Teaching Journaling

Fred McPherson began teaching in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1966 after concluding a job at Burrough High School in San Mateo County. Fred’s arrival at Pacific High School presented the opportunity to teach at an experimental high school dedicated to experience-based methods of learning.  The events leading up to his transition to Santa Cruz “involved both leaving something that [he] had had enough of and a search for something new and better”. His goals were to take students on the “adventure to learn, and the adventure of learning to learn” through experiential education. Pacfic High School was in the developmental stages when Fred began teaching there. It was not well funded at the time which meant he had to be flexible with the way he taught. As a dedicated teacher, Fred provided his students with field journals, paid for with his own money. Natural journaling was an important aspect of the classes he taught and he felt it necessary for the students to learn.  For more information on Fred’s experience at Burrough High and the journey that led him to Santa Cruz please visit the link where you will find a chapter Fred wrote for Ralph Abraham’s Hip Santa Cruz book series.  https://hipsantacruz.org/stories/coming-to-pacific-high-school/. 

Nature journaling was a primary teaching method of Fred’s throughout this career. He wanted to set a good example for his students and would often take the opportunity to write alongside them. He enjoyed observing them as they made discoveries to find new ways to inspire them. “Perhaps there is something to be learned about writing with music” he wrote in 1986. A week later, he began a Music Friday tradition where he chose different genres of music to play while the students wrote. He also experimented with different environments, often taking students on different journaling adventures, even if it was through the schoolyard. Fred encouraged them to stay curious no matter the environment. He enjoyed serving as a connecting branch between them and the natural world and often learned through them simultaneously. In his 1983 Field Journal he wrote “I have discovered a lot that will help me keep a better journal and be a better teacher” while grading UCSC student journals from a Santa Cruz Mountain Course. Sharing your observations and discoveries is a great way to gain more insight on how to improve your nature journaling skills.