Cultural Specificity at Dodge Nature Center

Hey y'all, I completely forgot to upload this one...apologies...

The word culture brings to mind recognizable and well-defined groups – Latino immigrants in the Twin Cities, Native American tribal constituencies, The GLBT community, certain religious persuasions with strong community bonds such as the Jewish or Amish –for example. Each come with a specific cultural framework. Environmental education however, did not make my list. Sure there’s a culture to environmentalism, characterized by certain catch phrases such as: the green movement, sustainable development, conservation, preservation, and many other familiar terms. But in some ways the culture of environmentalism is divisive, pulling each person towards their specific interests and their fight for sustainability, while other cultural frameworks serve as a point of unity.

The Dodge Nature Center is not culturally specific per say, but adheres to a certain frame work – that we are all students of the land and have a responsibility to respect and care for the environment – which, in the end fosters its own unique culture. It acts as a jumping off point for curriculum, the daily classroom atmosphere, and the way teachers approach their work. For example, the preschool teachers are always on the look out for new and exciting ways to team up with DNC naturalists for new class material. In my time there we’ve had the opportunity to tap trees for maple syruping and have gone on countless nature walks. The kids have been able to see lambs and piglets on the same day as their birth and have an astounding grasp on animal tracks, plant biology, and all sorts of interesting topics.

In some ways it is very strange for me to be working at preschool on the grounds of a nature preserve. It seems a bit ridiculous, like it can’t possibly be real, but there it is, right in West St. Paul, on 320 acres of land. I’ve found myself torn between excitement that kids can have the opportunity to experience nature and animals and farming first hand at such a young age and discomfort with the fact that it is a very expensive program which greatly limits the ability for children of low-income families to participate.

It seems to me that environmental based education is either a thing of the rich or a form of after-school program for youth in urban areas. There is a disconnect between sustainability/outdoor education programs and the school system at large. Perhaps this paradigm will undergo a shift soon, we may very well be in the middle of it now.