kinoo’amaa waa agwajiin
7 Relationships for Ethical Outdoor Play and Learning
Kinoo’amaa waa agwajiin means learning outside in Anishinaabemowin. On March 20, 2025 on the Spring Equinox the name kinoo’amaa waa agwajiin received a naming ceremony led by Grandmother Helen Settee. Agnes Catcheway supported the translation.
The 7 Relationships for Ethical Outdoor Play and Learning came to be in 2020 by Adrian Alphonso and Lise Brown in response to the Forest and Nature School movement that had begun in Canada in 2012, led by Forest School Canada. The 7 Relationships offers an approach to play and learning for educators to honour both the Forest and Nature School approach developed in European countries and a Canadian worldview that honours the relationship with land that Indigenous Peoples have had since time immemorial. In addition, Adrian and Lise wanted to consider the oppression in school systems and unethical outdoor education practices that they experienced first-hand in their lives. Adrian and Lise believe in the play, learning and healing that happens outside, it feels urgent for children, for humans, for Mother Earth to spend time in the natural world, because growth is everywhere when we spend time outside.
Kinoo’amaa waa agwajiin is a direct response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action 62 and 63 with a specific focus on 63iv to identify “teacher-training relating to” Indigenous education issues.
Kinoo’amaa waa agwajiin offers an approach for educators to build confidence and comfort in their facilitation of outdoor play and learning experiences on the schoolyard and beyond, to create seamless connections between the classroom and the Land and Water. The 7 Relationships are a guide, an assessment tool, and a reflective practice that centres the learners experience and the educator’s role in that experience. The goal for the educator is to bring balance to the 7 Relationships so that the learner embodies the following outcomes:
Relationship with Play We All Play. When this relationship is in balance, learners feel flow and freedom in their growth zone. They feel joy, choice, creativity and satisfaction.
Relationship with Story I Share, I Connect. When this relationship is in balance, learners gain different perspectives, have confident to share their own stories, feel connected to place and have listening skills.
Relationship with Learning When I Play Outside All Day I Learn. When this relationship is in balance, learners can be self-directed, experience mastery, have a sense of wonder, are curious and have reflective skills.
Relationship with Power How I Show Up. When this relationship is in balance, the learner feels truth, a sense of belonging and feels heard.
Relationship with Trust I Trust You. When this relationship is in balance, the learners feel a reciprocal relationship between learner and educator, they feel empowered, they can be independent and are inspired to be themselves.
Relationship with Land and Water We Gain Wisdom. When this relationship is in balance, learners experience connection to place, regulated bodies, felt safety, confidence in all weather, generosity and love towards Mother Earth.
Relationship with Risk We Are Safe. When this relationship is in balance, learners have physical literacy, can assess personal risk and have regulated bodies.
Adrian and Lise offer training for educators who want to learn and grow in their outdoor practice. Contact us for more information.
The Child and Nature Alliance of Canada has also adopted the 7 Relationships for its National Facilitation team. This episode of The Child and Nature Alliance Podcast features the 7 Relationships.
