I’m a teacher in Slovenia and I’m happy to tell you school here is still mostly about being in nature. As adults it does change and whilst people spend time outside it’s more to climb a mountain at speed than to look at the flowers and insects. It’s taken for granted but the children’s songs and books are mostly focused on nature compared to my native England!
Yes, yes, yes! Knowing something about the identity of your “neighbors” is essential to caring about biodiversity. Caring is the only route to conserving. Ignorance facilitates extinction. Just be sure to include lichens in the caring…😎
I love this! Identification is about meaning. Years ago I worked as a science teacher with a media arts teacher. We showed a group of 9th graders photos of tree leaves from campus. They’d seen these trees every day (spring-fall) they came to school (for some of them this was 11
years). They could identify less than half of the trees in the photos. Then we showed them images of advertising icons such as Apple, McDonalds, Levi’s, etc. They knew all of them. People value what they are taught to identify and value, not what is intrinsically valuable. Bees, wasps, and flies are all essential pollinators (and wasps are great pest control). This needs to be taught.
Thank you for reading. I’m so glad you enjoyed! Absolutely. I think we’re only just waking up to the fact that this stuff needs teaching, since before kids would have encountered nature regularly in their daily lives. So important.
I studied ecosystem management, and I am embarrassed to admit it, but I didn’t know the terms “societal salience” or “societal extinction” — let alone the link between the two. It makes so much sense, and it so heartbreaking. As a nature lover who has way too many field guides, I try to teach my children what I can, and learn alongside them. We talk about the roles that all of these species play, and why they are important. Nature is a source of awe and joy — if you slow down and take the time to notice.
Thank you for reading! Don't be embarrassed at all—we need much better integration of social sciences into pure ecology, and much better communication between the two, which is why I'm here writing! Societal salience and extinction are such important and intuitive concepts, so I hope this helped. Sounds like you are doing a fantastic job with your children!
I can but only recently! I’m creating a biodiversity survey of a pollinator meadow for my field naturalist certification, and learning to tell the difference was one of the first skills I had to learn. I love your invitation to find joy in the small things—every moment in the meadow brings surprises and joys and awe—the universe in an acre of wildflowers.
It is difficult. A world that wishes to double its defence spending, knowing that the iconic Monarch butterfly is now on the endangered species list, and all the other insects are struggling under pressure of human development.
That is a huge amount, ‘double’ the current spending on a budget that only leads the world deeper into the darkness, when at this time we need enlightenment.
Our species place at the alter of knowledge, needs another awakening… I know we can do it! The universe has invested too much industry in its own plans for the manifestation of intellect 💜
As an environmental educator, this hit so hard! Thank you for putting it into words. I'm in the business of helping people not only learn these details, but learn how to notice them in the first place. Sometimes it feels Sisyphean, but I've also had the joy of showing others the difference between a bee and a wasp, between a hawk and a falcon, or a turtle and a tortoise. A lovely piece.
Mrs Elliot!! Hello! How did you find me here? Thank you so much for reading and subscribing! What a lovely story about your robin. How are you? Are you still teaching Latin? (Sorry, feel free to message me to answer all my questions for a less public arena!)
Hi! I have a 9-year old nephew who loves nature, especially birds, and I think the algorithm brought up your Substack! Yep - I’m teaching Latin as an Assistant Headteacher in a S London school now!
And then pesky old nature goes and delivers us a bee-fly, just to confuse matters even further 😂 But… what a lovely moment that was when I described it to my dad (big on insects) and I’d identified it correctly - let’s face it, it could have gone in several directions 🐝🪰
I'm driving school bus as an addition to my retirement income. I am always dismayed by the lack of care displayed by the students on the bus when it comes to nature. Heaven help us if a bee or wasp accidentally flies through a window or the open door! Panic! Shrieks! I try every day to give at least one student from the day a small insight to remember. Set the unharmed bee free through the window, calm the panicked voices of the students. Set an example of how we can appreciate even the smallest bits of nature. Occasionally, get a word in edgewise, a word the students will actually hear, about how close our natural world is to chaos and disaster, and how we must care about that.
Thank you for reading! I know it well! It’s so sad that no one has shown them the joy and beauty in these things and they are instead a source of fear for them. Heartbreaking and not a nice way to be in the world. Such an important task you do showing them care 🙏
I'm reminded of what Rosi Braidotti said in a lecture on the posthuman anthropocene... "as soon as something becomes a thinkable thing, it explodes!" Nature used to overwhelm us and now it is reduced to something as fragile as one dehydrated bee. We are only now able to focus upon it because we have the power over it. Because we have power over it, it's in big trouble.
Well we accidentally disturbed a wasp nest today - we had to run away cartoon style whilst they chased us uphill - I got six stings thankfully my kid only got 1 cos hes a faster runner! Thankfully we’re not allergic and we found it quite funny 😹 if a little painful. So - today has been about wasps for sure. Anyway yes I agree with all you say here. My son dragged me on a 7 mile walk today looking for butterworts. There’s only been one sighting in the valley - apparently there was anither specimen but it got destroyed when someone had a wall rebuilt.
Maybe if they had known that it was a butterwort - one of only 2 plants for miles around- they contractors might not have trashed it. Anyway - our search for them continues…
Thank you for this important post! I was fortunate to grow up with a mother who was both a teacher and deeply fascinated and in love with nature, in all its forms. I know it has impacted who I am today. Unfortunately, I lost my connection during my teenage years, and it wasn’t until recently that I rediscovered the beauty all around me. Due to this, I didn’t give my children the same gift my mother gave me, and today's school system hasn’t either. It is essential that we bring children into nature again, helping them be with, connect with, and have a relationship with all non-human life. It’s like the core challenge of our time, succeeding in this shift, as a foundation for the new generation to build a better future than ours.
I’m a teacher in Slovenia and I’m happy to tell you school here is still mostly about being in nature. As adults it does change and whilst people spend time outside it’s more to climb a mountain at speed than to look at the flowers and insects. It’s taken for granted but the children’s songs and books are mostly focused on nature compared to my native England!
This is so good to know! Thank you for sharing 😊
Yes, yes, yes! Knowing something about the identity of your “neighbors” is essential to caring about biodiversity. Caring is the only route to conserving. Ignorance facilitates extinction. Just be sure to include lichens in the caring…😎
💯 agree! Also about the lichens! Thank you for reading!
I love this! Identification is about meaning. Years ago I worked as a science teacher with a media arts teacher. We showed a group of 9th graders photos of tree leaves from campus. They’d seen these trees every day (spring-fall) they came to school (for some of them this was 11
years). They could identify less than half of the trees in the photos. Then we showed them images of advertising icons such as Apple, McDonalds, Levi’s, etc. They knew all of them. People value what they are taught to identify and value, not what is intrinsically valuable. Bees, wasps, and flies are all essential pollinators (and wasps are great pest control). This needs to be taught.
Thank you for reading. I’m so glad you enjoyed! Absolutely. I think we’re only just waking up to the fact that this stuff needs teaching, since before kids would have encountered nature regularly in their daily lives. So important.
I studied ecosystem management, and I am embarrassed to admit it, but I didn’t know the terms “societal salience” or “societal extinction” — let alone the link between the two. It makes so much sense, and it so heartbreaking. As a nature lover who has way too many field guides, I try to teach my children what I can, and learn alongside them. We talk about the roles that all of these species play, and why they are important. Nature is a source of awe and joy — if you slow down and take the time to notice.
Thank you for reading! Don't be embarrassed at all—we need much better integration of social sciences into pure ecology, and much better communication between the two, which is why I'm here writing! Societal salience and extinction are such important and intuitive concepts, so I hope this helped. Sounds like you are doing a fantastic job with your children!
I can but only recently! I’m creating a biodiversity survey of a pollinator meadow for my field naturalist certification, and learning to tell the difference was one of the first skills I had to learn. I love your invitation to find joy in the small things—every moment in the meadow brings surprises and joys and awe—the universe in an acre of wildflowers.
That’s lovely! I’m so glad. Your pollinator survey sounds fantastic. Good luck with it! Thank you for reading.
It’s hard to be proud of world without bees!
It is, isn’t it?
It is difficult. A world that wishes to double its defence spending, knowing that the iconic Monarch butterfly is now on the endangered species list, and all the other insects are struggling under pressure of human development.
That is a huge amount, ‘double’ the current spending on a budget that only leads the world deeper into the darkness, when at this time we need enlightenment.
Our species place at the alter of knowledge, needs another awakening… I know we can do it! The universe has invested too much industry in its own plans for the manifestation of intellect 💜
Very well said against the grimness of everything. Believing we have agency in all this is huge!
As an environmental educator, this hit so hard! Thank you for putting it into words. I'm in the business of helping people not only learn these details, but learn how to notice them in the first place. Sometimes it feels Sisyphean, but I've also had the joy of showing others the difference between a bee and a wasp, between a hawk and a falcon, or a turtle and a tortoise. A lovely piece.
Ah thank you. I’m so glad this resonated with your experiences. A joyful task. Thank you for reading.
We had a robin fly into our room at church and the children absolutely loved it. We got it out safely and it was flew around outside watching us.
Mrs Elliot!! Hello! How did you find me here? Thank you so much for reading and subscribing! What a lovely story about your robin. How are you? Are you still teaching Latin? (Sorry, feel free to message me to answer all my questions for a less public arena!)
Hi! I have a 9-year old nephew who loves nature, especially birds, and I think the algorithm brought up your Substack! Yep - I’m teaching Latin as an Assistant Headteacher in a S London school now!
Ah fantastic, I’m so glad! For both! Happy you’ve found me here 🙏
And then pesky old nature goes and delivers us a bee-fly, just to confuse matters even further 😂 But… what a lovely moment that was when I described it to my dad (big on insects) and I’d identified it correctly - let’s face it, it could have gone in several directions 🐝🪰
Absolutely! There are also those hoverflies that mimic wasps and bees which are incredibly unhelpful. Thank you for reading.
I'm driving school bus as an addition to my retirement income. I am always dismayed by the lack of care displayed by the students on the bus when it comes to nature. Heaven help us if a bee or wasp accidentally flies through a window or the open door! Panic! Shrieks! I try every day to give at least one student from the day a small insight to remember. Set the unharmed bee free through the window, calm the panicked voices of the students. Set an example of how we can appreciate even the smallest bits of nature. Occasionally, get a word in edgewise, a word the students will actually hear, about how close our natural world is to chaos and disaster, and how we must care about that.
Thank you for reading! I know it well! It’s so sad that no one has shown them the joy and beauty in these things and they are instead a source of fear for them. Heartbreaking and not a nice way to be in the world. Such an important task you do showing them care 🙏
I'm reminded of what Rosi Braidotti said in a lecture on the posthuman anthropocene... "as soon as something becomes a thinkable thing, it explodes!" Nature used to overwhelm us and now it is reduced to something as fragile as one dehydrated bee. We are only now able to focus upon it because we have the power over it. Because we have power over it, it's in big trouble.
Thank you for reading, Duncan! I’m glad it sparked this thinking for you.
Well we accidentally disturbed a wasp nest today - we had to run away cartoon style whilst they chased us uphill - I got six stings thankfully my kid only got 1 cos hes a faster runner! Thankfully we’re not allergic and we found it quite funny 😹 if a little painful. So - today has been about wasps for sure. Anyway yes I agree with all you say here. My son dragged me on a 7 mile walk today looking for butterworts. There’s only been one sighting in the valley - apparently there was anither specimen but it got destroyed when someone had a wall rebuilt.
Maybe if they had known that it was a butterwort - one of only 2 plants for miles around- they contractors might not have trashed it. Anyway - our search for them continues…
Gosh what an outing! Sorry about all the wasp stings and such a shame about the butterwort. Hoping you find some! Thank you for reading.
Thank you for this important post! I was fortunate to grow up with a mother who was both a teacher and deeply fascinated and in love with nature, in all its forms. I know it has impacted who I am today. Unfortunately, I lost my connection during my teenage years, and it wasn’t until recently that I rediscovered the beauty all around me. Due to this, I didn’t give my children the same gift my mother gave me, and today's school system hasn’t either. It is essential that we bring children into nature again, helping them be with, connect with, and have a relationship with all non-human life. It’s like the core challenge of our time, succeeding in this shift, as a foundation for the new generation to build a better future than ours.
Very well said!! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for reading 😊