About Natural Curiosity
Mission Statement
To address the current challenges in education, we provide transformative professional learning for educators across Turtle Island (North America), to support them with integrating Indigenous perspectives and environmental inquiry into their practice in the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation.
Vision Statement
Created in collaboration with Indigenous educators and partners, the Natural Curiosity Program addresses a critical link between environmental and Indigenous education, supporting all educators to authentically respond to the calls to action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
Developed by the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study (JICS) Laboratory School at OISE-UofT, Natural Curiosity (NC) is an innovative environmental and land-based inquiry program that helps teachers address a critical link between environmental and Indigenous education. In doing so, NC provides professional learning opportunities for educators across Turtle Island (North America), including webinars, workshops, walking tours, and communities of practice, to support them on their journey of centring Indigenous perspectives in children’s environmental inquiry.
NC offers a four-branch framework for teaching and learning that supports children’s curiosity, relationship and reciprocity with the natural world. The Indigenous lens on Natural Curiosity, written by Doug Anderson (Métis), supports educators to see how Indigenous perspectives connect to environmental learning and wellbeing as well as how they can be ethically supported in any learning environment.
The Laboratory School at Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study
Natural Curiosity is housed at The Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study (JICS) Laboratory School, a Nursery to 6th Grade School at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto.
