Educator Spotlight: Will Badger

Will Badger, a college instructor and education consultant with Akademeia Tutorial Consultancy, recently completed his NC Environmental Education Certification. “Much of my teaching involves wilderness literature and eco-criticism, and I felt that earning my certification could help me become a better naturalist and a better teacher of students at all levels.” In his personal time, Will enjoys outdoor activities from hiking and camping to prospecting.

Will says his favorite part of earning his environmental education certification was having a “formally informal” way to connect with environmental literacy during the difficult days of the pandemic. "Even when I was ensconced in my flat feeling relatively disconnected both from nature and my fellow humans, I could look forward to learning online about salamander identification and habitats...it was a wonderful release. Actually, that lifeline may be only my second-favorite part of certification. My favorite was meeting a diverse cohort of fellow environmental educators, in person and online!”

When asked about a certification experience that stood out for him, Will says his favorite lesson was part of the It’s Our Water workshop coordinated through the Division of Water Resources in the Department of Environmental Quality. “The workshop not only offered several useful classroom activities and strategies, but also had an in-stream component that helped me to get to know one of my local waterways. I've always loved playing in creeks, and this module felt like educative play.

For his community partnership project, Will began a nature journaling group. “I founded a group called Triangle Nature Journalling (yep, it used the British spelling with two L's -- I did grad school in the UK, and that usage slipped in without my noticing). We had a small but hardy cohort of journalers, who met at Umstead Park to wander, chat, and write and draw our encounters with nature.” Will says although the group meeting decreased as the pandemic restrictions eased, most of the members are still journaling. “Even if the group was just a way for us to make it through a trying time by connecting to nature, our thoughts, and one another, it was worth it.”

Will says the program changed his approach to teaching, especially the Methods of Teaching Environmental Education workshop. “I appreciated the dedication and creativity of my methods workshop facilitators. They helped me to see state and national standards not as a kind of externally imposed straitjacket, but as a common language that could be used to access funding and promote wider participation in environmental education programs. I plan to take this perspective forward in my teaching, now understanding that standards are a tool that needn't negatively impact pedagogical creativity.”

Will says that the program changed how he views environmental issues in many ways. “There are so many changes that I couldn't possibly express them all here. Perhaps the most important is a central tenet of environmental education that I encountered in my Basics of Environmental Education course several years ago: as environmental educators we are to share our passion for the environment and not any political take or bias. This is a liberating approach since it means that we can ideally connect to people of all backgrounds and help them engage with nature and the environment in life-changing and community-changing -- perhaps ultimately, planet-changing ways. Rather than offer our  audiences/students/colleagues solutions to environmental problems, we teach them how to educate themselves and think critically, so that they can develop solutions.”