National Parks Take Their Place in the School Curriculum

I have been and still am a Teacher. That doesn’t leave you. Seeing new plans that schools will have National Parks added to the curriculum, has just made my morning. I am so pleased that education is being taken outside. We are learning to teach diversity to a diverse group of people.

At the start of 2015, I was passionate about bringing to schools new opportunities for young people to learn new skills in their own time. I developed an app named Volific, which would allow for voluntary positions to be offered and for those interested in trying out a career path or wanting to learn a new skill, could elect to find a place that in return for their work would leave them with experience.

When I completed the app, I was drawn away by a need to return to South Africa, and the app has since been left on the App and Play store, unloved and uncared for. My main driving ambition was to afford others the generosity I was shown when learning new skills from others. I began to focus on National Parks and wanted to show how the outdoors can be the best learning environment for anyone.

Not only do National Parks offer a platform to learn about fundamental scientific principles, or experience biology first hand, it is a canvas for Art and a dictionary for English. Everywhere you look, something can be learned. Imagine learning about the force exerted on a tree in a high wind, and then trying to make a calculation based on that, or working out the power in water flow and all it’s uses for green efficient energy.

National Parks are equipped with enthusiastic people wanting to share the wonder of the world around them. They are taylor made to allow schools to visit, and the ground work has already been set to see that the learning platform is ready.

The added benefits of even visiting a local National Park and meeting other schools in a natural manner, can foster within our schools, acceptance and friendship, far beyond any forced sports event where rivalry is key to having a good time. Bringing people into an area they can appreciate will foster within them the desire to keep these spaces and savour the memories for their futures.

I am so excited and cannot wait to see this brought to reality. I hope I am there to see it happen!