School and Group Programs
Core Educational Framework
Yosemite Institute's innovative and quality programs are guided by the Core Educational Framework of its parent organization, Yosemite National Institutes. The framework is routinely assessed at the program and board levels and is ever-evolving, so that the best and most current teaching methods are incorporated.
The framework has our educators focus on 3 key questions when planning an educational program:
- Who are the students?
- What content and instructional strategies will be used to teach the students?
- What will the students learn and be able to do?
Who Are the Students?
Before a class arrives, our educators review the pre-trip questionnaire that has been completed by their classroom teacher. This document gives educators an overview of school and community demographics, local issues, group dynamics, and individual issues.
Upon arrival, educators ask students about their schools and communities. By using this student-centered approach, educators are able to apply these facts to individualize each group experience.
Educators take into consideration:
- Students' developmental levels based on grade level and other available information
- Students' knowledge and process skills
- Students' ethnic, cultural, and linguistic experiences that might influence their understanding of the environment
This information helps educators make the lessons more relevant to the students.
What Content and Instructional Strategies Will be Used?
Our educators are trained to incorporate multiple teaching techniques into their lessons. The focus of instruction is providing safe, student-centered, experiential, and inquiry-based educational experiences for all students.
Educators make every effort to customize each program to fit teachers' academic requests. Each campus offers a variety of curriculum tracks based on the ecosystems available at that location, including geology, watershed ecology, forest ecology, adaptations, and more. Programs also address community building and personal growth.
Each curriculum track incorporates 3 core themes:
- Sense of place
- Interconnections
- Stewardship
Sense of place
A sense of place is incorporated into lessons with a focus on students' ability to:
- Express an awareness of national parks and other environmental areas
- Recognize the constancy and patterns of change
- Describe human influence on places that students know
- Develop a personal sense of place among other students within the campus group
Interconnections
The concept of interconnections centers on students' ability to:
- Connect emotionally to the natural world
- Understand complex connections among abiotic, biotic, and cultural factors in habitats and ecosystems
- Describe ways in which their communities, cultures, and societies impact the natural systems on which they depend
- Understand the strength that is inherent in biological and cultural diversity
Stewardship
Including stewardship concepts and projects gives students the opportunity to:
- Identify reasons why humans should take responsibility for their impacts
- Describe positive contributions they might make or steps they can take to minimize negative impacts on environmental health
- Explain the value of National Parks and recreation areas
- Know the meaning and value of sustainability
- Understand the value of their contributions
- Begin to make positive changes in their lives
What Will Students Learn and Do?
Within each program, educators plan opportunities for students to achieve 4 program outcomes:
- Personal Growth
- Group Development
- Responsible Environmental Behavior
- Educational Impact
Personal growth
By incorporating concepts of personal growth into instruction, educators give students the opportunity to:
- Improve self-esteem and self-confidence
- Be empowered to make decisions
- Understand the difference they can make (loci of control)
- Develop a sense of place within the ecosystem
- Think about their attitudes and values towards the environment, science, and learning
Group development
Educators pay attention to group dynamics so that students will be able to:
- Practice effective strategies for working in a group
- Use efficient communication techniques
- Participate in the decision-making process
- Engage in cooperative learning processes
Responsible environmental behavior
Emphasizing responsible environmental behavior during the day allows students to:
- Learn about environmental sensitivity for cultural and natural resources
- Explore strategies for conserving the environment
- Explain the meaning and value of stewardship and sustainability
- Engage in stewardship activities
- Explain the value of National Parks, National Recreation Areas, and open spaces in their communities
- Learn about personal actions and consumer decisions that will reduce their impact on environment
Educational impact
During the course of their program, students will be able to:
- Learn ecological concepts
- Explain the complex interactions between organisms in the ecosystem
- Describe ways that they depend upon and impact local and global ecosystems
- Engage in inquiry and investigative activities
