Hit The Road

Building stories for a lifetime

A good number of children in our increasingly digital society experience a disconnect from organic experience, often lacking an appreciation for the beauty of their natural world. It’s easy for them to overlook the earth beneath their feet, the majesty of a sunset or the wonder of the ocean’s surf. Of course, once they put down their Play Stations and MP3 players and escape the accelerated pace of lessons, extracurricular activities and the usual frantic routines, most kids welcome the change.

For any child, the simple beauty of cottage life, the experience of summer camp and the memories of special trips can awaken the spirit and refresh the senses. Adventure can inspire us, unlock hidden potential and broaden our horizons. Such experience is critical to the development of life skills and character. In today’s world, experiential education has emerged as an essential key to opening many of life’s doors.

Over the past decade, with the help of dedicated, like-minded staff and parent chaperones, I’ve developed a model for 10- to 14-year-olds that, I believe, is an ideal complement to the Montessori classroom. For us, Expedition Education has become our response to improving general knowledge and battling chronic indifference.

Since 1996, I’ve travelled with nearly 70 students across Canada and to the geographic extremes of North America (many of the Expedition Education itineraries are outlined at www.westwindms.com). We’ve experienced virtually every environment on our continent, viewed spectacular landscapes, seen magnificent wildlife and enjoyed the hospitality of countless generous souls. (As in many journeys, the people you meet are often as memorable as the destinations.) As a rule, I’ve found that travelling with students, especially when far from home, has revealed the warmest nature of the human spirit. People are generally flattered to have visitors from afar, especially if they are young and enthusiastic.

The Expedition Education model is designed to develop independence, confidence and knowledge through two-week journeys involving planes, trains and automobiles–actually, for the most part, we travel by motorhome. Exploring provincial and national parks, UNESCO world heritage sites and culturally significant destinations, we have come to understand the significance of our country’s origins. An appreciation of political and physical geography and history, on a regional and national level, can best come alive when the lessons come first-hand . . . not just from a textbook. Concepts of ethnic diversity, regional economies and an understanding of First Nations cultures can only be truly grasped through experience.

Over the years, we have travelled to cities as diverse as Whitehorse and Miami. We have walked along the boardwalks of Dawson City in the Land of the Midnight Sun and the beaches of the Florida Keys at the sun-drenched southern margin of our continent. The North America we’ve discovered in between has included visits to working farms and ranches on the endless prairies and the rolling foothills of the majestic Rockies. We’ve explored coastal fishing villages and outports from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland. We’ve also been invited to witness timeless native ceremonies in remote communities on islands in the boreal forest of the rugged Canadian Shield.

For many of our students, the Expedition Education experience marks the first time they have been away from home for an extended period. Learning to be responsible for their belongings and to contribute to the needs of the group (including cleaning and helping with meal preparation and cooking) are great ways to develop independence and self-esteem.

Within short days of our departure, everyone slips into a pattern of routine highlighted by rotating responsibilities, including learning to shop for supplies, maintaining a daily budget and remembering to shut the RV’s screen door when bugs are at their peak! Inevitably, the young explorers who have the hardest time keeping track of their shoes, stowing their sleeping bags or remembering their towel when they return from the shower, learn the quickest. During our down time, card games, reading or the chance to toss a Frisbee or football more than compensate for any lack of TV. Hiking, swimming and exploring, often in a spectacular setting, leave little time for much else but sleeping and preparing for the next day’s adventure.

For many, travel is a packaged affair without much spontaneity or chance for discovery. Organized tours have their advantages, but for many of our students, family trips were limited to all-inclusive resorts. Disney World and the slopes of Whistler summed up their understanding of Florida and British Columbia. Our 2002 journey to Florida revealed the sunshine state had also played home to fascinating historic figures like winter residents Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Ernest Hemingway in addition to Mickey Mouse. Trips to Canada’s west coast have revealed soaring ancient old growth forests, migratory grey whales and intricate totem poles in addition to ski hills.

The value of experiential education is the chance to inspire and motivate through the power of memory and experience. Nothing can substitute for walking on the same rocks where John Cabot landed at Bonavista, Newfoundland in 1497 or standing beside the commemorative cairn at Craigellachie in the Rockies at the exact spot where the last railway spike was driven to conclude construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

No classroom resource can compete with a visit to the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller when learning about dinosaurs. Short minutes away from this remarkable shrine to paleontology, we’ve explored the arid badlands along the banks of the Red Deer River. One can truly imagine the earth-shaking presence of history’s most voracious carnivores while standing amid the valley’s hoodoos. Dotting the surreal landscape, these fantastically strange sandstone pillar formations are perfect examples of the power of erosion and nature’s relentless passage of time.

Nearby, in Alberta’s magnificent National Parks, our lessons have expanded beyond the scope of any classroom. Having a snowball fight on the first day of summer on a glacier in the Columbia Ice Fields is an amazing way for anyone to enjoy the longest day of the year. Solstice memories such as these can only strengthen one’s appreciation for the scale and magnitude of nature. Whether or not a student remembers that glacial features include drumlins and eskers cannot overshadow the fact that they have walked on ice that is thousands of years old.

The universal truth of education is that its disciplines are beautifully interconnected. Through experience, we learn that culture and science are indeed joined like the threads in a web. Sadly, many children will never truly grasp this. For them, most learning outcomes will swirl in a fog of indifference unless they too make these discoveries. It’s our job as educators to ensure the curriculum we develop highlights this cosmic truth. Tangible, hands-on chances for discovery can make these connections happen spontaneously.

Children will best come to understand the marvel of migration by seeing whales in their natural environment near the Fjords Of the Saguenay or by lying on the banks of the St. Lawrence while vast flocks of Snow Geese wing their way overhead. While walking through the cobbled streets of Old Quebec, one can almost feel the presence of Samuel de Champlain; in Winnipeg, a powerful image of Louis Riel is evoked as you stand beside his tombstone in St. Boniface with a prairie wind blowing over the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. Like the confluence of our country’s many historic rivers, it is the engaging of our senses that creates the current of living memory.

Our Expedition Education journeys throughout Canada have inspired tremendous opportunities for learning and appreciating our country’s natural beauty. As Canadians, this is a birthright that many of us overlook or fail to fully appreciate. For educators, there is no greater reward than the genuine look of awe or silent smile when a teachable moment has occurred. When this comes about as the result of immersion in an experience that has been multi-faceted, the lesson has likely left an indelible impression.

With tens of thousands of kilometres travelled and countless memories to recall, it’s hard to imagine a more rewarding learning experience to celebrate the end of a school year. By spring, the open road beckons. Give me a motorhome, a road atlas and some adventuresome companions. It’s time to explore and “connect the dots.” The learning is inevitable. It’s all in the experience!