{"id":3025,"date":"2021-02-27T08:28:24","date_gmt":"2021-02-27T08:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tagtiv8.com\/?p=3025"},"modified":"2023-01-13T15:32:58","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T15:32:58","slug":"teach-outdoors-tagtiv8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tagtiv8.com\/teach-outdoors-tagtiv8\/","title":{"rendered":"Teach Outdoors – Coffee Conversations"},"content":{"rendered":"

We love conversations with likeminded individuals and organisations – either in the UK or across the globe – via webinars or break out groups on Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams or Google Hangouts. <\/span>Many of these online conversations are with people we never have the opportunity to meet face to face. When two trusted friends and colleagues signpost you to the same person in two days, you know you are in for a treat. So welcome Jo Clanfield – it\u2019s time to find out more about <\/span>Teach Outdoors<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Teach Outdoors – the Early Years<\/h3>\n

Having started my teaching career in Key Stage 2, I took the giant leap to move from Year 5\/6 to Reception class.\u00a0 It was a huge learning curve, but it was the first time that I questioned how we teach children and how children learn.\u00a0 The EYFS approach made a lot more sense and there was flexibility to meet the needs of the whole child.\u00a0 As a member of SLT, I began questioning why we inherently have this approach in early years. Yet as children progress through their education it vanishes. Do children somehow change?<\/span><\/p>\n

Around the same time, I started teaching small intervention\/support groups. This allowed me to identify gaps in skills\/knowledge for specific children.\u00a0 It soon became apparent that the children shared one thing in common.\u00a0 They hated the thought of learning before it had even begun. They hated being in the classroom. It was these children who were slumped in their chairs, looking totally deflated when the teacher introduced a writing task.<\/span><\/p>\n

Naturally, I began to think around the problem and noticed that a lot of the early years ‘reluctant’ indoor learners, nearly always accessed learning through the outdoor provision.\u00a0 With this in mind, I looked at the specific skills the children needed to learn and thought of ways to make it active and fun outdoors.\u00a0 When the older children were outside, I was amazed by the difference in their behaviour and their approach to learning. They started to participate more in lessons with a newfound confidence and progress was made.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, this is where my passion for outdoor learning began, and it led to me to explore different ways of incorporating curriculum linked outdoor learning into lessons.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Building Blocks<\/h3>\n

I recall taking a KS2 class for an outdoor learning session. The learning focus was persuasive letter writing.\u00a0 The children had been outside previously creating scenes for a story setting.\u00a0 The scenes happened to be small structures where \u2018magical folk\u2019 lived.\u00a0 Now, the day those children went to the same area and found the magic folk had had their houses destroyed by invading giants they were hooked.\u00a0 When they found a letter from the giants saying it was their land and they had to leave, the \u2018buzz\u2019 began to happen.\u00a0 They were relating to the narrative, feeling the emotions, the empathy and thinking about both sides of the argument. The questions began to pour out and the conversations started. <\/span><\/p>\n

Even the most reluctant learners got involved because they were given first-hand learning experiences that encouraged them to discuss, hear related vocabulary and feel the emotions themselves.\u00a0 When I returned them to the classroom the teacher saw the \u2018buzz\u2019 from the outdoor session, and she used their enthusiasm to scaffold the learning.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Journey so far<\/b><\/h3>\n

At first, I started running successful outdoor sessions, throughout my school. However, this led to the teacher\u2019s perception that outdoor learning was an additional extra that they couldn\u2019t provide and only I could.\u00a0 I remember the day so clearly when I discussed the potential of whole school outdoor learning with my headteacher.\u00a0 She turned around and said, \u2018It sounds lovely Jo, but how does it help the scores on the doors?\u2019\u00a0 So, the hours of research began. I built the evidence I needed to enable me to start implementing a whole school approach to outdoor learning – firstly in my own school and then supporting other schools.<\/span><\/p>\n

S<\/strong>upporting schools\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

A<\/span>fter working with different teachers\/schools, reviewing research and refining the training, it became clear that my support had to address the following points for outdoor learning to have a positive impact:<\/span><\/p>\n