Forest School Canada aims to support high-quality Forest/Nature School practice and programming in Canada through evidence-based, practical, and inspiring professional learning opportunities, community building, and advocacy.
Our goal is for all children in Canada to have the opportunity to lead their play and learning on the Land as an integral part of their education and healthy development.
The Forest and Nature School Practitioners Course is a year-long certificate course that consists of both in-person outdoor, experiential learning, as well as online self-directed learning. We have been offering this course since 2012, adapting and improving it each year based on participant feedback and the ever-evolving Forest/Nature School landscape in Canada. While some things have changed, what remains consistent is our intention to offer an immersive and transformative professional learning experience with like-minded educators and the Land.
We currently offer the course in two formats:
Five days of in-person learning outside, followed by 11 months of online independent study
Five days of in-person learning outside (spread over two weekends, usually six to eight weeks apart), followed by nine months of online independent study
Many people in Canada trace the roots of “Forest School” back to Denmark, by way of the United Kingdom. Indeed, our course curriculum evolved from the “Level 3 Forest School Practitioner” certification in the UK. However, Indigenous people have been learning from this Land—currently called Canada—since time immemorial. Thanks to the many Indigenous Elders, Knowledge Keepers, community members, and Forest School Canada team members who have worked with us in the 8 years that Forest School Canada has existed, we have come to understand that we cannot ethically speak of learning and connecting with this Land without telling the truth about its colonization, and without there being a safe space in the course for Indigenous and Western worldviews to meet respectfully.
To that end, we endeavour to centre Indigenous voices in the Practitioners Course by:
In the longer term, we are currently embarking on a project to recreate our programs with Indigenous partners across Canada so that they might better serve both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada.
In keeping with the Forest School approach, this course is learner-led, emergent, inquiry-driven, and playful! We explore those pedagogies, tell stories, and dive deeply into supporting risky play. We practice “hard” skills such as firebuilding, knots, and tool work, and deepen our relationships with the Land, each other, and ourselves. And we share practical tips, recommendations, policies, and protocols for the day to day operations of a Forest/Nature School program. Please note: We do not extensively discuss “how to start a forest school” in terms of legislation or licensing requirements, which vary from province to province, and territory to territory. We recommend that you seek your own legal counsel and guidance from an insurance professional, and many of the course assignments are designed to help you put together the documentation legal and insurance professionals (and parents!) will ask of you.
Quick List of Themes we Explore:
If you start your course in person, you will spend the 10-11 months that follow engaged in self-directed learning. There are many resources we recommend in the course binder, and you will use them to complete the 6 course assignments required for certification. The assignments will prompt you to go deeper with themes introduced during your in person, and to develop the documentation you will need to safely start and run a high-quality Forest/Nature School program. You will be encouraged to complete your assignments in whatever way feels most meaningful to you. That may mean that some assignments are written, while others are more audio/visual. It will be up to you! Whatever form the assignments take, you will share them with your mentors and peers on our online pedagogical documentation platform, Storypark.
If you start your course online, you will engage in online video conference sessions facilitated by two mentors. Before each session, they will invite you to deepen your connection with the Land through various prompts and practices, and they will send you several resources to read or watch before the video discussion. After each video session, facilitators will invite you to participate in various practices that we hope will deepen your relationship with the Land, and prompt questions and reflection that can then be shared with fellow practitioners in reflection pieces that will be created and uploaded toStorypark.
Following the in-person dates, practitioners will have the opportunity to complete the remainder of the assignments.
The course takes most people 1 year to finish, and we encourage participants to prepare to invest 2-5 hours/week reading, reflecting, connecting with the Land, and completing coursework. Please remember, this is a learner-led, highly self-directed program, and your mentors will not be checking up on you and enforcing readings or assignment completion.
This course is primarily intended for early childhood and elementary school educators interested in starting their own Forest/Nature School program, working in an established Forest/Nature School program, or in integrating elements of the Forest/Nature School approach into their traditional setting.
We have had homeschooling parents, camp and recreation workers, social workers, occupational therapists, and other healthcare professionals successfully complete the course. If you don’t have a background in education you may find the learning curve steep in terms of discussing and deeply understanding the pedagogy of Forest/Nature School, but that doesn’t mean the course isn’t for you! Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
Course fees start from $1750 per participant, including a $650 non-refundable, non-transferable deposit.
Includes:
Registration for courses happens on a rolling basis. Registration is a three-step process:
Step 1: Find the course of your choice, either directly on our site here or via social media. You can either directly select, “register” and get straight to the form or go to “more information” and then find the form there.
Step 2: Once on the registration page you will find a form asking for some basic information and a few questions to answer.
Step 3: Complete the Registration Form and you will then be directed to complete your payment for your non-refundable deposit and review all your information. You will be sent an email confirming your enrolment and giving you all the important information you will need for the course!
Please note: The tuition must be paid in full prior to the start date of your course. If the payment schedule presents an issue for you, please get in touch with us.
When the course is full, you will be added to a waitlist if you choose to do so.
Registration is now open!
This course is now full!
This course is open now!
Ce cours est maintenant ouvert!
This course is now full!
Dates: Aug 20th – 24th, 2022
Location: This course is taking place at and in partnership with MacSkimming Outdoor Education Centre, in Cumberland, ON.
This course is now full!
COVID-19 PROTOCOLS
This course is being held at a site that requires proof of Covid-19 vaccination to access the site and facilities. As per the Region of Waterloo Public Health guidelines, adults who are unvaccinated can enter the site if they complete a rapid test upon arrival and receive a negative result. Please note that this may be subject to change depending on evolving local public health requirements.