Learning Outdoors
As an educator, no matter how engaging your lesson often is, a classroom might feel a little oppressive and boredom-inducing after a while.
To further develop yourself as a teacher and support the children as learners, it is essential to freshen up the learning with new and exciting ideas.
Of course, that forward-thinking approach might resemble a new interactive wall display, a themed display table or some furniture movement, but this is often not always the best or most straightforward solution.
It maximises potential and develops a positive mindset of inclusive and inspirational educational opportunities in the classroom. Although it is still essential to think out of the box, by focusing on bringing the learning outside of the school can quickly introduce spaces that inspire creativity, reduce boredom, and make the learning space a much more pleasant and exciting place to learn.
Create an inspiring and functional outdoor space
Whatever subject you're teaching, an area outside where your students can maximise their focus, develop creativity and brainstorm new ideas and concepts is always a high-quality option.
Such a space need not be an ample oversized space, and it also doesn't need a tremendous amount of money spent on it or time in the initial stages of development. It simply needs to serve its purpose and provide children with unique opportunities to develop new and exciting learning experiences.
A chance to collaborate and share in a safe space that can be purposefully free-flowing and then stimulated by the elements of their surroundings. Areas of greenery will allow children to spread out, move and not sit. Fresh air invigorates the senses and provides energy and ideas to flow to and from the brain. Coupled with the fact that you have more space to promote cooperation and collaboration through games, such an environment will encourage interest and curiosity not only as nature intends but also in a child-friendly way.
Thinking and planning positively, it is relatively apparent that any outside space can be enhanced and then developed to meet the needs of the learners.
Youngsters interacting with nature
From a personal perspective, as a child, I was lucky enough to spend most of my time outdoors, whether that was a combination of playing with friends, sporting pursuits or with the fantastic encouragement of my parents to spend as much time as possible outdoors. I continually had unique experiences and interactions with my surroundings, which led to considerable positivity in my life.
Unfortunately, as the world has evolved and priorities have been set in new areas, many young children don't spend as much time outdoors. As a result, they perhaps don't necessarily have as much relationship with the natural world as previous generations.
Of course, there could be several reasons, whether down to the increase in global technology, through the advent of the computer, iPad or smartphone. Or, if not, it's hard to argue against allowing for more time for the younger generations to link back with nature, especially within the school curriculum.
Finding opportunities to integrate outdoor experiences into the school curriculum is integral to a child's overall development. It can significantly impact their general learning, primarily as it provides more opportunities for risk-taking, collaborative learning activities, and further developing curious thoughts through increased imagination.
From my own experiences, taking an idea from the classroom and then developing it within an outdoor setting has led to some fantastic results for more able pupils and pupils who often find the constraints of the school more problematic and challenging for their specific needs.
One example of increasing outdoor learning could be creating a small school garden. It need not be significant in size or awash with new equipment, but simply a tiny space where children can plant various plants, watch them grow and learn about the fundamentals of working together and having fun. It is essentially an easy exercise to do. Providing this space and opportunities can be further enhanced and supported through written content back in the classroom, where significant learning can occur through writing, speaking and listening, and more creative pursuits like art, it is easy to intertwine both practical knowledge and theory.
And from this, it is apparent that children revive a zest for learning, as the curious mind has encouraged development with the use of their natural senses, the chance to think on their feet and, of course, license to make mistakes.
A small garden will naturally attract plenty of insects and various types of greenery; this, in turn, can open up possibilities for little minds to wonder more about the natural world and develop a curiosity about the world around them. It can also attach a meaningful context to the world around them.
Creating these little habitats can become an integral part of the school curriculum and give children a further insight into the world around them, not simply observing these beautiful moments from a book or video screen.
Create a natural amphitheatre
Giving children the opportunity to perform and act freely is always very beneficial. In recent years we created an outdoor amphitheatre that allowed various learning activities. From enabling children the chance to use the space to read outdoors, work in a natural area or use it to carry out a performance that perhaps a classroom is not necessarily equipped for.
Digging and landscaping a green amphitheatre for the performance of plays, speaking and listening activities, and presentations will add a fun element to the day and of course, the children's development and overall learning. Drama can be so compelling, yet it is often overlooked. Performing in the open air is an attractive prospect. The children enjoy doing and viewing, especially if you have a comfortable area to sit and the weather is good.
Needless to say, these unique spaces come into their own, especially when the weather is good, and during the Spring and Summer months, heat becomes more prevalent. Sitting inside the classroom isn't much fun when it is cramped, hot and stuffy, so it is essential to find another location to focus your learning and participate in fun activities and have a unique purpose for those involved.
Using the outdoor space to adapt to different learning styles
Learning outdoors in fresh air is beneficial for all children's overall well-being and mindset. Spending time outdoors could encourage them to develop a relationship with the natural environment and positivity within their surroundings.
Learning in the outdoors effectively supports many different learning skills, and it enables children to adapt and change, with skills not necessarily used within the confines of the classroom. The outdoors offers the perfect learning environment to focus on your senses and adapt your fine motor development by providing new learners with the experience of new sounds, diverse colours, textures and smells.
Research shows that it is estimated that up to 1 in 7 people in the UK are neurodivergent, meaning that they learn and process information differently from those considered neurotypical. Neurodivergent refers to an individual with more minor typical cognitive variables such as Autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and dyspraxia. Neurotypical relates to individuals of specific development and intellectual/cognitive functioning and as a class setting is made up of a wide range of different learners, it is important to consider all options.
Learning outdoors can provide the perfect way to create an inclusive learning environment that adapts and changes children's different learning styles and specific needs. This can easily take the form of developing a range of curious thinking methods to teach and support the development of resilience, risk-taking and collaboration with others through teamwork lessons and activities.
Focusing your learning style on the outdoors could lead to more success for those children who may not thrive in a traditional classroom environment. Drawing upon my own experiences, using the outdoors as a stimulus for writing has been a perfect way to get children active and excited about a particular topic.
Getting the children to adapt then and further develop their ideas through role-play activities and inquisitive thought processes soon became apparent, and the learning potential began to flourish. As a result, seeing children actively engaged within their surroundings was humbling to see, and it provides the ideal platform to support and develop new and exciting ideas.