Seeds of Connection: Biodiversity, Culture, and Community in Schools

Seeds of Connection: Biodiversity, Culture, and Community in Schools

  • Environmental
  • Biodiversity
  • Conservation
  • Social
  • Mental Health
  • Social and Emotional Learning
  • Outdoor Learning
  • ...

Course summary

This course shows you how to work with First Nations communities and knowledge holders to create a school garden that is both biodiverse and culturally respectful. You’ll learn why these projects matter, how to plan and sustain them and ways to embed cultural protocols and student agency throughout. By the end, you’ll have the tools to build a thriving garden that enriches learning and strengthens community connection.

You will learn how to:

  • build respectful partnerships with First Nations communities and knowledge holders to guide biodiversity projects in your school
  • design, implement, and sustain a native school garden that supports biodiversity, cultural learning, and student agency
  • integrate the garden into classroom practice across different curriculum areas, using it as a living resource for inquiry and community engagement.

Course time:

This course is expected to take 60 minutes. Perfect for after work or during a spare period. You will have ongoing access via your user dashboard.

Accreditation:

This course is mapped to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.

  • 1.4 Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
  • 4.1 Support student participation
  • 7.3 Engage with the parents/carers
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Course Content

Seeds of Connection: Biodiversity, Culture, and Community in Schools

Seeds of Connection: Biodiversity, Culture, and Community in Schools

01.
Intro
02.
Why school biodiversity projects matter
03.
Benefits for students, schools and communities
04.
Learning from case studies
05.
Beginning the conversation with community
06.
Building relationships, not just projects
07.
Planning your garden
08.
Engaging students in the process
09.
Embedding cultural protocols into practice
10.
Implementing the school garden
11.
Maintaining and sustaining the garden
12.
Extending learning into the classroom
13.
Measuring impact and sharing the story
14.
Growing and learning
15.
Reflection
16.
Congratulations

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I log this PD with my states teaching authority?

Yes! Our courses are mapped to the Australian Professional Teacher Standards (AITSL), and your completion can be logged as elective PD hours with your state's teaching regulatory authority. To do this, grab your certificate of completion from your personal dashboard once the course is complete.

How long will this take to complete?

This course is expected to take 60 minutes. Perfect for after work or during a spare period. You will have ongoing access via your user dashboard.

Will I get proof of completion?

You will get a Cool.org certificate when you finish to prove that you have completed this course. You can access this certificate (and your course progress!) anytime via your personal dashboard.

Is this course accredited?

All of our courses are mapped to the Australian Professional Teacher Standards (AITSL), and your completion can be logged as relevant, teacher-identified professional development activity with all Australian state teaching regulatory authorities. To do this, grab your certificate of completion from your personal dashboard once the course is complete.

Who are the instructors?

This course is designed in consultation with teachers, principals, psychologists, counsellors, scientists, and all manner of experts in the education field.

Cool.org's curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum and best educational practice, so you can be sure your learning is at the cutting edge of education theory.

Partners

This course was created in collaboration with The Biodiversity Council.

Special thanks to our content partner, The Conversation and to The Garry White Foundation, The Hugh D. T. Williamson Foundation, Wedgetail and The James Kirby Foundation for their generous financial support.

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