Active Hope inspires ecological learning for primary teachers Coffs Coast Coffs Coast News by News Of The Area - Modern Media - September 27, 2022 Breathing in a sunflower’s scent…imagine that being lost for the next generation to only imagine. PRIMARY school teachers learning to teach nature connection to their students, through ideas from the book Active Hope by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, is a driving force of the Bellingen-based Centre for Ecological Learning. Through the program, CEL kicks off a new three session course. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au Active Hope, originally published in 2012 and revised in 2020, has inspired an international movement that is practiced across the world, including the USA, UK, Australia and NZ. “Active Hope is about finding, and offering, our best response to the many wicked environmental problems unfolding in our world,” Centre for Ecological Learning’s lead educator Lisa Siegel told News Of The Area. “It offers tools that help us find and play our role in the collective transition, or Great Turning, to a life-sustaining society. “Our students today are more than aware of the threats that are currently facing the planet. “In light of this, it is so important to develop both Active Hope and new skills in our teaching practice in order to become more effective nature mentors and environmental educators.” All three online sessions will be facilitated by Jane Grebert and Lisa Siegel, who was recently announced as the winner of the 2021 NSW Environmental Educator of the Year Award. As Sue Martin, the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) NSW President shared upon presenting Lisa with the award, “Lisa is a trailblazer and a champion of youth as the future custodians of our world. “She is known and beloved for her dedication to nature, to humanity and to humans as nature in her many spheres of influence.” Participants will take part in experiential exercises that can also be used in the classroom, as well as learning about best-practice pedagogies and models of ecological learning as they develop their own teaching toolkit. Educators will be supported to create a learning plan to implement in their own learning site. Topics such as curriculum integration, parent engagement, and risk assessments will all be explored. For more information contact CEL contact info@cel.org.au. By Andrea FERRARI CEL’s Active Hope program is teaching children about their connection with nature.
