Getting Reconnected

With four out of every five of we Australians now living in towns or cities, it is perhaps not surprising that we have become disconnected to nature.  The prevailing sense is that the countryside is 'out there' somewhere beyond our urban limits, only to be encountered as we drive through it on the way to holiday destinations on the coast. 

Richard's guest in this episode is someone who has long been committed to doing something about this situation through education.  Professor Tonia Gray, a distinguished researcher in the Centre for Educational Research at Western Sydney University and an award-winning educator with a special focus on outdoor education.  In her conversation with Richard, Tonia explains, with considerable passion, the purpose of, and some of the methods involved in outdoor education as ways for reconnecting young people with the natural world.  A particular feature of outdoor education which she highlights is its emphasis on learning as a social activity of Getting to Better Together.