FEATURE: OUTDOOR LEARNING
Why outdoor learning can help children engage in the curriculum
Taking children outside into a different learning environment away from the classroom can feel hugely challenging. There is the inclement British weather to contend with and managing risk while keeping the class on track.
However, with just a bit of planning, outdoor learning is not as complex as you may think. The rewards most certainly outweigh the challenges. Evidence shows that learning outdoors increases children’s social skills and cooperation, enhances their imaginations, improves their concentration and behaviour, and accelerates their engagement. In addition to this, the physical and mental health benefits of being outside for a class are well documented. We live in a digital age and more children are growing up with Nature Deficit Disorder – whereby children who don’t spend enough time outside develop behavioural problems. Learning in an outdoor environment has been shown to increase positive self- esteem, boosting confidence, mood, and mental health. The class works together - becoming a community.
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n our third feature this month we take a look at outdoor learning in the company of ZANA WOOD, Creative Director & Outdoor Practitioner of Grow to School, who outlines some of the many benefits of getting children out of the classroom.
Learning the curriculum in an outdoor setting
Grow to School is a social enterprise based in Huddersfield, set up by environmental scientist Ama Chaney and myself Zana Wood, an experienced outdoor learning practitioner. We work with education providers to support them to teach primary and secondary school
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www.education-today.co.uk children outside.
There is a misconception that learning outside is limited to learning about science and nature. Or that learning outside is ‘forest school’. This is not the case and increasingly schools are embracing lessons outdoors to teach across the curriculum. My working life started as an external practitioner teaching art in schools, so I have always had an interest in the curriculum. This grew, when we set up Grow to School in 2010 and in 2016, I spent 2 years researching the curriculum in an outdoor context as outdoor learning support at a primary school in Huddersfield.
This allowed Grow to School greater insight into developing resources for teachers, specifically to engage young children in the curriculum through outdoor learning. Teach it Outside is a bank of lesson plans that covers subjects including English, Maths, Geography, History, Art, Science, Design and Technology and PE. The lessons are designed to use any outdoor space, so you don’t have to have a huge, green, planted area. The lessons are there so that teachers can focus on delivery and don’t have to worry too much about planning. Grow to School has worked with nearly 31,344 children since 2010 and 89 per cent of the children asked, said that they enjoyed getting their hands dirty and being outdoors. While 90 per cent of teachers asked, said that they saw their class take on new challenges.
May 2024
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