A park field trip hosted by the Peace Learning Center, which for nearly three decades has served thousands of Marion County (IN) students and educators, introduced students to techniques to recognize and regulate their emotions, treat others with respect and empathy, and work cooperatively, according to a Chalkbeat article.
Clare Wildhack-Nolan asked the group of fourth-graders to listen to the birds and insects around them as their hike began at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis. Note five colors in the early fall landscape, she said, and imagine touching three nearby objects: tree bark, fallen leaves, and mud from the recent rain. In doing so, she was also leading a calming exercise focused on the senses.
“We want to help young people learn to manage their emotions so they can sit in classrooms and learn reading and math,” says Peace Learning Center CEO Tim Nation.
Established in 1999, the center now runs a mix of in-school training for teachers and students and field trips to its Eagle Creek campus. Its Restorative Justice Initiative — which includes staff development, community circles, and peer mediation — has led to decreases in both in-school and out-of-school suspensions at middle and high schools that use the program, according to data from the center.
The goal for fourth and fifth grades is to build communication skills leading to positive experiences with friends and teachers. This in turn improves attendance and academics. Starting in these grades sets a foundation for middle school, when friendships and social skills become more important, facilitators say.
The center has not compiled data about how these trips affect students’ behavior when they go back to the classroom, Nation says.
But Gregory Nunley, the district’s director of professional development, says the partnership has helped decrease truancy and the number of students referred to administrators for behavior incidents.
“Through interactive, hands-on experiences like nature hikes, cooperative challenges, and team-building, our fourth and fifth grade students learn how to manage emotions, show empathy, build relationships, and make responsible, caring decisions,” says Nunley.
It’s important for lessons to extend into the classroom, facilitators say, to allow students and teachers to practice the skills they learned at the center.
“Everything we teach at the center is an ongoing process,” Wildhack-Nolan says. “It’s something you have to think about, do in practice, on an ongoing basis.”
Chalkbeat
