Outdoor Learning

What is outdoor learning?

There is a broad term for outdoor learning such as the school ground, outdoor learning for the foundation phase, personal and social development programmes and many more but the main point of outdoor learning is learning outside the classroom. This is one of the most beneficial ways of learning as it actively engages the children to learn kinaesthetically, use what they stumble upon and learn through exploration.

..some children are more likely to learn out of doors, particularly those with a more active kinaesthetic learning style..

(Edgington, 2003. p.8)

This quote above outlines one of the main benefits of learning outside the classroom, as outdoor learning suits the learning style of children who are actively doing something and they find it more effective to learn. 

'Outdoor Learning with Forest School', derived from www.youtube.com

This is a an example of outdoor learning, this outdoor learning is from Forest School

"It offers the space and a greater degree of freedom to try things out, to explore and experiment without constraints scope to ‘have a go’ at something, without worrying consequences"

(Tovey, 2007. p.13)

This is a good way to let children learn as it gives them the experience to learn freely without being told off. It gives them the opportunity to do things in a risky environment and use tools that may be sharp under supervision. In this way it can also help children to learn how to behave in different situations and toward different tools. They also learn about the dangers and risks of the situation and how to approach it.

"Outdoors is full of unpredictability and the sheer variability of the outdoors as an environment is what makes it unique. An indoor, in contrast, is relatively static, change is deliberate."

(Tovey, 2007. p.15)

Children love to explore different things, especially in the Foundation Phase. They don’t like to sit down and work for a long time, they like to go out and explore and do new things all the time. When you go outside, there are endless things you can do whereas in the classroom things will remain the same e.g. reading area, toy area and painting area.

Recently, in my current placement I have been taking part in environmental studies with one of the pupils from the hearing impaired unit, and we go outside on the field. The outside environment contrasts with the classroom environment is different as it is not as formal. The children were allowed to wander about the field and do whatever they want as long as they stick to the task. In this particular task, they had to find twigs from the same type of wood/tree, of different sizes to form a shape of a Christmas tree. This also used mathematical skills as pupils were eager to get a ruler and find out how long the twigs were.

The children also made a wreath out of willow tree branches, they had access to using the cutting tools knowing it was dangerous. Efficiently, they were taught the risks and hazards of the tools and surrounding. They weaved the branches circularly; once they were done they were able to apply decorations such as real holly leaves and Christmas baubles. Looking at thechildren’s behaviour, although they were in an informal learning environment, they were very careful and wise about the situation. They were also very engaged and got hands-on onto making the wreath, wanting to get through the difficulty of wrapping the branches around.

References

Edgington, M. 2003. The Great Outdoors: Developing children’s learning through outdoor provision. London: Early Education

Tovey, H. 2007. Playing Outdoors: Spaces and Places, Risk and Challenge. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Company