Close Encounters with Nature in an Urban Kindergarten: A Study of Learners' Inquiry and Experience

This article reports on the findings of a recent qualitative grounded theory research study in a metropolitan area in the south-east of Canada examining one junior/senior kindergarten classroom's engagement with nature. It focuses on the role of the learners, the children and the teacher, in co-constructing two very different learning experiences. The findings suggest that when learners play an agentive role in constructing their own learning experience and are involved emotionally as well as cognitively, the level of engagement would be deeper, richer and more sustained.