The teacher who we hope we’ll be doing some work with said almost the moment she came into the conference room that she doubted we could take her students outside, given their poor behavior. She was clearly upset, seemingly because she was asked to meet with us. It wasn’t a good start to a conversation.
Whether we will get the chance to take this teacher’s students outside wasn’t resolved. And that was disappointing.
We make no claim to working miracles. We do not have a magic wand. However, our experience, and plenty of scholarly research shows that a change in setting can often help, sometimes by helping stressed individuals relax ever so slightly. And the students who getting outside can often help the most are the most disadvantaged kids, who also tend to be the ones posing the greatest challenges to their teachers and their schools.
So, our challenge is to explain this to the teacher we met last week without rubbing her the wrong way. We know how hard everyone works in the schools where we seek to contribute. We know how daunting the work is. We know how little so many friends in the community understand about how daunting the work is. And still, we also would encourage with all our might educators in every capacity to give the healing power of a quiet moment in the garden a try.
We have seen it make a difference before. It just might make a difference again.
–Bill Stoneman
