Episodes

  • Episode 135 - Forest Educator Spotlight: The Invitation to Dream Bigger

    Episode 135 - Forest Educator Spotlight: The Invitation to Dream Bigger
    Sep 19 2024
    There are a lot of 'ingredients' in most forest educator programs that make up the bulk of the experiences. Crafts. Skills. Games. Challenges. Free Play. Exploration. (and more). Viewed as a recipe, they would be the big items in whatever dish you're making. They'd take up a lot of space in the pot or pan, and they would get the most attention. But there are also the smaller ingredients in the mix, that are often completely overlooked and seldom thought about, that are critical to making the dish come together, and work, like salt, or seasonings, or baking powder. When these are missing, it is a big deal. When it comes to crafting and inviting students to have an 'Experience' in our programs, the little things matter in the same way. Our stories are important, and how we frame the lessons, or time spent together, and our intent, as well. This episode explores some of these small but mighty 'secret ingredients' that pack a lot of power and energy, especially around the ideas of inspiration, mastery, pushing beyond our perceived limits and the value of focus and attention to detail. These have the capacity to provide some incredibly long lasting impact for students and educators alike. Forest Educator Bonus Content Page: http://foresteducator.com/bonuscontent Join the Forest Educator Patreon! https://patreon.com/ForestEducatorPodcast Connect with Ricardo: https://www.foresteducator.com/ https://www.theforestboxforkids.com/ https://www.hawkcircle.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardo-sierra-5980931/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_forest_educator_podcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RicardohawkSierra
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    52 mins
  • Episode 134 - Forest Educator Spotlight: The Surprising Benefits of Hard Work

    Episode 134 - Forest Educator Spotlight: The Surprising Benefits of Hard Work
    Sep 16 2024
    The one question I get asked about most is about program design, curriculum and activities for older children, teens and young adults. There are lots of good ideas and content out there that covers nature/science combos, or nature/language arts or nature/creative arts, and those are awesome. In this episode, I share some of the things I've learned over the more than three decades of working with young people and how 'work projects' can have incredible and valuable life skills and long term outcomes that pay off in multiple ways. Forest Educator Bonus Content Page: http://foresteducator.com/bonuscontent Join the Forest Educator Patreon! https://patreon.com/ForestEducatorPodcast Connect with Ricardo: https://www.foresteducator.com/ https://www.theforestboxforkids.com/ https://www.hawkcircle.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardo-sierra-5980931/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_forest_educator_podcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RicardohawkSierra
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    48 mins
  • Episode 133 - Tracking with Aboriginal Elders, Healing the World with John Stokes

    Episode 133 - Tracking with Aboriginal Elders, Healing the World with John Stokes
    Sep 12 2024
    It was through Tom Brown Jr and his Tracker School that I came to meet John. It was 1984, on a farm in western New Jersey, and he was an instructor at the school, and spending seven days with him and the rest of the staff and Tom changed the direction of my life in a radical way. John was pulled to New Mexico in 1986, where he founded The Tracking Project, and began running rites of passage camps for boys and girls, as well as adult trainings and retreats. I was incredibly fortunate to spend time in his Nurturing the Roots Mentoring Program, where he had gathered elders from Australia, Sweden, Hawaii, Mexico, Brazil, and across North America. Learning and connecting with those elders and John and his staff was a revelation that blew my mind, because they held a mentoring space that was unlike anything I had experienced before. This experience changed the way I tracked animals, connected to nature, taught and led my camps, trainings and programs. It even affected my personal and community relationships In this first of a series of conversations, we dive into what learning tracking does to us and for us as human beings, and John describes his apprenticeship with some of the best trackers in the world. Please enjoy Episode #133. Website: https://thetrackingproject.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetrackingproject/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTrackingProject/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thetrackingproject Forest Educator Bonus Content Page: http://foresteducator.com/bonuscontent Join the Forest Educator Patreon! https://patreon.com/ForestEducatorPodcast Connect with Ricardo: https://www.foresteducator.com/ https://www.theforestboxforkids.com/ https://www.hawkcircle.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardo-sierra-5980931/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_forest_educator_podcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RicardohawkSierra
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Episode 132 - Is the Recent Guardian Opinion-Article a 'Hit Piece' on Forest Schools? Understanding the Nature Media Narratives with Asa Hardy-Brownlie

    Episode 132 - Is the Recent Guardian Opinion-Article a 'Hit Piece' on Forest Schools? Understanding the Nature Media Narratives with Asa Hardy-Brownlie
    Sep 9 2024
    It came out of nowhere, right as hundreds of Forest School Leaders were preparing for the Autumn semester: An opinion piece in The Guardian ominously titled "I'm All For the Concept of Forest School, Just Not the Kind I Pulled My Kids Out Of." by Emma Brockes. It's just six paragraphs of cynical observations around schools, camps, forest schools and misunderstanding, but it packs a lot of criticism for nature education without a lot of detail, nuance or substance. It's the kind of piece that can and did get under the skin of a LOT of dedicated, passionate educators who did not take kindly to the views expressed. Asa Hardy-Brownlie and I discuss this and nature education media narratives in detail and talk about the challenges we face as a profession to effectively respond to these kinds of pieces that can really skew the understanding of parents, teachers and schools. What sorts of ways do we want to communicate what we do and why it's important and valuable to children and families? We talk about websites, social media and ideas and ways of shaping our messaging so it sticks and is effective, which are some of the gold nuggets we can glean from this experience. Guardian Article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/16/forest-school-kids-children-wholesomeness?fbclid=IwY2xjawFGHjpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHcPiqmTXxigdia-3hUHjNGD_dfrvCltmCkKI5uvVO3IU0-v5O--Fq5vabQ_aem_b_HsH0bqger7b-YmGOCfRg Building a Story Brand Book by Donald Miller: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400201837/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?smid=AX2JROIIWRZYD&psc=1 The Forest School Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-forest-school-podcast/id1389962726 The Forest School Assistance & Support Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/forestschoolas/posts/1921709608278764/?comment_id=1921860808263644&reply_comment_id=1922381681544890¬if_id=1725393778098826¬if_t=group_comment_mention Portugal Forest School Reel: https://www.facebook.com/reel/548887540806850 Forest Educator Bonus Content Page: http://foresteducator.com/bonuscontent Join the Forest Educator Patreon! https://patreon.com/ForestEducatorPodcast Connect with Ricardo: https://www.foresteducator.com/ https://www.theforestboxforkids.com/ https://www.hawkcircle.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardo-sierra-5980931/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_forest_educator_podcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RicardohawkSierra
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    59 mins
  • Episode 131 - Holistic Marketing Strategies with Elizabeth Clyde

    Episode 131 - Holistic Marketing Strategies with Elizabeth Clyde
    Sep 5 2024
    The task of communicating the value and benefits of what we do as nature based educators is vital to the long and short term success of our mission/vision, so 'marketing' is one of the hats we wear as part of our leadership roles. But often, we are SO reluctant and hesitant to promote ourselves, and talk about it, and I've seen a LOT of people get really uncomfortable taking the leap into even thinking about it! Enter my guest for this episode: Elizabeth Clyde. She's been doing 'holistic marketing' for over 17 years with a variety of different businesses and companies, and she shares her view on how the field of marketing has changed over the past few years and where it seems to be heading in the short term future. If you are one of those people whose website or Instagram or other social media network could use some fresh ideas, this episode is for you. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethclyde1/ Forest Educator Bonus Content Page: http://foresteducator.com/bonuscontent Join the Forest Educator Patreon! https://patreon.com/ForestEducatorPodcast Connect with Ricardo: https://www.foresteducator.com/ https://www.theforestboxforkids.com/ https://www.hawkcircle.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardo-sierra-5980931/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_forest_educator_podcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RicardohawkSierra
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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • Episode 130 - Forest Educator Spotlight: Experiences of the Sacred and the Profane in Nature Education

    Episode 130 - Forest Educator Spotlight: Experiences of the Sacred and the Profane in Nature Education
    Sep 2 2024
    This episode explores the phenomenon that often occurs when we work with people in nature, where there is a moment of touching the divine, or the light. We also tackle the flip side, where someone in our care goes down, to the rich, warm darkness, where things get raw and primal. I share about why I find the duality principle both lazy and inadequate as a metaphor, and how its oversimplification can be limiting or even traumatizing for some students. Using the 'ecosystem' as a new model, I share examples of approaches I've found helpful when either polarity shows up in our work as educators, often unexpectedly. Forest Educator Bonus Content Page: http://foresteducator.com/bonuscontent Join the Forest Educator Patreon! https://patreon.com/ForestEducatorPodcast Connect with Ricardo: https://www.foresteducator.com/ https://www.theforestboxforkids.com/ https://www.hawkcircle.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardo-sierra-5980931/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_forest_educator_podcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RicardohawkSierra
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Episode 129 - Enhanced Mental Health and Healing through Ecopsychology with Linda Buzzell, MA, LMFT

    Episode 129 - Enhanced Mental Health and Healing through Ecopsychology with Linda Buzzell, MA, LMFT
    Aug 29 2024
    The world of medicine and academia seems to run on a different timeline than the modern world. Changes take time to process, evaluate, become revised and eventually, approved for integration into the working model for treatment or training. There are good reasons for this process, because acting too quickly can create a lot of confusion, waste of money and time and generally degrade the public opinion of these institutions, but to an outsider, it can be maddening to watch and wait in real time. The origins of 'eco-psychology' as a branch of mental health treatment and approach began on the personal experiences of therapists and counsellors, and hundreds of studies are confirming its efficacy over the past twenty years. My guest in this episode is Linda Buzzell, MA, LMFT, who is an adjunct faculty at Pacifica Graduate Institute, author of Ecopsychology: Healing with Nature in Mind and an ecopsychologist. She shares why nature is important in the healing process for humans for both physical and mental health, and how it can benefit us as educators to understand what is happening when we take children or adults outside. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-buzzell-ma-lmft-2949ab13/ Book: https://www.amazon.com/Ecotherapy-Healing-Nature-Linda-Buzzell/dp/1578051614/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.aAMoldtOyUOD9zSZw0MQx22aqKO-MsSYM5jdfT4ltxHGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.4laEq4b-6Uu9e2U3_hslfnQ8jv4wmV-th0Rgv0Iq99E&dib_tag=se&qid=1724950917&refinements=p_27%3ALinda+Buzzell&s=books&sr=1-1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Linda-Buzzell-100063776733917/ Pacifica Graduate Institute: https://www.pacifica.edu/pacifica-news/nature-connection-practices-that-heal-an-interview-with-linda-buzzell-lmft/ Written Articles: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Linda-Buzzell Forest Educator Bonus Content Page: http://foresteducator.com/bonuscontent Join the Forest Educator Patreon! https://patreon.com/ForestEducatorPodcast Connect with Ricardo: https://www.foresteducator.com/ https://www.theforestboxforkids.com/ https://www.hawkcircle.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardo-sierra-5980931/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_forest_educator_podcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RicardohawkSierra
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • Episode 128 - Forest Educator Spotlight: Why Nature Education is Expensive (And What We Can Do About It).

    Episode 128 - Forest Educator Spotlight: Why Nature Education is Expensive (And What We Can Do About It).
    Aug 26 2024
    This episode is for nature educators AND Parents, Grandparents, Teachers, Schools and Organizations, as it dives into the reasons why professional Nature Education Programs are priced the way they are. I present some ideas and details that can promote understanding moving forward, and share some ways that schools, parents, grandparents and organizations can save $ in some cases. This is a great episode to share with your staff, your student parents, or for schools that you work with, if you feel that they sometimes have trouble 'getting the bigger picture' in the process of setting up or selecting nature programs for students or children. It can help facilitate a more meaningful discussion that includes factors that most people don't understand about nature educators, or take into consideration, so it's meant to support and promote the value of your work. Forest Educator Bonus Content Page: http://foresteducator.com/bonuscontent Join the Forest Educator Patreon! https://patreon.com/ForestEducatorPodcast Connect with Ricardo: https://www.foresteducator.com/ https://www.theforestboxforkids.com/ https://www.hawkcircle.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardo-sierra-5980931/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_forest_educator_podcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RicardohawkSierra
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    1 hr and 10 mins