back in June of last year, and though I read most of it right away, I failed to finish it, and then misplaced it for the next several months. I recently uncovered it in one of my outdoor tubs in the garage. I probably stashed it in there while clearing out my vehicle after a trip. The garage is usually where my stuff disappears to, sometimes never to be seen again. I had heard about the book while updating the SurvivaLogic school directory, as it was written as a collaborative effort between Evan McGown of Wild Intelligence and Jon Young and Ellen Haas of Wilderness Awareness School. The book is targeted at teachers of youth, and is based upon the years of wilderness instruction that have refined the techniques used at Wilderness Awareness School. It's quite a beast of a volume at 548 pages, but it is laid out like a textbook and it very well categorized, in case you'd prefer to read it topically.
From the book's Amazon page:
"Coyote mentoring is a method of learning that has been refined over thousands of years, based on instilling the need-to-know. Coyote's Guide to Connecting with Nature, 2nd Edition reveals this approach and what happens to student and teacher during the mentoring process. Strategies like questioning, storytelling, tracking, mapping, and practicing survival skills will inspire student curiosity and encourage self-sufficiency. Background information will help parents, teachers and others feel more confident in introducing children to new ways of experiencing and learning about the natural world."My interest in this book came from an effort to make the survival skills I demonstrate during youth volunteer work more attention-keeping and just, well, fun. It is certainly true that kids are drawn to play outside, but when you turn that corner from let's play outside! and move into let's turn this into outside school, some of that enthusiasm gets lost. That effect changes based on age and interest level, but exists universally to some extent. People learn faster when they are enjoying themselves. Frankly, having come from a background of unconventional education myself, I find the methods of education in this book could well apply to general education, although it is true that a major framework shift would be necessary. That's another discussion for another day!
The book is introduced by a hefty dose of background and education philosophy, then charges into many, many pages of activities, exercises, program suggestions, topical ideas to spark questions, and narratives. When I was teaching firearms, the lead instructor used to say, speaking in regard to how shooting used to be taught in the military, "You can scream at a man until he learns to shine his shoes or make his bed, but you can't scream someone into being a better shooter." I have found the same philosophy to be true in wilderness education. At the point the participants stop enjoying themselves, especially kids, there are so many alternatives just waiting there in the wings to jump in and provide easy, immersive distraction - TV, phones, video games, Facebook, etc. Keeping that level of fun there is critical for both the learning process and the interest down the road.
You'll find some very useful exercises that may not be new territory for you - things like fox-walking and owl eyes, but you'll find them here with games and enhancements to tweak the activity from just an exercise into a game. Unless you are just the Grand Poobah of wilderness education, I'd suspect that many of the activities will be new to you or at the very least a new take on them.
And sure, there is some "one with nature" type stuff in the book. It is almost inevitable when reading a non-military based wilderness guide. I tend to gloss over most of that stuff, consider the advice without necessarily the premise, and move on. It really is a fantastic book, and one of the most instructive things I have ever read in terms of teaching, wilderness or otherwise.
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