Learning in nature has been at the heart of Sightlines Initiative's work since its inception in 1995, informed by life, by Robin's prior work as an early years educator in the east end of Newcastle between 1982 and 1994.

Here are some fleeting and typical views of children's encounters in nature, in Sightlines Initiative projects ....

Between 1997 and 2015 we have consistently worked with children and educators of schools, preschools and playgroups across NE England,  - action-research work which brings together fundamental principles of our inherent propensities for connection, relationship and empathy - between each other and the 'others' in our organic and multiplex world, and working to construct educational conditions which nurture and articulate these.

These are places of mythmaking, of enquiry, of respect, delight and wonder. We recognise that children are born competent to live and enquire; our very beings demand it; we also know that this potential can be 'pushed underground' by paradigms of teaching which seek to constrain and control, which prioritise  'preparation for work' , for 'social assignment', rather than truly working to maximise potentials, inter-relationship, interdependence.

These projects, many of which have published their experiences, seek to offer windows into how living and learning can be, celebrating life, potential and constructing a new educational paradigm.

Publications  Look, Look, the Tree's on Fire (dvd video 1999), Feathers, The Mouse House, (project booklets 2000), Doing the Right Thing (video dvd 2004) and Learning to Learn in Nature (book and videos 2015), dive deeper into these experiences, through narratives of children's experiences and learning, reflections of educators and advocates for children's learning, immersion in the 'natural world' and our life-respecting place within it.

Learning in Nature, and how we can nurture it - some publications

As Satish Kumar, amongst many others, has stated, "we need a new system of education which can respond to our times and can help to develop a regenerative culture."

Learning to Learn in Nature: Book and DVD Resource

To order your copy please click here.

To view a flier including further information about the book, please click here.

Early Learning in Nature Project

The Early Learning in Nature Project (2009-2014) worked each year with groups of children and their educators who regularly visited and became familiar with their very own "wild place", engaging in exciting, imaginative and elemental learning. The project was designed to give children with limited access to natural environments sustained opportunities for engaging with nature. It sought to provide a sound basis for respect, understanding and stewardship of the natural world, as well as a rich resource for co-constructed and imaginative learning.

Early Learning in Nature Project information 

 

National Network Action Research Projects

Developing long term action research projects with educators and children is at the heart of our work.

We believe that all children are rich, strong, competent and full of potential and it is the role of the school and educator to create learning contexts which foster children's natural curiosity and desire to learn. Our overarching aim is to demonstrate pedagogical systems which place curiosity, enquiry, exchange and expression at the heart of educational practice.

Designing and carrying out projects with early years' settings is a key part of our work. Over the fourteen years of our project work the following have emerged as key elements:

• observing, analysing and building from children's fascinations
• supporting learning groups
• developing dialogic practice amongst the educators
• documentation to support learning processes and as evidence
• parent participation and exchange
• nature as a learning environment
• the school as studio - transforming the classroom environment

To read about past and current projects please go to the menu box on the top left of this page. 

To enquire about developing a project in collaboration with Sightlines Initiative contact robin(at)sightlines-initiative.com