Not Convinced About Taking Students Outdoors Beyond KS2? These Ideas Might Change Your Mind
Curriculum-linked opportunities in secondary school are rife in all subjects
Obviously, as executive director at Learning Through Landscapes, I am not one of those people who regularly does things like read magazines and take part in ‘what kind of person are you?’ questionnaires.
This is because all of my free time is spent tracking yaks in the Andes, writing about the educational benefits of bunny poo (or ‘reindeer poo’ at Christmas), and designing curriculum resources using nothing but half a split stick and a recycled pomegranate skin.
In between these worthy acts however I have been known to indulge in the odd lifestyle quiz. My favourites are those multiple choice ones that promise to give you a deep insight into your personality, for example:
1. I respond to challenges calmly and with composure, I am solution focused.
2. I prefer to run away and hide.
3. I believe that the other person is always to blame.
4. I increase the dosage and add a glass of wine.
(Tough one; I tend to favour option 4.)
This exercise makes me wonder if we’re missing a trick when it comes to ‘selling’ the benefits of outside teaching and learning to the very people who are in a position to make it happen?
Try this – just mentally tick the statement(s) with which you agree:
1. I know that being indoors all day with 30 sneezing learners makes it more likely that I will become a sneezing teacher.
2. I benefit from having a stimulating and creative space in which to teach and a wide range of inspirational resources to draw on.
3. I believe that, generally speaking, it is good to move about a bit during the working day.
4. I think that my students need to learn about the world around them and see something in action to help them embed their learning.
How did you do? Because each of those claims is a great argument for taking your teaching and learning outside.
A mixed approach
For some reason there’s an urban myth circulating around some schools that suggests we think that all teaching and learning should take place outside, and that there is never room for a bad weather review, despite sub-zero temperatures and a gale blowing cheerfully straight through your bones rather than diverting politely around your coat.
This is not the case.
However, at secondary level especially there is much that can, and should, take place inside. What we are suggesting and promoting is that there is room to diversify your techniques and resources and better engage students in some aspects of learning by using the outdoors when appropriate; and that it would benefit you and your learners alike if you could try and make this regular throughout your long term planning.
Examples of curriculum linked opportunities could include:
ICT The role of Information Communication Technology in the outdoors is becoming increasingly important. There is huge potential to add real value to learning opportunities by using tablets and other hand-held devices to observe, record and monitor activity and fieldwork, as well as web based interfaces to bring identification and mapping information to life whilst in the natural environment.
SMSC With its focus on improving community cohesion, strengthening relationships, and promoting extra curricular activity, the SMSC curriculum lends itself well to including aspects of delivery in the outdoors. Collaborating in the school grounds is known to improve team working and communication skills as well as embed a sense of place and community. Teaching and learning outdoors can also lead to improvements in motivation and attainment.
Geography Opportunities for outdoors geography learning are almost endless. Create physical maps of your grounds or map how the spaces are used at break time. Look at first edition OS maps of your school or ask your local community for early photographs of the site. Compare these with Google’s satellite view. Are any of the original features still present? How and why have they changed?
Science Explore the equations of motion on a larger scale. Investigate forces, resistance and aerodynamics with rockets, kites, paper planes, parachutes, levers and catapults. Experiment with different designs and learn how and why this impacts their performance. How could you estimate the speed of sound outdoors?
Mathematics A school garden creates many real world maths opportunities. For example, if the plant spacing is X cm and we want to grow Y number of plants, how big do the beds need to be? If the germination percentage is G, how many seeds do we need to sow? How much will it cost us to buy the materials and what is the market value of the produce? What is our profit (or loss) and our annualised rate of return?
WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
If you don’t have your own school grounds – or what you do have is so busy multi-tasking as hockey/football/lacrosse/quidditch pitches that it just can’t make the time to be a learning resource – then you could think about looking for local walk-to spaces.
Have you considered: • Your local park • Community centre gardens • Churches and graveyards • Farms • Stately home gardens • Friendly residents’ gardens • Business parks/complexes
Things to think about when using these spaces: • Do you have landowner permission? • Have you conducted a risk benefit assessment? • Whose insurance does this fall under? • Are you following your schools’ off-site policy? • Is there some added benefit you can draw on – ie inviting the business/land owner to give a talk about how they use the space and why?
Juno Hollyhock has been executive director at Learning Through Landscapes (LTL) since 2012. Become a member of LTL to gain access to the latest news in the outdoor learning sector, hundreds of downloadable guidance notes, lesson ideas and inspirational images PLUS access to LTL’s expert advice through email. All of this support to help you make a difference to your outside space for just £12 per year (plus VAT).
