January 10, 2012

Outdoor Learning

Having looked at the statistics for obesity in our November 16, 2011 blog and the general decline of health for school children one must wonder if outdoor learning should be taken more seriously. According to the Outdoor Learning Org. outdoor learning is really a very broad term which includes outdoor play in the early years, school projects, environmental education, recreational and adventure activities, personal and social development programs, expeditions, team building, leadership training, management development, education for sustainability, and even adventure therapy.

I would have to agree with Outdoor Learning Org. in that outdoor learning does not really have a clearly defined boundary however, it does have one common core in that all forms of outdoor learning value direct experience. This experience is in stark contrast to the indoor classroom.

I think we can all agree on the fact that outdoor learning is more motivating and provides a stimulating impact in most cases. It has been debated whether or not outdoor learning has more credibility as far as learning is concerned, so I think I will leave this issue up to you as a reader to decide. Credibility through skilled teaching or being able to facilitate an outdoor experience has certainly proven in the past that outdoor experiences are a better stimulating source of fascination and personal growth for the participants.

Some may argue that outdoor learning is a breakthrough in learning but I beg to differ. We haven’t always had formal, compulsory classroom based schooling. Over the centuries most great explorations have been achieved outside the classroom so to state that outdoor learning is a new breakthrough in learning would be incorrect. I believe that outdoor learning is the process of active learning in the outdoors. I will however explain further about active learning in my next blog.

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