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News & Events
Spotlight on Students
Spotlight on Students:
IslandWood: Teaching Education, Environment and Community in the Pacific Northwest
Each year, the graduate students at IslandWood live, learn and teach in a spectacular natural setting on Bainbridge Island. The 225-acre campus features diverse ecosystems, sustainable buildings, and innovative water collection and reuse. They learn the best practices of environmental, experiential and multicultural education while teaching children from diverse backgrounds in the on-campus residential program and in partner schools throughout Puget Sound. Credit from the program can be applied towards the first year of a two-year Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Washington.
The EEC Program
Graduate students arrive in August for an intense month of training, including instruction in the natural history and ecology of the Puget Sound region, group management strategies, and wilderness first aid. Beginning in the fall, students combine academic coursework with teaching experiences in the School Overnight Program on the IslandWood Campus and in surrounding Puget-Sound elementary and middle schools.
The focus of the teaching practicum is to work with fourth- through sixth-grade students to help them develop an awaremenss of basic ecological concepts, the interconnectedness of natural and cultural communities and the impact humans have on the environment and each other. Low faculty-to-student ratios and a close-knit working community allow EEC faculty to mentor students frequently throughout the program and support them in their academic studies and professional growth.
Educational Philosophy
The EEC program is grounded in the following philosophical commitments:
- Knowledge of ecological concepts is necessary to explore healthier relationships between human communities and the natural world.
- Education is most successful when teachers are sensitive to and honor cultural, ethnic, socioeconomic and religious diversity.
- Meaningful education grows out of thoughtfully guided experiences and reflection.
- Every member of the teaching and learning community can contribute as both a teacher and a student.
- An integrated curriculum combining science, technology, and the arts allows individuals with a variety of learning styles and aptitudes to succeed in an experiential education setting.
- An important aspect of the educational process is helping students find a balance between their individuality and their responsibility as members of human and natural communities.
- Environmental and experiential education is most effective when it relates to real-life experiences in the home community of the student.
- A sustainable future depends upon teaching children to respect each other and the natural world.
On completion of the EEC program, graduates can apply their credits towards master’s degree programs, while others move directly into positions in education, non-profit management, the arts or public policy. According to 2004 graduate Sarah Gillette, "The people who get the best experience at IslandWood, even more than the school kids, are the graduate students. We get to experience community-building as residents on campus. We get to learn about education and apply it in a hands-on way. And best of all, we get to do it all year long."
For More Information
To learn more about the IslandWood program, visit www.islandwood.org
The Islandwood option is avaible towards study for an M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction specializing in Science Education or Teaching and Curriculum at the UW.
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