“Outdoor learning can benefit pupils of all ages and can be successful in a variety of settings, it enriches the curriculum and can improve educational attainment.”
(Educational and Skills Select Committee, 2005)
This quote does seem to aptly sum up the considerable benefits of Outdoor Education to an innumerable amount of pupils and its applications in raising standards in a numerous amount of areas, including Interpersonal skills and cognitive ability of pupils. Used in the correct manner, it could be a widely applicable and successful pedagogical medium. Again demonstrating the importance of the outdoors as a learning context, The Department for Education and Skills (DfES, 2006) recommends that young people should experience the world past the parameters of their classroom environment as an component of their learning to help them personally develop no matter what their age. A common thread that runs through this essay is the potential and mutli-potency of Outdoor Education in that can holistically benefit children in a multitude of ways. Given the dangers of the environment, however, care should be exercised when using such a context, particularly if there is a large party of pupils involved who may misbehave or not be aware of the dangers (Ofsted, 2013).
O’Hara (2001) suggests that an initial site visits allow the students to feel involved and gain a sense of ownership in their learning whilst simultaneously upholding an official, yet unconventional learning environment. This could allow pupils to behave better and reduce the risks of injury if they gain an appreciation and respect for the environment they will be working in. Griggs (2010) identifies the causation model of extrinsic motivation from figures inducing intrinsic motivation in pupils, so in this case teachers could project values of respect and appreciation for the outdoors onto pupils, who could subsequently internalise these and start to hold the outdoors in a high regard of their own volition. Constructivists such as Bandura (1977) provide the theoretical justification for this by stating that children model behaviours and values from authoritative adult figures. It could be inferred that Erikson’s (1968) model of stages of psychosocial development partially contradicts this for young people going through the ‘adolescence stage’ where they learn to think for themselves. Erikson’s (1978) interpretation of the fragile nature of youngsters at this stage seems to places further importance on taking a cautious, measured approach in delivering Outdoor Education. Regardless of the intricacies of implementing it, correlating with eminent literature, Cummings (2010) again articulates the innumerable benefits of Outdoor Education can help promote someone’s self-awareness, intrinsic motivation, positive mental attitude, understanding, physical stamina and fundamental motor skills.
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“A teacher who is creative and celebrates creativity from pupils is a teacher who is willing to risk a great deal.”
(Maisuria, 2005, p.145)
According to this quote, a teacher should not be afraid to exceed the boundaries and what is perceived as the norm. The outside pressures from their peers, the National Curriculum and society in general could result in the teacher feeling they have to teach in a certain manner. Teachers may lack the self-confidence or the necessary support from colleagues to try something new, and to act against the ‘correct’ way of teaching. Prescriptivism such as this could arguably inhibit the innate creativity of teachers and conflict their own professional identity (Marcia, 1966, p.560) by exhibiting a sense of foreclosure where they have committed to the teaching profession but are unsure of their precise role within it.
Young children are active learners from birth, taking in information from their surroundings. Children can learn from media, drama, art, music and visits to museums and places of historical interest can also be very beneficial. Taking children out of the classroom can facilitate and harness the advantages of a diaspora of skills such as: close observation, decision making and collaboration when engaging in group work (Hoodless, 2008). The safety of the children at all times is vital, whilst other support from adults is important to ensure there is a low child to teacher ratio. Risk assessments and preliminary visits by teaching staff should take place prior to the trip as this will concur with the key aspects of the planning and preparation which have to be completed.
If the children are motivated, this should allow them to perform well and the greatest lear
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