Outdoor Natural Science Program Instructor: Per Diem Seasonal Position, 4 seasons available
Kestrel is a very small environmental science /wildlife ecology/outdoor education non profit, with only education staff (no executive staff at all). Most of your teaching will be outdoors in local wild places, throughout the North Shore of Massachusetts, with some visits to school classrooms for intro classes and project work. Fall and winter programming is several days a week and spring is full time. We hire for one season at a time and instructors who are a good fit are encouraged to stay on for additional seasons. We're looking for folks with a deep investment in the mission and a collaborative mindset, as you will be working in a small team to both create and deliver programs, as well as to maintain the office and gear.
Job Description
You will co-design and lead science and outdoor education adventures for kids in K-12th grade (mostly K-8th) at public wild reservations throughout the North Shore of Massachusetts. You will design and teach a wide variety of programs, from preschool nature awareness class, to elementary and middle school academic field science work for entire school districts outdoors, to afterschool survival skills and wildlife conservation classes. All of our learning is student centered and involves our kids as authentic scientists. There are no "turnkey" activities, lectures, tours, or absorption of adult-generated values and concepts. Classes are largely outdoors, with some indoor project components. We visit some beautiful places; mostly local forests and freshwater wetlands, rich in wildlife and native trees and plants.
Leading programs includes travel in your own vehicle or our equipment van to various schools and field sites throughout the North Shore. It also involves packing for and cleaning up from each program, including disinfecting gear after wetland classes.
Our approach is to use connection to small local wild places and to plants and animals as touch points for understanding science, building community, and nurturing emotional health. All our programs are focused on original observations, thoughtful understanding, and students’ ideas. We are silly and playful and also very serious about learning and teaching. Our instructors are skilled naturalists who understand and are unendingly curious about the natural world, and about our students and their ideas. We use a constructivist, inquiry based learning model and child-led learning. Our programs are fun, exploratory, messy, muddy, sandy, wild, and different every day.
Some programs may be one hour and occur only once, while others will involve working with groups regularly throughout the semester. All programs are custom tailored to the audience, by all of us as a team.
You are expected to use our template format to write detailed, original lesson plans, and to complete written debriefs/reflections after each class.
We're all educators and we need a collaborative team that will share the load during prep, teaching, cleanup, and keeping the office organized.
Qualifications
There are three main qualifications we're looking for as we screen applications:
* Folks with a personal naturalist practice/knowledge of the natural world. There is no way we can train this skill from scratch during a one week training. We are looking for instructors with at least some knowledge of the natural world and a routine practice of learning more about it. For example, you can tell common forest trees apart, know a few kinds of hawk and how to tell them apart, know your frog songs or how to tell a spring peeper from a gray treefrog, etc. You know how to use reliable sources to find information. You do NOT need to be an expert, but you need to have some naturalist knowledge and already spend time outside learning more, regularly. Please be honest and clear about your level of naturalist knowledge.
* Creative, curious people who are excited about finding things and making things with children and really listening to their ideas, rather than just transferring information to them.
* Applicants who have read a little about our unique approach on our website or in this job description, and can explain what they like about how we teach.
Beyond the above, here are the standard qualifications:
- Undergraduate or advanced degree in education or environmental field, OR equivalent experience
- CPR/First Aid current certification required (can be acquired at own expense after hire)
- Fully vaccinated, with available vaccine records (we accept medical waivers, but no anti vaxxers please)
- Strong knowledge of New England Natural History, or the natural history of a similar region.
- At least one year of experience teaching children in classroom and/or field settings, OR experience as a field naturalist or field biologist along with a natural affinity for education.
- Experience or comfort level teaching in - depth, cumulative science skills and natural history, ideally using essential questions and adapting lessons to students’ ideas, interests, skills, and spontaneous events in nature.
- A firm, while supportive and non-punitive, approach to group management.
- Willingness to work towards systemic equality, and to use best practices in culturally responsive teaching, including the voices, backgrounds, and ideas of all of our students in your teaching. Willingness to support children of all genders and gender identities, races, and national origin, children with disabilities, and neurodivergent children. Willing to use a trauma informed, non competitive approach to behavior management
- Ability to carry up to 30 pounds, and to walk uphill on or off trails up to 2 miles a day, in all weather
- An appreciation of all living things and the natural environment, and a hardy willingness to properly prepare for and enjoy outdoor explorations in any weather
- An understanding and enthusiasm for the idea that place-based ecological literacy is important, beyond general concepts.
To Apply: Email a resume and cover letter, detailing why you are interested in Kestrel specifically, and how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position, or just answer the application questions thoroughly and send a resume. We are more interested in a short story or two that illustrates your interest and fit for the specific position than a repeat of resume points.
Note: Kestrel does not allow the use of generative AI for any work tasks. We do original work and use our own ideas.
About Kestrel: Kestrel Educational Adventures is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with an office in Beverly, Massachusetts. We offer place-based natural science adventures for schools, family groups, and the general public. Our participants learn through direct experiences in the local natural world, guided by qualified instructors with flexible plans. We believe in building a better and more sustainable world through excellent, student – centered natural science education. Our program instructors guide children in developing their abilities to make and share original discoveries and understand complex natural systems, or sometimes just to find nature connection nearby. We believe that everyone should develop their own values through experience, and that this is the most powerful route to sustainability and conservation action. Instead of the "Leave No Trace" approach, we teach that it is okay to move things, build things, and freely explore, and that we should take good care of all the wild places we visit. We teach everyone that they should wander, explore, touch, imagine, and live in the natural world. Because of our small size, we do not have any staff housing facilities. We do have a great place to work and lots of opportunities to learn, a golden retriever staff member, and chocolate.
Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Seasonal
Pay: $21.00 - $24.00 per hour
Benefits:
Application Question(s):
- What do you think are the most important things children should learn during nature education experiences?
- Please describe your naturalist knowledge. Do you know how to identify any groups of New England area organisms in the field, such as trees, plants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, or do you have wildlife tracking training from a certified tracker? Please describe any naturalist knowledge you have, as well as any fields you're especially interested in learning more about.
- Why are you interested in working at Kestrel specifically? Please explain anything you like about our specific teaching model, which is different from most environmental education organizations?
- If you're with a group of students and you encounter a plant or animal that none of you are familiar with, how would you go about gathering more information about it?
Ability to Commute:
- Beverly, MA 01915 (Required)
Work Location: In person
