Many schools teach about the environment but leave little room for caring about a place or acting for it. How can a program build all three, especially when timetables and exams are tight?
The authors studied the Morecambe Bay Curriculum, a network of teachers and partners around Morecambe Bay in northwest England, working with learners from early years (birth to 5) to college (16 and over). They analyzed the network's strategy documents, teachers' written reflections, and 16 teaching resource packs that local teachers created with university researchers.
The authors sorted everything in the packs using a "head, heart and hands" framework. Head is knowledge and thinking. Heart is care, connection and wellbeing. Hands is putting learning into action. Behind this sits the idea that education should widen the real choices young people have to lead lives they value, not just raise test scores.
The authors found:
- Head: regular subjects taught through the local area. The most common approach was teaching existing topics through local places. Primary children identified local plants and animals, and secondary students learned about photosynthesis through crops grown in the region. Local bird species inspired lessons joining science (sound waves and how birds are adapted to where they live) with art (sculpture). As one teacher put it, students learn about "plants they might see on their way home."
- Heart: the part members valued most. Early years children studied the coastline both up close and as a wide view, then made artwork from what they noticed. In a secondary resource on personal and emotional health, students responded to the Bay's waters through photography, sketching and reflective writing. They also learned what research says about how time near water can support calm. College students reflected on how their food, leisure and travel choices affect other people, animals and nature.
- Hands: action and skills. Students collected data on local plants and explored solutions to local issues such as crop growing and flooding. In secondary geography, students debated sustainable energy solutions, building and defending an informed position. The authors caution that a focus on job skills alone can narrow this part to students' future earnings.
- Local examples were the easiest way in; outdoor time was the hardest. Teaching existing content through local places needed the least change to how schools run. Taking learning outdoors grew harder in secondary schools and colleges, with complex timetables and exam pressure. Three teachers who helped design packs had not been able to use them, because their schools followed a fixed sequence of topics or a ready-made commercial program.
What this means for your practice:
- Start with what you already teach. Local examples were the easiest way in (findings 1 and 4). Pick a topic on your plan and find its local version, such as a regional crop for photosynthesis or local birds for sound.
- Check each unit against head, heart and hands. Ask what students will learn, how they will connect with the place, and what they will do. This is the framework the authors used to map every resource (findings 1â3).
- Try a two-visit sequence. The authors use one resource to show how the three fit together. Pupils prepare in class, then observe landforms and creatures on a first beach visit. A class discussion on how to protect the beach follows, and pupils act on their ideas during a second visit. The paper describes this design but does not report how it worked with pupils.
- Build heart indoors when you can't get out. Outdoor time was hard to find in older age groups (finding 4). The authors suggest classroom tasks that build empathy and care, such as the college students' reflection on how everyday choices affect others.
- Pair feelings with evidence. The secondary resource combined creative responses to a local place with research on how nature supports wellbeing (finding 2). The paper describes the resource rather than reporting results.
- Bring school leaders in early. Leaders' support decided whether co-designed packs reached classrooms (finding 4). The network's next step is to work with schools as whole institutions, not just individual teachers.
The Bottom Line
The authors, who are members of the Morecambe Bay Curriculum, studied its strategy documents, teachers' written reflections and 16 teaching resource packs. They found the packs teach regular school subjects through local places, build care through time on the coast, art and reflection, and build skills through local investigations and debates. Members valued the "heart" side most. Teaching required content through local examples proved the easiest way in, while outdoor learning was harder to fit into secondary schools and colleges. Some teachers could not use packs they had helped design because of fixed school plans. For educators, head, heart and hands offers a simple check that a program builds knowledge, care and action together. Starting from local examples, and winning school leaders' support, are practical first steps.