Outdoor learning Starting Points
For teachers and students unfamiliar with taking their student outdoors to learn, it can be a bit disconcerting the first time. Most of us had various concerns about safety, curriculum, time, behaviour, etc. As soon as outdoor educators start throwing around words like adventure education and week-long excursions, that’s it, many teachers walk away. The reality is that outdoor learning, along with the advantages and benefits, is as simple as going outside for 15 minutes before the typical recess break and gathering in a circle to have a discussion or read aloud under a tree somewhere in the school yard. What follows on this page are some straight forward starting points that any teacher can use to incorporate the natural outdoor environment into your teaching pedagogy.
|
Do not be frustrated with failure and do not be satisfied with success
This is something to keep in mind throughout your journey into the great outdoors with your students. As with all educational pedagogy, when you head outdoors, you are going to experience successes and failures. With a bit of planning, hopefully more of the former. If the first time something doesn’t work perfectly, you walk away from outdoor learning, you are doing yourself, your students and outdoor learning a disservice. Real-life is about making mistakes and learning from them. The outdoor environment brings that home in a way that can be leveraged for the benefit of your students (See OL Impacts page). That being said, as you experience success, which you will, don’t rest on your laurels. Outdoor learning pedagogy is a progression. Start small so you and your students can experience safe and productive success, and then, do more. One of the things that comes out of the literature and research on outdoor learning is that the affordances and positive impacts are more likely and increase in effect the more consistent, constant, complex, and longer the outdoor learning experiences are. This means that if you really want to reap the rewards of outdoor learning, you have to go outside as much as possible.
One of the big concerns I get from teachers is that some of the typical outdoor learning activities are all fine for older students, but surely not with younger students. My answer is essentially that I beg to differ. While older students, especially high school students, are bigger, stronger and have more endurance and have, hopefully, a more experienced and developed cognitive ability, anyone who has seen a bunch of five year old children playing in a big puddle after a rain storm for hours, regardless of how soaking wet and messy they get will realize the potential for some serious outdoor learning that students of all ages innately have. |
Start Small
Start by simply going outside with your students and practicing your routines that you are going to use throughout your outdoor learning journeys. Don’t worry if you don’t have them perfectly figured out yet. They can change. I describe the journey to my students as a video game. In the beginning, we are in the tutorial level. As a group, staff and students, we need to figure things out. As we develop and demonstrate that we are competent at and responsible for the various structures and skills, we will advance to level one and so on. At any time, we can move back a level due to a decrease in our level of competence and responsibility.
Before and After Recess
Go outside 15 minutes before the typical recess break starts and give your students an extra 15 minutes of physical activity outdoors. It could be free play time. It could be a structured game led by you. During this time, you can start to practice some of your OL structures like boundaries, walking as a group, and gathering everyone in.
You could also meet your students outside at the end of a recess break and stay outside for an additional 15 or so minutes. Now that your students have had a nice body break and hopefully burned off some energy, they will be ready for that activity that involves them being less active and more focused.
You could also meet your students outside at the end of a recess break and stay outside for an additional 15 or so minutes. Now that your students have had a nice body break and hopefully burned off some energy, they will be ready for that activity that involves them being less active and more focused.
Practice Playing
This sounds like a no-brainer but it starts to develop those structures that you will want to use down the road. Let your students have 5 to 10 minutes of free play time within the boundaries you identify and then do your gathering in signal, whatever it is, and see how long it takes for them to meet at the gather or muster point. If you turn it into a game and test of their awareness, you can start to get sneakier and sneakier with your signal and point out during the debriefing time how important awareness is. A fun activity for this one is the Group Stop Activity that is available here.
|
Walk around your community
As your group gets better at the walking structure, take it to the next level. Have a discussion after the walk or at different points in the walk with your students about what did you see and notice about the community. You can use this activity as a walking structure practice and dealing with the different elements in a typical walk like cross walks, students bringing up the rear, etc. With younger students it could be simply a discussion about what things do they notice, particularly with regards to seasonal changes. You could also have your students, young and older, draw out a representative map of their journey and identify things that stood out for them and post them on the wall representing your community. Taking it further, you could have your students create community scavenger hunts that could be electronically exchanged with other classrooms in your local schools. You, and your students, will be surprised at the number of unique things that are in and around your neighborhood.
Silent Reading Time
Allow your students to spread out within the boundaries and silently read the book that they brought with them. Allowing them to assume whatever comfortable position they want and choose their own location, including in the shade of a tree. My only stipulation is that they are not talking with a peer unless a group is doing some type of read aloud. One place that we read had this perfect tree that allowed a number of my students to find branches that they could sit and lie on while reading.
|
Read-Aloud Time
If you are reading a book aloud to your students, then take it outside. Your students will be able to relax as they sit in a group and listen to you reading. I allow them to sit in any style including lying down and staring up at the clouds in the sky or looking at the branches and leaves of the tree we are under. If you think you are loud enough, you can have your students sit far enough part (social distancing of 2m) that they can take off their masks and relax. You could also have them sit in a circle formation. If you don’t feel confident in your voice or don’t want to stress your vocal chords, you can have the students sit closer together and stay masked up. You could unmask while reading aloud if you maintain the 2m or more distance from the nearest student.
Explanation of the next classes activity or lessonIf you are heading back inside after recess to do a learning activity that needs to be done in the classroom, do as much explanation, discussion, and questions outside before you head indoors. Again, if you are confident in your voice, you can have your class be socially distanced and unmasked. Once you and your class have everything figured out, head inside and do the activity.
|
Group learning or Discussion Time
If you are going to some small group learning activities, especially if they are discussion based, head outside. You can take have your different materials pre-printed and organized in some small tubs. You can have small groups and learning teams cluster in locations separate from each other and have as loud and boisterous a discussion as they want without disturbing other groups or classes. You can do large group walking debates where if they have one opinion, they stand in one location and if they feel differently, they stand in another and they can move from location to location as the discussion goes on and their opinion changes.
Solo Time
Solo time is a time for students to find themselves a favourite outdoor spot and relax without technology or talking with each other. It is a time to start working on mindfulness and reducing stress. We don’t encourage students to fall asleep while they are doing solo time but we aren’t terribly surprised if some do. It is a time for students to just sit, stand, or lie down surrounded by nature and listen, look, smell, touch, but not taste. Students can sit in the sun, in the shade of a tree, and even lean against a tree. Like everything else, start small. For some students, 5 minutes will be hard enough in the beginning.
The more consistent and regular you provide solo time, the longer you can do it for and the more your students will enjoy it. I try to do it at least once a week with every class that I teach and even more when the weather cooperates. I do it with all ages (from kindergarten to undergrads) and the message that I consistently get from everybody is that most of them love it and wish we would do more of it.
The directions that I give to students are as follows:
The more consistent and regular you provide solo time, the longer you can do it for and the more your students will enjoy it. I try to do it at least once a week with every class that I teach and even more when the weather cooperates. I do it with all ages (from kindergarten to undergrads) and the message that I consistently get from everybody is that most of them love it and wish we would do more of it.
The directions that I give to students are as follows:
- You are going to go out and find your own spot to sit, lie down, or stand that is not near any other person (at least 10 feet apart).
- You are to spend the solo time not making any sounds or communicating with anyone else in anyway.
- You are to relax and listen and look around you and up into the sky.
- No electronics.
- It's ok to play with the grass or sticks or look at things on the ground or on the tree beside you.
- Be prepared to share with the group what you saw, heard, smelled, or otherwise observed.
Dealing with Resistance
Question: What can you, as a classroom teacher, do if you face resistance from administration,
parents, or students in doing place-based and outdoor learning?
Teacher 1: I have worried about this too, but always find that it has been more of a worry than a
barrier. That said, sometimes admin has had concerns that were easy to work around, these
mainly dealing with safety and cost. So, starting small and operating at zero cost has worked for
me and seems to be building trust between students, parents, staff, and admin.
Teacher 2: Start with placed based on the school yard. Take lots of pictures and have rigorous
assessment documents to justify learning. Write out how risks are managed with as many safety
systems as you have in place and share with admin / perhaps with parents. Invite parents to be
volunteers even in back yard so they can see how great it is and then advocate with you for
admin to support. (I found that I never ran into problems with parents, it was only admin that could have a
problem.)
Teacher 3: IT would depend on the severity of the resistance, and which group. In general
admin, talk with them about it, try to find the root of their issues, then look at what can be done
to help relieve these issues. Sometimes is miss understanding or not able to see the value of it in
education. Research what you do, always have Curricular links ready when you start to ask for
permission, this can help right from the get-go. The more info you have to back it, the easier it is
to convince them.
Parents, Let them know what they class is doing, how it links to the subject students are learning
and the benefits it will have. Both curricular and non. The more benefits they see and can see
how it likes to their child's schooling the more open they will be. If possible, having a parent
night at the start of the year for special programs so parents can ask questions and see students
from past years, pictures, and evidence of what has been done.
Students - ask why they are here, what they are looking for in class. Why did they join the
class? If its mandatory, try to find the root of the problem anxiety, don't have winter jacket... that
can create a situation you can then solve. Also say how this is part of class and show where and
what they will be learning.
Teacher 4: Communication is key! I find that parents and admin are most resistant when they
are caught off guard and don’t understand the vision. Be up front with planned excursions and
what the purpose of them is. Additionally, address any safety concerns so that they don’t have to
worry. For example- I took my kindergartners to the zoo in January, it often ended up being one
of the coldest days of the year. But I always made clear to parents and admin that we would limit
outside time, that I would bring spare warm clothes and that I had parents volunteers to help keep
an eye on everyone. I never had any issues.
Teacher 5: Share your plan/reasoning, including routes, home base, bathrooms, safety protocol,
times of arrival and return, outcomes if need be with admin and parents
Invite parents and admin to join
Share photos from previous trips or experiences-lots of the time, parents and admin don’t know
what it will actually “look “ like, give them piece of mind
parents, or students in doing place-based and outdoor learning?
Teacher 1: I have worried about this too, but always find that it has been more of a worry than a
barrier. That said, sometimes admin has had concerns that were easy to work around, these
mainly dealing with safety and cost. So, starting small and operating at zero cost has worked for
me and seems to be building trust between students, parents, staff, and admin.
Teacher 2: Start with placed based on the school yard. Take lots of pictures and have rigorous
assessment documents to justify learning. Write out how risks are managed with as many safety
systems as you have in place and share with admin / perhaps with parents. Invite parents to be
volunteers even in back yard so they can see how great it is and then advocate with you for
admin to support. (I found that I never ran into problems with parents, it was only admin that could have a
problem.)
Teacher 3: IT would depend on the severity of the resistance, and which group. In general
admin, talk with them about it, try to find the root of their issues, then look at what can be done
to help relieve these issues. Sometimes is miss understanding or not able to see the value of it in
education. Research what you do, always have Curricular links ready when you start to ask for
permission, this can help right from the get-go. The more info you have to back it, the easier it is
to convince them.
Parents, Let them know what they class is doing, how it links to the subject students are learning
and the benefits it will have. Both curricular and non. The more benefits they see and can see
how it likes to their child's schooling the more open they will be. If possible, having a parent
night at the start of the year for special programs so parents can ask questions and see students
from past years, pictures, and evidence of what has been done.
Students - ask why they are here, what they are looking for in class. Why did they join the
class? If its mandatory, try to find the root of the problem anxiety, don't have winter jacket... that
can create a situation you can then solve. Also say how this is part of class and show where and
what they will be learning.
Teacher 4: Communication is key! I find that parents and admin are most resistant when they
are caught off guard and don’t understand the vision. Be up front with planned excursions and
what the purpose of them is. Additionally, address any safety concerns so that they don’t have to
worry. For example- I took my kindergartners to the zoo in January, it often ended up being one
of the coldest days of the year. But I always made clear to parents and admin that we would limit
outside time, that I would bring spare warm clothes and that I had parents volunteers to help keep
an eye on everyone. I never had any issues.
Teacher 5: Share your plan/reasoning, including routes, home base, bathrooms, safety protocol,
times of arrival and return, outcomes if need be with admin and parents
Invite parents and admin to join
Share photos from previous trips or experiences-lots of the time, parents and admin don’t know
what it will actually “look “ like, give them piece of mind