Natural Curiosity Receives The 2026 Outstanding Contribution to Education Award From The Ontario Principal's Council

On behalf of Natural Curiosity, I want to express our sincere gratitude to the Ontario Principals’ Council for this tremendous honour. We are deeply grateful to receive the 2026 Outstanding Contribution to Education Award, and to be recognized by an organization whose members play such an important role in shaping the learning experiences of students across Ontario.

Natural Curiosity began in 2011 at the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study Laboratory School at OISE, University of Toronto, with a framework to support environmental inquiry through curiosity, experiential learning, integrated learning, and stewardship.

In 2017, our work took an important step forward with the publication of Natural Curiosity, 2nd Edition: The Importance of Indigenous Perspectives in Children’s Environmental Inquiry. Chi-Miigwetch to the Indigenous educators from Aroland First Nation, Seven Generations Education Institute, and Rainy River DSB, who helped us to realize how much there still was to learn about situating Indigenous perspectives into Canadian curricula. Written by Doug Anderson, a Manitoba Red River Métis educator and scholar, the Indigenous lenses on the 2nd Edition invite educators to deepen their understanding of the relationships between Indigenous ways of knowing and environmental learning.

Since then, our work has continued to evolve. We have come to recognize that this is not simply about integrating Indigenous perspectives into existing educational systems. It is about building reciprocal relationships, learning from Indigenous knowledge, and rethinking how we understand our relationships with the land and with one another.

This journey would not have been possible without the Indigenous educators, knowledge holders, partners, teachers, school leaders, and communities who have shared their knowledge, challenged our thinking, and helped shape our work. This award belongs, in many ways, to all of them.

Today, nearly 39,000 copies of our two editions have been distributed, more than 29,000 educators have participated in our professional learning since 2020, and more than 35 universities and colleges around the world use Natural Curiosity as a course reading. We are encouraged by this reach, but we believe the real measure of our work lies in the relationships it helps nurture and the possibilities it opens up for educators and students.

Looking ahead, we are asking deeper questions about what education can become when Indigenous knowledge, land-based learning, language, and community are understood as interconnected. Our partnership with Kenjgewin Teg on Living Language: Anishinaabemowin through Digital Storytelling is one example of how we are working to support Indigenous-led learning and language revitalization.
We are especially grateful for the role school leaders play in creating the conditions for this work to flourish. Meaningful change takes time, relationships, courage, and a willingness to keep learning. We hope this recognition will encourage more school communities to explore what becomes possible when we approach the natural world not simply as something to study, but as a source of relationship, knowledge, and responsibility.

Thank you to the Ontario Principals’ Council for this recognition, and to everyone who has been part of Natural Curiosity’s journey. We receive this award with gratitude, humility, and a renewed commitment to the work ahead.

Thank you,

Haley Higdon, Natural Curiosity Director

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