Does it work? Biomimicry in Education

Happy New Year!

A New Year’s Day tradition is to watch Vienna Philharmonic Concert. At this year’s concert the guest conductor Riccardo Muti talks about joy, hope, peace, brotherhood, and “Love” with capital “L,”. The world needs to consider culture as one of the primary pre-measure elements to help build a better society in the future, he says.

Music, art and drama are vital ingredients that are often overlooked when it comes to ways to build a better society. During what seems like endless months of lockdowns, suspicious coughs and colds, I have returned to listening more to music and I have let ideas about how to use nature in the classroom rest a bit.

Just before Christmas, I was asked to talk about Biomimicry in Education at the Université Côte d’Azur. The students studied Marine Biology and read a course about biomimicry. As part of the course, some students have made a very engaging Biomimicry Game. Great idea!

After my short presentation, delivered via the 2020s most popular technology Zoom, someone asked me if I thought that young students could come up with ideas.

The question made me reflect on the way I use nature to inspire kids to be creative and if Biomimicry really works.

Reflecting on your ideas is always important and I have also thought about whether biomimicry really offers a way to help build a better society.

Feedback from teachers says that their students have really enjoyed using the materials that I create, admittedly, not every teacher provides feedback. Most of my materials are open-structured and rely on allowing teachers and students to explore nature together by making observations, asking questions and using their observations to solve problems or create wonderous inventions.

Perhaps this approach is after all more adventurous than I think. Yet, for me, it is one way to inspire kids to think as well as develop a love for nature. And teaching kids to think is vital and ultimately should always be one of the goals of teaching.