A horse that has been painted

Wildflower Community Farm

Interdisciplinary Learning Community - Curriculum Design Team

Black and white Wildflower Riding logo

Wildflower Community Farm provides learning experiences on a working farm. Through animal-assisted learning, outdoor education, and sport, we develop life skills, physical literacy, and emotional intelligence in students.  Our current programming centers around equine activities. We offer horseback riding and horsemanship lessons to students of all ages and we specialize in working with children who aren’t fitting in other programs because of learning disabilities, developmental disabilities, physical disabilities and other disorders. 

Wildflower is creating the Curriculum Design Team which will support the expansion of our programming to include an outdoor learning program on the farm. This program will include animal-assisted learning, outdoor play, farm skills, and more. Children ages 6 - 12 will be participating in a 12-week session on Saturday mornings.  We are also developing an identical program for homeschooled children during the week. Activities will include building obstacle courses for goats and chickens, doing equine-assisted learning activities, riding lessons, structured wandering time in nature, unstructured outdoor play, and more. As a test program, this is a great opportunity to create lesson plans for a non-traditional setting, deliver them, get immediate feedback, and revise in real time. 

Who

All Bachelor of Education Students 

What

Design, implement, and revise lesson plans for outdoor learning

When

Weekly meetings 

Program session: Saturdays at 9 am to 12 pm

Volunteer scheduling is flexible

Where

275064 Range Road 33, Rocky View County, Alberta T4C 2Y2

Zoom meetings are a possibility

Logistics

What's involved

What's Involved: Students are primarily responsible for developing lesson plans and working with our staff to deliver programming. 

Lesson Plan Development: Developing a template for lesson plans, transcribing existing lesson plans into the new template, and generating new ideas for lesson plans.

Programming: 3 hours weekly program delivery on Saturdays from 9 am to 12 pm.  Weekday sessions may be available to attend in the spring.  Students must attend two sessions throughout their placement.  Students are welcome to attend as many sessions as they would like to gain experience leading outdoor learning programs.

Requirements

  • Pre-service teachers need a current Police Information Check with Vulnerable Sector Screening (issued after July 1 of the current academic year). Students who do not already have a police check should begin this process at their local police station as soon as possible, as police checks often take 4-6 weeks to process.

Program Learning Outcomes

  • Apply a variety of leadership strategies to develop meaningful relationships with the program and its participants
  • Articulate how specific experiences contribute to their growth as an educator
  • Design and implement a variety of activities that meet students’ interests and learning needs 
  • Develop stronger connections to the professional community and specific organizations
  • Examine a variety of approaches to teaching and learning in non-traditional educational settings
  • Examine how programming fosters inclusion and personal growth
  • Examine how programs and educators create communities that are conducive to teaching and learning
  • Examine how teaching and learning take place in other contexts
  • Examine the diverse ways children and youth experience and express knowledge, actions, and identities
  • Identify specific opportunities for you to contribute to program communities in a positive, professional manner
  • Lead or co-lead the component of at least one project within the program
  • Model positive behavior for children, youth, teachers, and parents

Wildflower Community Farm

Curriculum Design Team Dates

Applications

  • Applications are open until the end of September

Orientation

  • Early October, exact date(s) TBA

Programming Times

  • October to April, but can continue after if desired
  • We will be running multiple sessions, year-long. We encourage volunteers to participate throughout the year, as programming changes seasonally.

Time Commitment

  • 2-5 hours weekly for 12 weeks
  • Schedule and time commitments are based on volunteers' schedule and availability

In total, pre-service teachers agree to commit to a minimum of 24-60 hours to this opportunity.

Apply for Wildflower Community Farm

  1. Go to Elevate and click on Werklund School of Education
  2. Click My Werklund Experiences
  3. Go to Courses/Program
  4. Select the ILC - Wildflower Community Farm Curriculum Design Team and click Apply​​​​​​
  5. Complete the the questionnaire and we will contact you for next steps!
Sign up here!