How to Be An Effective Nature Guide
Bringing Out the Best in Others
“If you treat an individual as he is, he will stay that way, but if you treat him as if he were what he could be, he will become what he could be.” — Goethe
There are two central principles of working with people in every sharing nature activity and Flow Learning experience.
The first is the right attitude with which we teach, feeling the love and concern for nature that we hope to awaken in others. The second principle is to see in everybody the potential for deep appreciation for nature while accepting him where he is.
Given the seriousness of today's environmental problems, it's only natural to want to influence others to accept certain specific ecological points of view.
But as teachers, it's important to be aware that we can only ever be really effective by approaching our students on the level of their own realities. By first understanding them we can more clearly know what they need in order to achieve greater understanding.
Believe in everyone's potential for goodness. The more we believe in people's high potential, the more effectively we can draw out their highest feelings and aspirations.
Bringing out the best in others also means being completely sensitively focused on their needs. To be able to do this, we have to free ourselves of personal preferences for doing things in particular ways.
I once visited a rest home for the elderly in Yuba City, California, where I gave a presentation of a waterfowl refuge nearby. After the first few slides, I realized from their comments that most of them had grown up in the area. In fact, they had so many stories of what the Sacramento Valley was like in their youth that I stopped my presentation altogether and just listened to their reminiscences.
One gentleman told me his parents remembered that in wet winters the valley was one vast lake from the Coast Range all the way to the Sierra Nevada foothills. A person could row a boat from one mountain range to the other. All of them remembered hearing the thrill and clamor of hundreds of thousands of geese and ducks flying over their homes and descending in the marshes.
As the local men and women told their stories, I was struck by how alive and animated they became. By resisting the temptation to plow ahead with my planned program, I had the joy of seeing the group respond to the subject much more enthusiastically than if I had continued to speak.
As a teacher I've discovered that when I'm sensitive to other peoples realities, I can tailor the learning situation and respond specifically to their needs. We connect with people much more powerfully when we help them touch something deep inside themselves.
This kind of magic happens when we ask ourselves, “How can I reach this person? What will help these people the most? What is the next step for them?” Your role is like a detective who's trying to find out what will especially interest and motivate a particular group.
Another thing that can help us bring out the best in others is when we avoid criticizing people (even mentally). We remain open to them, and they sense this clearly. As we learn to love and understand people more, we gain clear insights for how to deal productively with each situation that arises.
The single most vital key for bringing out the best in people is the inspiration we ourselves are feeling. To communicate wonder, we must have a spirit of wonder. A leader who's filled with wonder, joy, and love for the natural world draws these good feelings out of others. They want eagerly to experience them for themselves.
One individual, whose heart is filled with love and reverence for nature, can make ecological attitudes come alive for others.
Before leading an outdoor class, it's a good idea to spend at least a few minutes by yourself communing with nature so that your teaching will be imbued with genuine enthusiasm and love. You'll find, too, that when you take a few minutes to feel calm, joyful, and loving toward nature, you'll treat people in the same way.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Note: Excerpts for this blog were taken from Sharing Nature With Children II.
Some paraphrasing of text was used in this blog.
Bringing Out the Best in Others
“If you treat an individual as he is, he will stay that way, but if you treat him as if he were what he could be, he will become what he could be.” — Goethe
There are two central principles of working with people in every sharing nature activity and Flow Learning experience.
The first is the right attitude with which we teach, feeling the love and concern for nature that we hope to awaken in others. The second principle is to see in everybody the potential for deep appreciation for nature while accepting him where he is.
Given the seriousness of today's environmental problems, it's only natural to want to influence others to accept certain specific ecological points of view.
But as teachers, it's important to be aware that we can only ever be really effective by approaching our students on the level of their own realities. By first understanding them we can more clearly know what they need in order to achieve greater understanding.
Believe in everyone's potential for goodness. The more we believe in people's high potential, the more effectively we can draw out their highest feelings and aspirations.
Bringing out the best in others also means being completely sensitively focused on their needs. To be able to do this, we have to free ourselves of personal preferences for doing things in particular ways.
I once visited a rest home for the elderly in Yuba City, California, where I gave a presentation of a waterfowl refuge nearby. After the first few slides, I realized from their comments that most of them had grown up in the area. In fact, they had so many stories of what the Sacramento Valley was like in their youth that I stopped my presentation altogether and just listened to their reminiscences.
One gentleman told me his parents remembered that in wet winters the valley was one vast lake from the Coast Range all the way to the Sierra Nevada foothills. A person could row a boat from one mountain range to the other. All of them remembered hearing the thrill and clamor of hundreds of thousands of geese and ducks flying over their homes and descending in the marshes.
As the local men and women told their stories, I was struck by how alive and animated they became. By resisting the temptation to plow ahead with my planned program, I had the joy of seeing the group respond to the subject much more enthusiastically than if I had continued to speak.
As a teacher I've discovered that when I'm sensitive to other peoples realities, I can tailor the learning situation and respond specifically to their needs. We connect with people much more powerfully when we help them touch something deep inside themselves.
This kind of magic happens when we ask ourselves, “How can I reach this person? What will help these people the most? What is the next step for them?” Your role is like a detective who's trying to find out what will especially interest and motivate a particular group.
Another thing that can help us bring out the best in others is when we avoid criticizing people (even mentally). We remain open to them, and they sense this clearly. As we learn to love and understand people more, we gain clear insights for how to deal productively with each situation that arises.
The single most vital key for bringing out the best in people is the inspiration we ourselves are feeling. To communicate wonder, we must have a spirit of wonder. A leader who's filled with wonder, joy, and love for the natural world draws these good feelings out of others. They want eagerly to experience them for themselves.
One individual, whose heart is filled with love and reverence for nature, can make ecological attitudes come alive for others.
Before leading an outdoor class, it's a good idea to spend at least a few minutes by yourself communing with nature so that your teaching will be imbued with genuine enthusiasm and love. You'll find, too, that when you take a few minutes to feel calm, joyful, and loving toward nature, you'll treat people in the same way.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Note: Excerpts for this blog were taken from Sharing Nature With Children II.
Some paraphrasing of text was used in this blog.