Frames

Is there a frame providing a connecting story?

Frames play a powerful part in how we understand and interpret the world around us. For example when we hear the word ‘nature’, subconsciously a bundle of different memories, emotions and values are activated. Such associations, often leading to strong narratives under the surface of our awareness, are called ‘frames’.

Placing frames in the centre of a Real World Learning experience has two significant purposes:

1. Frames act like a guiding light for teachers and learners, allowing self-directed learning to occur without getting lost.
2. Frames provide a deeper meaning for the learner, revealing single facts as parts of a bigger story.

Imagine you are working on a stream keeping in mind the frame ‘Small changes can have a big impact’. Ask your learners to experience this idea; e.g. they might change the water flow by removing a stone. Encourage them to transfer this finding to other areas of their own life and to consider its relevance in terms of care for nature. Although the process of learning is quite open, you know where you are heading for and your learners feel that this outdoor experience might be much more meaningful for their lives than just ‘learning something about a stream’.

Frames are not just catchy slogans for the learning experience. They should go deeper, down to values for sustainability. When developing a frame it is important to keep in mind what bigger picture or story we wish to trigger and how this will resonate with the learners in their understanding of being a part of the system with which they are dealing. This will be determined by the values it promotes. Examples of this are given in the table below:

Table 1    Connecting values and understanding by frames

Click here to read more about the use of frames in outdoor learning for sustainability.