04/09/2026
Early childhood education has become very good at saying that nature matters. We offer outdoor play, nature tables, loose parts, gardening, mud kitchens and leaf collage. These experiences can be rich, joyful and important. But location and materials do not automatically transform pedagogy.
A child can be outdoors while the curriculum remains entirely human-centred: the tree becomes equipment, the stick becomes a mathematics resource, the garden becomes a backdrop for children’s development. Nature is present physically but absent ethically. Nature Pedagogy asks a more unsettling question: not simply “How can nature support children’s learning?” but “How are children and educators already entangled in the life of this place, and what responsibilities follow?”
This webinar does not reject outdoor play, child-led learning or nature-based experiences. It places them under closer examination. It asks what they enable, what they obscure and how they might become more relational, place-responsive and ethically alert.
Come and join the conversation on Monday night here: https://www.natureandtheory.com/products/live_events/nature-play-workshop
