Teacher Professional Development

Come learn with us in the Garden! The VBGA is pleased to welcome educators & teachers to our online and in-person Teacher Professional Development workshops at VanDusen Botanical Garden and Bloedel Conservatory.

Throughout the academic year we strive to offer engaging educational courses to help develop your gardening and botany skills, deepen your knowledge of our local ecology, and inspire you to step outside and explore with your students in the great outdoors.

Find the perfect fit for you and your teaching team.

2024 Teacher Professional Development Workshops

  • +(April 22) Nature-Based Games for Taking Your Students Outside

    Monday, April 22: 9.00am – 12.00pm

    Are you looking for meaningful ways to engage your K-7 students outdoors? Outdoor group play is an excellent way for students to learn about the environment while forming connections with one another and the land. Join Karina New at VanDusen Botanical Garden for a workshop filled with play that empowers you to get your K-7 students outdoors!

    You will learn how to facilitate a variety of outdoor games ranging from calm to active, as well as modifications to suit your students’ age group. Games will have ties to ecology, cooperation, and First People’s Principles of Learning. We will spend time both indoors and outdoors, so come dressed for the weather!

    Karina New has taught K-10 students with the VSB and brings her students outdoors on a weekly basis. She first saw the positive impacts of outdoor play through her work as an outdoor educator in Ontario. Karina has a degree in Environmental Science and Ecology as well as a Master of Teaching with a focus on outdoor learning.

    This year she was selected by National Geographic and Linblad Expeditions for the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship where she embarked on an expedition to Antarctica to learn from experts in the field. You can read more about her experiences in the September/October issue of BCTF’s Teacher Magazine or on her Instagram.

    Register now!

  • +(April 22) Iconic Trees of Vancouver & Forest Bathing Workshop

    Monday, April 22: 9.00am – 3.00pm

    Join us in the spring Garden for Iconic Trees of Vancouver & Forest Bathing Workshop teacher professional development day, centered around the many ways trees can connect to curriculum, as well as the opportunity to explore how time in nature is connected to student, and teacher, wellness.

    Morning Workshop: VanDusen education staff will introduce the basics of tree identification, featuring iconic native species found here in southern, coastal BC, alongside other trees in our collection from around the globe. Many of these trees can be found in your schoolyard or neighbourhood, in local parks and often, along our city streets.

    The morning session will provide participants a chance to gain and practice tree identification skills, have fun with STEM activities and games, and explore ideas for incorporating personal and cultural storytelling about trees with your students in outdoor, place-based learning. Activities will center around the intricate role trees play in local ecosystems and human cultures.

    Afternoon Workshop: After lunch, we will head into the Garden to enjoy a guided Forest Bathing session, also known as the Japanese practice of shirin-yoku, to explore how time in nature can promote connection and wellness in yourself, and your students (SEL). This session will include dialogue about how to bring this practice into your outdoor time with your class, tips and adaptations for setting yourself and your students up for success, as well as creative problem-solving around potential considerations and limitations for this activity.

    Learn more & Register!

  • +The Garden Classroom Series 2023-2024 with Megan Zeni

    Free Registration for practicing K-7 Teachers!
    September 2023 – June 2024
    Wednesdays from 7:00pm – 8:30pm
    September 6, October 11, November 8, December 6, January 10, February 7, March 6, April 10, May 8, June 5

    This online 10-part series with Megan Zeni will support K-7 elementary teachers eager to explore opportunities for teaching across the curriculum in their Westcoast school garden.

    Each month we will review timely tasks that help keep gardens growing, as well as specific curricular connections, and practical management tips for teaching outdoors. Seasonal resources will be shared, and participants are encouraged to share their own success stories and challenges to broaden our collective expertise.

    Register now!

  • +Private Teacher Professional Development Workshops

    The VBGA is pleased to offer Private Teacher Professional Development Workshops at VanDusen Botanical Garden for your full staff team this upcoming school year!

    Design your perfect day of customized learning and skill-building for your team by selecting from a menu of workshop themes best suited to your team. Our workshops are facilitated by our dynamic VBGA education staff, using the 55-acre garden as our classroom for the day. Programs will run out of the Guides Classroom in the Visitor Centre.

    Choose from half day (3hrs) or full day (5hrs) programs.

    Themes include:

    • Iconic BC Trees
    • Natural Heritage Walk
    • Flowers & Pollinators
    • A Seasonal Sense of Nature
    • Coastal BC Native Plants
    • Nature Play in the Garden
    • Birds & Plants

    *Please confirm availability of  seasonal programs.

    We look forward to welcoming your staff team to the Garden!

    With a limited number of dates available each year, booking well in advance is highly recommended.

    How to Book: For inquiries, please send an email with your preferred workshop date, name, school and district, estimated number of staff, to Jessica Henry, Assistant Director of Education: jhenry@vandusen.org.

    2024 Program Fees:  

    Half Day Workshop (3 hrs)  $840.00 + gst  Program fee includes up to 20 people. Additional participants will be charged at $42 / person.  
    Full Day Workshop (5 hrs)  $1,400.00 + gst  Program fee includes up to 20 people. Additional participants will be charged at $70 / person. 

    *A non-refundable deposit of $250.00 for half-day/ $450.00 for full-day programs is required to reserve your program date at the time of booking. The booking deposit will be applied towards the remaining fee for the program. The remainder of the program fee; (+gst) and charges for all additional participants (over the 20 participants included in the base fee) will be invoiced on the day of the program, to be paid in full within 2 weeks of the program date.

    Cancellation Policy:
    Due to high demand for these programs on professional development days, we are unable to offer refunds of the booking deposit fee. If you need to cancel your program, please notify us of your cancellation in writing to jhenry@vandusen.org.

  • +Free courses for K-12 teachers

    If you are a K – Grade 12 teacher, you may be eligible for free online Botany, Ecology or Gardening classes to aid in your classroom teaching or development of a school garden. Check out our online course offerings under Adult Education – Botany & Ecology or Gardening & Design, then please complete this Request Form, and send to apineda@vandusen.org to register.