Many educational leaders are finding that traditional forms of education are not keeping students engaged, nor assisting students in taking responsibility for their own learning or providing opportunities for students to work together. Equipping learners with the...
Making learning meaningful is important to children’s understanding of the learning concepts and the world around them. Teachers make learning meaningful when they, link new learning to children’s previous experience, relate concepts to children’s lives and provide...
"Environmental and sustainability literacy is needed to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to create the future we want - one with economic opportunity for all, a fair and just society, thriving ecosystems, and healthy human and more than human populations." -...
While our work at Natural Pod is focused on creating collaborative, sustainably made, nature connected learning indoor environments, we always remember that outdoor nature connection is a vital part of creating great learning outcomes. When we come across inspiring...
Being a young person today is not easy. Many are under stress to perform well in school, get into a good college, or excel on the playing field. But what about students who are stressed because they need to earn money to put food on the table for their family? Or...
Leadership for Green Schools: Sustainability for Our Children, Our Communities, and Our Planet - This is a wonderfully rich book that uncovers the many facets of what it means to be a green school, and the leadership tools needed to embrace whole school...
It happened in the blink of an eye. One day, schools were packed with kids shuffling down hallways between classes, teachers chasing down homework assignments, and administrators fielding parent requests and student events. Then everything changed. The halls were...
With a return to school becoming a reality for many, and with so many questions around the future of education, where does one turn to for leadership? It’s unlikely any one person has the answers, and nor could they. This time is unprecedented. And although...
Thank you to all of you who recently entered our Natural Pod newsletter subscription contest! Subscribing to our newsletter gave you a chance to be entered to win a pair of our beautiful, new, sustainably made Natural Pod Stools. They are the classroom stool you’ve...
Diversity and inclusivity in learning environments is a topic that is at the heart of our work in creating empowering and multifunctional learning furniture inspired by educators and learners’ needs. This article is written by our inhouse Learning & Development...
LearningSCAPES 2020 conference 'Passport to Learning' is November 4th-6th. If you aren't already involved, we highly recommend this fantastic annual conference for K-12 educators, architects, designers and industry leaders. This year it's going virtual and...
The American School of Bahrain is a vibrant and inclusive learning community, proud of their diversity and mindful of the many cultures that make up the fabric of their school. "Our mission is to provide a challenging American and international education...
COVID-19 has changed our world in many ways. How we shop, work, govern, and attend school have all been altered due to this global pandemic. Education has been hit particularly hard. Closing out the 2019 – 2020 school year was a chaotic and disjointed effort for most...
Our world is in crisis: a global pandemic, economic inequality, racial disparities, and…climate change. Although climate change may not move as fast as COVID-19 or have immediate consequences, it too threatens human lives and the global economy in real and dramatic...
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it a time of reckoning for our country’s institutions, including schools. Our response to this crisis must include bold, new ideas for what schools should look like and prioritize. Now more than ever, schools must focus on...
The short answer is yes. In addition to offering a unique product, Natural Pod also works differently to other education furniture companies. We're not a catalog company. We know that choosing furniture from a list does not create the best learning...
At a time when many school districts are having to re-outfit their classrooms to meet COVID-19 physical distancing requirements while also trying to increase air quality to help combat the virus, it’s becoming apparent that unfortunately some of the new...
When we have the honour of being part of exceptional award-winning projects like this one we want to shout about it. The Environmental Nature Center and Preschool in Newport, California, is an incredible place, not only to visit, but as an inspiration to so many about...
Many children and educators have now started school, others are about to, and some families have opted for virtual or home learning. So a ‘new normal’ really translates as ‘a fresh discovery phase’. While we are still exploring how education could look, not only in...
Whenever the Natural Pod team collaborates with educators there’s always a great sense of forward motion; it’s exciting! Although usually done in an in-person setting, we were required to pivot and offered our first virtual workshop this week. With a focus on...