure that they are providing the most enriching experiences for their students, both to maximize their impact and to stay in business. While there are many ways to do this, organizations that form community partnerships, emphasize the need for professional development among teachers, and value culturally responsible education tend to be the most successful.22, 23

Community partnerships enable organizations to reach a wider audience and thus have a broader impact. In “A Community Partnership to Facilitate Urban Elementary Students’ Access to the Outdoors,” Ferreira et al. discuss The Greening of Detroit, a non-profit organization that works to reforest the city, educate the community, and develop community gardens. To do so, they formed a partnership with a local university and the local school district in order to bring outdoor and environmental education to elementary school students in the area.22 Likewise, the NorthBay Adventure Center, discussed in “Evaluating a Constructivist and Culturally Responsive Approach to Environmental Education for Diverse Audiences,” by Stern et al., partners with local public schools in order to provide culturally relevant outdoor education programs to middle school students in the greater Washington, DC area.23 The Greening of Detroit and the NorthBay Adventure Center are both recognized for being widely influential, and their ability to reach a wide range of students is largely due to their connections with outside affiliations. Moreover, both programs are centered in a specific community and are run by community members, so the organizations are able to appropriately gage local issues and thus play an active role in their communities.22, 23

IMG_2775

                                                                                                                                                                                     29

In order for urban outdoor education programs to be implemented successfully in schools, teachers must be properly educated about the environment and how they can incorporate it into the classroom. Concerned that low-income children in Detroit tend to have little access to nature and outdoor recreation, the Greening of Detroit program built outdoor classrooms in schools – green spaces with gardens, trails, and butterfly habitats – and worked with teachers to integrate outdoor and environmental curriculum into the classroom.22 University professors also worked to educate teachers about environmental science and introduced them to various ways of incorporating outdoor recreation into the curriculum. Interviews conducted with teachers after their participation in the program indicate that the Greening of Detroit led to a shift in teachers’ perceptions about the value of the outdoors for learning purposes, translating to increased outdoor education experiences for their students. Moreover, as teachers grew more comfortable integrating outdoor and environmental lessons into their classroom, they were better able to improve student learning, engage students, and make connections between their urban environment and the natural world.22

Screen Shot 2014-12-13 at 8.19.16 PM

The Greening of Detroit by the numbers.30

Lastly, providing culturally relevant curriculum to students is essential in order to appropriately and effectively teach environmental awareness and appreciation. While at NorthBay, students learn environmental science, hike, canoe, and participate in character development programs that strive to further student leadership, team work, and self-confidence.Through surveys and interviews with participants, Stern et al. found that NorthBay programs were effective in teaching character development, leadership, and environmental responsibility to their students.23 While both urban and non-urban students participated in the programs, urban students were found to respond more positively to their experiences at NorthBay than did students from suburban and rural areas. Stern et al. hypothesize that this may be due to the program’s explicit emphasis on making linkages between students’ on-site and home lives, thus encouraging a sense of environmental responsibility through culturally relevant lessons. Moreover, the staff of NorthBay come from a range of diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, and socioeconomic levels. Many of them hail from cities, and are thus able to serve as role models for urban youth.23