Outdoor Learning and Forest Schools

Outdoor Learning is a broad term that covers many areas, but its core principles are to promote active learning and encourage new interests, build skills and provide a dramatic contrast to classroom learning.

The Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto from The Department for Education and Skills states “We believe that every young person should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability or circumstances.”

The one aspect of Outdoor Learning I intend to look into in more depth is Forest Schools.

Forest Schools, originally a Scandinavian idea, gives learners the chance to experience and explore the outdoors as an alternative to a classroom environment. The website www.forestschools.com writes that every Forest School site is different, they are designed to fit the environment being worked in and to suit the needs of each individual group using said environment.

The groups are overseen by qualified Forest School Leaders who facilitate child-led activities with the intentions of promoting self-esteem, confidence, independence and language and communication skills.

˜Forest School is an inspirational process that offers children, young people and adult’s regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands on learning experiences in a local woodland environment ˜ - Forest Education Initiative (FEI)

A Research Summary provided by the Forest Education Initiative shows the impact that the Outdoor Learning experience in Forest Schools has had a positive impact on children who have experienced it.

The findings from the 2005 summary confirmed that the main aims of Forest Schools were achieved and children’s confidence, social skills and enthusiasm to learn were increased. (Forest School:A Marvellous Opportunity to Learn, FEI)

Children’s passion for learning is initiated and/or improved by their fascination of their surroundings in the woodland. Concentration seems to be heightened and also their motivation to work and communicate with their peers during group exercises.

Forest Schools are definitely the way forward for education. The activities on offer are suitable for many different age groups. But for children in particular, there are essential skills to be learnt which cannot be taught in a classroom setting. The dynamics in a classroom are in extreme contrast to those in the outside world, providing the children with a more spacious environment and different learning opportunities and curiosities which would simply not be found indoors.

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A Peek Inside a Montessori Classroom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0HlI7dmOzU

The Montessori Approach

The Montessori Approach was pioneered by Italian pedagogue, Maria Montessori. Born in 1870 in Chiatavale, Italy, Montessori began her work by studying mathematics, natural sciences and physics at the University of Rome after initially being denied a place studying medicine due to the fact she was female. She was eventually allowed to study medicine and in 1896 presented a thesis to the all-male Board of Review who, astounded by her sheer brilliance, awarded her a full medical degree.

Supported by her mother but contested by her father, Montessori endured ridicule, due to her gender, for much of her time at the University. Her studies led her to become one of the first two female doctors in Italy and for the first ten years of her career she worked with mostly women and children. Her interest in children with mental disabilities led her to return to university where she studied Education and Anthropology.

The development of her methods began when she was invited to set up a nursery in one of the worst slum districts in Rome in 1906. She was given very few resources to help her create her new learning environment therefore having to adapt using what little was given.

Montessori believed that the first few years of a child’s life were of prime importance and “unequalled in intensity” (Isaac, B. (2012)). She considered self motivated learning to be the foundation of her method and accomplished this by encouraging a love and desire to learn.

The method itself seems to be based on two main principles, a suitable environment for learning and the need for freedom to learn, but within certain limits. A typical Montessori classroom tends to be spacious and orderly, believing that too much in a classroom environment tends to distract a child. There is emphasis on order and responsibility. Unlike standard classrooms, there are no rows of seats, there are desks and chairs (Montessori being the pioneer of child-sized furniture) but these are generally placed in such a way so they don’t appear to be the main focus of the room.

There appears to be a lack of structure or time-frame. Children are able to choose their own activities, giving them the responsibility to clear up after themselves and solve their own problems. Guidance is given by the Montessori Instructors if problems are encountered but the key is to show a child how they must solve their own problems. Vertical grouping is also an aspect of the theory. This is where children are not grouped together by their age, creating an environment free of any major hierarchy and placing more responsibility and opportunities to learn with the children allowing them to help each other. All the while observed by the Instructor.

Montessori’s popularity faded by the time of her death in 1952 but in an ever changing world, methods such as Montessori’s are needed to prepare our children for their futures. Her theories are practised world-wide, particularly in America, even to this day. Unfortunately, the name of Montessori is not patented, therefore a lot of schools claiming to exercise the Montessori Approach are inadequately equipped to do so. Some believe that the use of ‘old fashioned’ puzzles or a neat and tidy classroom is all the method consists of. (Soylent Communications, 2012)

The aim of Montessori Approach is to observe a child and treat them as individuals. It is meant to supply them with skills to aid them in solving their own problems, setting them up for later life.

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