Sit Down Sunday With Dr Alexia Barrable

Today, I got to sit down and chat briefly with academic, TED speaker and proud Mum, Dr Alexia Barrable.

Alexia is based at the University of Dundee in Scotland and has a keen research interest within Outdoor learning and nature connection in children.

Alexia’s other research interests include:

Mental health and wellbeing

Nature connectedness in teacher education

Research-informed education practice

Interplay between academic research and teacher practice.

The conversation was thought provoking, enjoyable and at times enlightening.

During the episode we spoke about what drove Alexia to become interested in nature connection and the concepts finer intricacies, including how parents might practically go about initiating their child’s connection with nature.

We also pondered Forest schools position as a tool for nurturing nature connection, what draws children outside,the power of a mindset and both the psychological and physiological impacts of the outdoors.

All fattened up with a hearty dose of supportive academic literature that I certainly will be tracking down and reading further into.

I have been incredibly fortunate to follow and gain insight from Alexia’s more recent work, which has filtered into my own Masters study.

I must admit I was super nervous about being able to chat with Alexia, as you may have been able to tell.

Not only because this was my second interview but because of the respect and admiration I have for her knowledge and understanding of areas that I hold a real interest in and that embody my role as a Forest School Leader.

I personally gained an enormous amount from it that will filter into my practice both academically and practically and was extremely grateful to have had given this opportunity.

I really could have easily gone on for another hour or so developing deeper into some strands of conversation.

One of the key points I took from this chat was the subtle but profound difference between nature contact and nature connection.

The act of being in nature doesn’t guarantee a connection, which was ably demonstrated by the analogy used by Alexia of the bus journey.

Ultimately to connect there has to be a different process, a process that involves both a cognitive and emotional element leading to deeper seated feelings and an understanding of the symbiotic relationship we have with the natural world…and indeed that it has with us.

That sense of being ae part of nature as apposed to apart from nature, which perhaps as a human species, we have tended towards the latter.

Viewing nature as an extension of our family may be a mindset shift that becomes fruitful as we move beyond lockdown.

Arguably Forest School is perhaps ideally placed as a tool to encourage these actions and allow for connection to happen within contact, through it’s focus upon holistic development and regular repeated exposure as a long term process over periods of months and even years.

One further thing that I took from our conversation and will provide future discussions, was how, given this moment in time, there is a real tangible opportunity to rethink education, the use and perhaps over exposure of using outdoor spaces as learning tools and indeed what we consider education to truly be about and it’s purpose in this century.

To find out more about Dr Alexia Barrable and her work please follow the links mentioned in the episode or indeed listed below.

Alexia’s Discovery Profile: https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/persons/alexia-barrable

Alexia’s TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSE-pnDkdR8

Alexia’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexiabarrable?lang=en