Our guiding principles

Humans are part of the natural system, not separate from it. As a result, our physical health depends on the natural world. Our social-emotional and spiritual health also depends on the natural world. This is true of all humans—no matter their age, ability, ethnicity, class, whether they live in urban or rural settings, etc. Not only is human health, in all forms, impacted by the natural world, we recognize human behaviors directly impact the natural world.

In our work with education leaders and schools, we support all types of early childhood programs—whether they serve students in urban, rural, high-income and/or lower-income areas—in their efforts to implement a nature-based approach. We also serve all programs no matter their starting point on the continuum of implementation of the nature-based approach, so long as we have a shared vision of what we’re working toward. Internally, we live this belief at Samara Early Learning by being conscious of how our business decisions impact the natural world and making reasonable adjustments to reduce negative impacts while maximizing positive ones. Further, we ensure our team members have time and opportunities to nurture their own connection with the natural world.

Learning, and thus teaching, are socio-cultural activities. That is, we learn by reflecting on our experiences with someone else, and within a particular cultural context. This philosophy aligns with social-constructivist perspectives articulated by a variety of education theorists including Vygotsky.

While this philosophy is demonstrated in our perspectives on working with children, it also emerges in how we work with clients. We believe in a mentoring rather than a contracting approach. In other words, we believe in building the client’s capacity to do this work on their own rather than us doing it for them. Further, applying socio-cultural values means relationships matter. The connections we make with one another influence our ability to reflect on and learn from our experiences.

Just as diversity in the natural world makes for a healthier system, so does diversity in education. As such, diversity is not something to tolerate, but embrace. Diverse perspectives and experiences provide more opportunities to learn and in turn improve our practice. Embracing diversity also means valuing and sustaining the cultures we work within.

In our work with schools and education leaders this means we not only acknowledge the specific context but leverage that culture as an asset. It’s for this reason we see the nature-based approach as a set of principles rather than a predetermined script or checklist of practices that must be implemented. There is no one “right” way to implement a nature-based approach. Instead, the approach must be responsive to the unique context where it is being implemented.

Systematic study of the world is foundational to our experiences with nature as well as our teaching and learning. This is true for our impacts on the environment as well as how we interact with children.

In our work this means supporting pedagogy which encourages children’s scientific sensemaking of the natural world. It also means continual investigation of the best teaching practices to ensure we’re efficiently achieving our desired outcomes. Through active participation in research along with supporting practitioners we bridge the gap between research (i.e., academia) and practice. True to science we also continue to refine and revise our understanding of best practices over time.