At Nature Classrooms, we work towards integrating elements of Nature Learning with the existing Environmental Studies curriculum of primary schools in India. We engage in capacity building for educators, develop age appropriate and contextual nature learning resources, and research that contributes towards making nature education meaningful for teachers and learners. Nature Classrooms is an initiative under the Education and Public Engagement Programme at the Nature Conservation Foundation. What We Do We see nature as the ideal learning space, or classroom, and hope to blur the distinctions between the two - which inspired the name “Nature Classrooms" . We symbolise this in our logo by depicting an ant that is curious and excited about exploring the natural world beyond classroom boundaries. This ubiquitous ant is also a reminder of how interspersed nature and nature learning is in our lives. Nature Classrooms is an independent initiative in collaboration with the Trust for Environmental Education (TREE ) to effectively advance our individual and collective goals for nature education and conservation. Resource Creation Browse through our growing collection of nature learning resources aimed at integrating age-appropriate and locally-contextually-culturally relevant nature learning in teaching-learning spaces. Read More Capacity Building and Training Workshops We conduct immersive, context-driven workshops empowering teachers and educators to integrate nature learning into diverse teaching-learning spaces. Read More Research Through our research projects, we address questions that arise from engaging with Nature Learning and contribute towards meaningful education practices in the Global South. Read More Outreach and Public Engagement Through our outreach initiatives, we foster dialogue, collaboration, and co-learning. Read More ....................... Partners ....................... Mr. Balkrishna Isvaran The Serenity Trust Integrated Electric Company Pvt. Ltd. ....................... Collaborators ....................... To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key. Search

Through our Nature Learning Pedagogy, we aim to provide opportunities for teachers and learners to develop wonder and connection to nature. Our approach to Nature Learning and resource creation is shaped by this pedagogy. It is a collaborative approach based on classroom observations and conversations with teachers and experienced educators. We envision Nature Learning to be contextual, culturally relevant, age-appropriate, learner-centric, experiential, inquiry-based, and accessible. Blog More Our Approach In today’s changing world, learners often view nature as unfamiliar and distant from their lives. Informed by research and our experiences of engaging with teachers, educators, and children from different contexts and geographies, we have developed a Nature Learning Framework and Pedagogy. This approach aims to provide opportunities for learners to develop a deeper sense of wonder, love, and a lasting connection with nature, the natural world. This dynamic and collaborative approach deeply informs our nature learning and resource creation process. It is based on observations and reflections from classrooms, conversations with teachers, understanding the needs of teachers and students, and correlating them with the school curriculum. Nature Classrooms Pedagogy Aims to provide a dynamic, inclusive, and collaborative approach to planning nature learning engagements and resources, to develop wonder, love, and a physical and emotional connection to nature. DOWNLOAD Nature Learning Framework Guides educators in selecting, designing, and developing age-appropriate resources and session plans for nature learning. Download NATURE LEARNING CHECKLIST To begin implementing Nature Learning Pedagogy in your classroom, you can download our Pedagogy in the form of an action-oriented checklist here: English Kannada Hindi For a more elaborate version of the checklist (with explanations, examples, and more questions for consideration), click here: Hindi English Kannada Recommended Readings Looking for articles and opinion pieces on nature education and nature learning pedagogies? Find a curated list of readings here . Search

The Nature Learning Resources featured here span a variety of topics from the current primary school EVS curriculum followed in India. The resources we create are nature-centric, contextual, culturally relevant, age-appropriate, learner-centric, experiential, empathetic, inquiry-based, and accessible. They have been sorted by class and theme. To ensure that learners connect with our resources and find them accessible, the trial and testing of resources is ongoing over the next three years. Blog More Resources The Nature Learning Resources featured here span a variety of topics from the current EVS curriculum followed in India. Designed to be age-appropriate, they are organized into different themes, available in multiple languages, and some of the resources are adapted to specific regions as well. We regularly add new resources as they are developed, and you can find updates about our latest releases on our social media . Bingos Anchor Charts Alphabet charts Natural History Activities Modules Story Books Resource Search Search

-by Tanaya Rele How do we assess our work as nature educators? Are there tools that can help us do this meaningfully? And perhaps the most unsettling question of all, how do we even know if our interventions are working? Assessments are important! That is what we and almost every nature educator we interacted with believe. At Nature Classrooms, conversations about assessments were always somewhere in the background. Sometimes emerging during formal meetings, sometimes post workshops, and sometimes during casual reflections on the work we were doing. The questions kept repeating themselves. How do we assess our work as nature educators?Are there tools that can help us do this meaningfully? And perhaps the most unsettling question of all, how do we even know if our interventions are working? Nature Education Assessment Framework (NEAF) Assessments help us understand whether learners are gaining something meaningful and, importantly, whether our nature education programmes are designed effectively. But anyone who has tried to conduct them knows how demanding they can be. Assessments take time (and mind space). They require documentation, response sheets, and often a fair amount of data analysis. Certainly important, but with a flipside of quickly turning into something overwhelming. Overwhelming not for practitioners alone but also for the learners who attempt them. While these questions and dilemmas were looming around, surfacing in conversations and sometimes yielding potential ideas for a new project, the Inlaks Small Grants Programme issued a call for proposals. We thought, why not apply and attempt to actually build something around these never ending questions? That was the beginning of what eventually became the Nature Education Assessment Framework (NEAF). In the early stages, we imagined NEAF quite simply as a toolkit. A guide containing easy-to-use tools that practitioners could use to assess their programmes. But once we started conversing with educators, that idea began to transform. We spoke with nature educators who had been working in this field for decades, and to those who had only recently started their careers in nature education. Despite their varying levels of experience, one thing was consistent, almost everyone agreed that assessments were essential. Many educators also expressed something interesting. They wanted ways to assess themselves and their own practices. Something reflective that could help them examine their programmes more thoughtfully. At the same time, almost everyone described assessments as tedious and overwhelming. Much of this had to do with the heavy reliance on data interpretation and analysis. While these conversations continued, I simultaneously began exploring literature to see what kinds of assessment tools already exist. What I discovered was useful but also seemed to reveal a gap. Many of the tools that I encountered were also rooted in the Global North. They were thoughtful and rigorous, but I often wondered how well they translated into the socio-ecological realities in India. I also came across studies and assessments done in the nature education space in India. They were definitely helpful and gave direction to my cluttered thoughts, yet, something seemed to be missing! A tool from NEAF being trialled with government school students in Shivad, Gujarat This highlighted an important gap. Many aspects of nature education such as curiosity, emotional connections with nature, shifts in attitudes or behaviour are deeply qualitative experiences. Yet, they are often the hardest to capture through conventional assessments. Conventional assessments, focuses largely on knowledge gain, and sometimes tends to overlook how knowledge and attitudes can be shaped differently. An assessment of one cannot be the measure of the other. Gradually, the idea of a toolkit began to evolve. Instead of simply designing tools, we began visualising NEAF as something closer to a practitioner’s guide. It organically started shaping itself as a framework that could help educators think about assessment in ways that were reflective, flexible, and adaptable to their contexts. One of the early decisions we made was that assessments should consider three broad areas: knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours since educational interventions often influence all three. But that decision opened up an entirely new set of questions. How honestly can we capture attitudes and perceptions? How do we ensure that our own biases do not influence interpretation? Can behaviours truly be assessed in meaningful ways? Another question stayed with me throughout the process: how do we account for the knowledge and experiences learners already bring with them? Children do not enter programmes as blank slates. They come with relationships with nature shaped by their families, communities, and everyday experiences with the spaces they engage with and occupy. If we observe shifts in their knowledge, attitudes, or behaviours, how can we know whether those shifts emerged from the programme itself or from other interactions in their lives? These questions often surfaced during the design process. When the journey began, the idea was much simpler. We were trying to answer a set of questions that seemed relevant and important in our work as nature educators. As the project unfolded, these questions led us to far more complex questions and reflections than we had imagined. There were many moments of doubt along the way as well. I often found myself wondering whether I had the experience to build something like this, or whether we were overcomplicating a problem that probably isn’t perceived as one. Questions of positionality surfaced frequently too. Who was I to design a framework in a space where many practitioners had been working in for decades? Will my own biases affect the way I design tools? Are they really going to capture what I believe they should ? Are we adding to an already overburdened system? What helped maintain the momentum was the methodology we adopted. The process was deliberately iterative. We design the tools, trial them, ask for feedback, review, refine, and trial again! There were many iterations of the framework. Many moments where I wondered whether we were missing something important, overestimating certain aspects, or underestimating them. Each round revealed something new. Some tools worked well. Others needed rethinking. But with every iteration, the framework became more grounded in real contexts. Gradually, NEAF moved away from being a one-size-fits-all model and began to take shape as something practitioners could adapt according to their contexts. One of the most memorable moments in this journey happened during the trials with Earth Focus Foundation in Kanha, Madhya Pradesh. It was also my first time testing NEAF tools directly on the ground with students. One of the tools we were trying out was called Feelings Towards Nature. Students were shown images of animals, birds, plants, and landscapes and asked to respond to them. A tool from NEAF being trialled with government school students in Gudma, Madhya Pradesh What struck me most was how expressive the students became during this activity. They were animated, curious, and emotionally engaged with what they were seeing. They spoke freely, reacted strongly to the images, and shared their thoughts with enthusiasm. At some point I realised that it didn’t feel like they were participating in an assessment at all! Assessments can also be fun if we want them to be! A tool from NEAF being trialled with educators and teachers in Madhya Pradesh Of course, not everything worked perfectly during the trials. Some tools needed refinement. But that was exactly the purpose of the trials, to reveal what worked, what didn’t, and where the framework needed strengthening. Another important learning came during trials with students in Gujarat. Initially, the students seemed less engaged with the assessment activities. I wondered whether it was because we were new to them or whether the activities themselves felt too heavy. But conversations with the Earth Focus education team revealed something important. Many of the students were first-generation formal education learners and were not entirely comfortable with reading and writing tasks. The challenge was not the assessment itself but the way the tool was being used and how it was being facilitated. A glimpse into the Nature Education Assessment Framework (NEAF) This pushed us to rethink how the tools could be implemented and to make it more inclusive. We began exploring variations in how activities could be conducted, adding facilitator notes, guiding prompts, and warm-up exercises. The aim was to ensure that assessments felt accessible and welcoming rather than intimidating. Slowly, NEAF began to take shape not as a rigid instrument but as a guided framework that practitioners could adapt according to their contexts. As NEAF becomes available for practitioners, the hope is not for it to be seen as just another assessment tool. Instead, NEAF should be considered a guiding reference which nature educators can interpret, adapt, and reshape according to the needs of their learners and programmes. More importantly, I hope that NEAF encourages a shift in how we think about and interpret assessments in nature education. A glimpse of Nature Education Assessment Framework (NEAF). The hope is that these assessment exercises and tools can become spaces for reflection, peer learning, experience sharing, and deeper understanding of our natural world. That they can feel welcoming and engaging rather than intimidating. And perhaps most importantly, assessments should not be about judging learners alone. They can also help us reflect on our own practices as educators. Assessments in that sense are less about measuring outcomes and more about helping us learn how to do our work better. In the last two years, what began as a search for assessment tools slowly turned into a journey of conversations, field trials, iterations, and reflection. Somewhere along the way, the complex questions that would linger in our minds gave rise to the idea of a simple toolkit which has now evolved into what we call - the Nature Education Assessment Framework (NEAF). NEAF design: Shivangi Thakkar Image credits: Tanaya Rele Written by : Tanaya Rele, Manager (Research, Resources, Training), Nature Classrooms If you are an educator looking to engage with articles and opinion pieces on nature education and pedagogy, a student looking to explore discourses in nature education, or just curious about these things - here's a curated list of essential readings available online.

-by Priyanka Prakash An Educator's Diary#9 Who wants to even talk about emotions? Do they matter in the space of conservation or nature education? Do teachers even care?   I facilitated my first training workshop for Nature Classrooms a little over two years ago. Newly out of a Master's degree and stepping into the world of nature education, I stood in front of 30-odd teachers freshly under training themselves, with their eyes fixed on me, wondering what either of us was doing there. I had 4 hours with this group to get them not just excited about nature and nature education, but also to push them to take this to their classrooms even after I am long gone. And as someone who had never facilitated this kind of workshop, the pressure was high, and the nervousness was much higher!  As I took them through different nature educational approaches, activities, and discussions, I kept wondering what they felt  every minute of this workshop. Were they here because they were asked to? Does any of this even feel relevant to them? Am I assuming that I know a lot more than they do and that they need to be trained? Do I have sufficient understanding of their contexts and lived experiences? Am I truly adding value to their journeys as educators?  I guess I will never know the answers to any of these questions. But what brought about these feelings and questions in the first place was the research I had going on in parallel in the field of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and other feelings-based approaches to education. When Vena Kapoor, my programme lead at Nature Classrooms, recommended that I pick this up as a part of my Master’s internship work, honestly, I was deeply sceptical. Who wants to even talk about emotions? Do they matter in the space of conservation or nature education? Do teachers even care?   That’s it!  “Do teachers even care?” - that was the question that piqued my desire to untangle a lesser-talked-about relationship between emotions, education, and nature. Some may say - “Do they even have a connection?” But after months of reading, talking to teachers, and facilitating workshops, I truly believe that they do. And for whatever reason(s), as nature educators, especially in India, we are only now beginning to recognize the crucial role of understanding socio-emotional complexities when teaching about and building connections with nature.  A Pedagogy for Feelings towards Nature  Why do people care or not care about nature? What shapes our admiration, our phobias, our actions, or even inaction towards nature? Can just asking people to “Save the Planet” make them save it?  - This began my journey into a rabbit hole of understanding the role of social-emotional contexts in teaching-learning. And I guess I am writing this blog piece, not with the intent to present my work or the framework, but rather to process and share what the journey has been like so far - to imagine practices in nature education that allow for feelings and experiences to become an integral part. And oh! That has not been easy, and remains a work in progress!  The Social-Emotional learning  framework is just one among the many frameworks that explore the importance of bringing in the social and emotional contexts of a learner into education. It is also a  great and relevant starting point for any educator to reflect on how their curriculum and pedagogy can go beyond academic learning. When I began imagining a ‘ Nature-based Social Emotional Learning ’ Framework (a mouthful title for sure!), I tried reflecting on some difficult questions: How does nature shape our sense of identity and belongingness? How does our emotional state affect the way we interact with nature? How do our social, historical, political, and cultural contexts influence the way we perceive, value, and engage with nature? What is the relationship between nature and human well-being? How does the changing climate influence how we feel about nature and even learn about it? And most importantly, how can all of this be integrated into teaching-learning curriculum and pedagogy?  These questions slowly began to shape the practices I started developing (and continue to develop) as part of my work at Nature Classrooms. I was also fortunate to meet Nirmal Govindaraju and Gurpreet Kaur, the founders of the Eikas Foundation, who began mentoring and guiding me as I navigated the complex and evolving space of Social-Emotional Learning. With that, I arrived at a broad purpose for my Nature-based SEL work. Through teacher training and capacity-building workshops, I hope to create spaces where teachers can pause and reflect on their own relationships with nature. The intention is to move beyond the familiar conversation of how nature supports human well-being and instead explore what it means to understand our relationship with nature from a more nature-centric perspective. The goal then is for teachers to deeply reflect on how all of this influences the ways in which they bring nature learning into their classrooms. Nature-based SEL in Practice   And so I had identified my starting point. Even before thinking about the application of this framework in classrooms, I was keen on designing activities and practices that pushed teachers and educators to recognise their social-emotional relationship with nature. And how they think this can translate into their pedagogy. I began by trying to integrate some of this into Nature Classrooms’ larger teacher training and capacity building workshops. One of my personal favourite practices invites teachers to explore their Environmental Identity . Using the metaphor of a tree, its parts and life cycle, they reflect on how their interactions with nature shape their sense of self, belonging, and emotions, and how these experiences influence the way they perceive and engage with the natural world. This activity often leads to powerful reflections. Many teachers share that they have rarely paused to think how they personally feel about nature, or how deeply their childhood experiences have shaped that relationship.In another workshop we conducted with the Aga Khan Foundation for primary school teachers in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, we explored an activity that unpacked the region’s Socio-Ecological Identity. Teachers mapped the rivers, forests, and biodiversity of Bahraich alongside the folk songs, traditions, and cultural practices rooted in its landscape. As they reflected on how these relationships are shifting with changing environments, many observed how such local narratives rarely appear in formal EVS curriculum. The discussion ultimately led to a shared realisation: for nature learning to be meaningful, it must first nurture a sense of belonging to the landscapes we call home. Another way we bring Nature-based SEL into our workshops is by opening up reflective conversations about how our relationship with nature is changing alongside the changing climate. We introduce ideas like shifting baselines  and discuss emotions such as climate grief, anxiety, and burnout. These discussions invite teachers to reflect on how classrooms, instead of leaving students feeling numb or powerless, have the opportunity to become spaces where they process and understand environmental changes in age-appropriate and mindful ways. In Closing…  I vividly remember the very first interview I conducted as a part of my research with an Anganwadi teacher in Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh. In addition to asking her all about her socio-emotional experience as a teacher and her connectedness to nature, I casually asked, towards the end, “ What do teachers truly want? ” And she replied, “All we want is for people to ask us how we are.”  I carry that response with me to this day.  When we, as external facilitators, NGOs, researchers, scientists, practitioners (or any of the other hats that we identify with), enter into an education space, we often carry our preconceived notions, assumptions, and experiences. We enter these spaces believing that the people of that space need what we have to offer. Seldom do we pause to understand what is important to them, and what they are already doing within their contexts and capacities. Bringing in this sense of mindfulness to our work could be the first and simplest step we all could take as nature educators to bring a Nature-based SEL approach to our work!And, as for how I imagine Nature-based SEL shaping nature teaching-learning? I see it as a way to create spaces where teachers and students connect with the nature around them, not just through knowledge, but through feelings. A space where they slowly discover their own relationship with the natural world, through their socio-cultural-emotional contexts. I imagine our schools becoming a space to pause, cope with, process, and express the many changes unfolding in nature around us, so that we do not begin to feel distant from nature, but instead be reminded that we are part of it, together. Because perhaps the most meaningful way to learn about nature is not just to understand it, but to truly feel that we are a part of it!  Acknowledgments:  My sincere gratitude to Nirmal and Gurpreet from the Eikas Foundation for their constant guidance and support. I’m grateful to all the teachers and educators who participated in the pilot workshop and to those who continue to engage in the Nature-based SEL sessions through our workshops. And to my wonderful Nature Classrooms’ team for believing in me and the work!  Image credits - Priyanka Prakash, Aditi Rao Written by : Priyanka Prakash , Senior Manager (Education, Training & Research), Nature Classrooms If you are an educator looking to engage with articles and opinion pieces on nature education and pedagogy, a student looking to explore discourses in nature education, or just curious about these things - here's a curated list of essential readings available online.

-by Gousia Taj. English Translation by Aditi Rao An Educator's Diary#8 “ Ma’am, we saw the signature spider! ” On 19/12/25, a workshop on animal homes was conducted for the 4th and 5th grade students of Tarabanahalli. One of the activities included a bingo game about spiders. The bingo sheet had pictures of different kinds of spiders. The children managed to find all the spiders except the 'signature spider'. They kept wishing they could find the signature spider too. So we allowed them to take their bingo sheets home and told them, “It’s okay if you didn’t find the signature spider here. Look for it near your house, on the way, or at school.” About two weeks later, as usual, when I stepped into the classroom to call the children for the lesson, they shouted loudly, “Ma’am, we saw the signature spider!” I was startled for a moment. Usually the children greet me with a “Good morning, Ma’am,” but that day, hearing them shout that they had seen the signature spider shocked me. A Signature Spider from Tarabanahalli School Campus I asked, “Where did you see it?” The children said, “It built a web in the grass in front of our school toilet. Ma’am, come, we’ll show it to you!” and they pulled my hand and took me there. When we went and looked, there were signature spiders in three places. I told them, “Yes, children, this is the same signature spider from your bingo. It was missing, right? Now you can tick it.” I saw so much happiness on the children’s faces about the spider. They were celebrating as if they had found a treasure. Seeing their excitement made me very happy too. I felt the workshop had left a deep impact on the children. Later that same day, at the end of the lesson, we were setting up a table for an insect display. In the corner, a daddy long legs spider had built a web, which was sticking to our hands. I said I would bring a broom and clean it. But a student named Malappa said, “No Ma’am, let it stay here, poor thing,” and left it as it was. Hearing and seeing this made me feel very proud. At the same time, I wondered if I should not have asked to remove the web. Children observing an ant carrying a dead insect. Overall, the children’s interest in observing spiders has increased now. Every time I go to teach, the lesson begins only after the children first share their experiences and stories about animals, birds, insects, and trees they have encountered. Spider made out of natural materials by the students Image credits - Priyanka Prakash, Aditi Rao Written by : Gousia Taj- Facilitator at the Fig Tree Learning Centre (FTLC). If you are an educator looking to engage with articles and opinion pieces on nature education and pedagogy, a student looking to explore discourses in nature education, or just curious about these things - here's a curated list of essential readings available online.