Children Learning Outside The Classroom

This book demonstrates how the outdoor environment is enriching learning opportunities for children and deepening their connections with the natural world.

"The first curricular-focused outdoor learning textbook for prospective and practising K-12 teachers, this book provides both academic justification and practical support for educators working in a wide variety of environments and with diverse populations of students to incorporate more meaningful outdoor learning opportunities into their daily teaching activities. Learning Outside the Classroom is not a set of prescriptive activities that can be read and used uncritically. The idea of adaptation for personal relevance is central. All teachers are capable of enhancing their students' learning experiences by systematically and progressively incorporating ventures outside the classroom into their lessons. The principles and examples presented in this book are intended to be adapted by teachers to suit the needs of their students in ways that draw upon content offered by the local landscape and its natural and built heritage. Nor is this book just about outdoor learning; it's about good teaching -- wherever it takes place. It is about helping teachers devise and use the tools with which they can address the largely uncontested assumption that legitimate learning only occurs within four walls. Learning outside the classroom affords teachers the privilege of helping and the joy of observing students in a process of intellectual, emotional, and social growth that can last a lifetime"-- Provided by publisher.

This book explores why learning beyond the classroom is important for children, and offers practical examples of how to improve outdoor learning experiences for all children. In the face of the increasing restriction of children’s outdoor experiences, it will help the reader rise to the challenge of finding creative opportunities for working across the curriculum through outdoor activities. Each chapter has case studies, thoughts on theory, points for practice and summaries to help readers digest the most important information.

This book shows how a wide range of contexts for learning science can be used outside of the classroom, and includes learning: at museums, science centres and planetaria from newspapers, magazines and through ICT at industrial sites and through science trails at zoos, farms, botanic gardens, residential centres and freshwater habitats in school grounds. With contributions from well known and respected practitioners in all fields of science education and through using case studies, Learning Science Outside the Classroom offers practical guidance for teachers, assistant teaching staff and student teachers involved in primary and secondary education. It will help enable them to widen the scientific experience and understanding of pupils. The advice in this book has been checked for safety by CLEAPSS.

Learning outside the classroom has been high on the political agenda for several years now, but recent Ofsted reports indicate that this can be confined to termly or yearly trips, as an 'extra'. This book provides a convincing and readable promotion of regular outdoor learning. It draws on relevant research to reinforce that working in 'real' environments benefits children's all-round development – cognitively, emotionally, physically and spiritually. This is illustrated through a wide range of engaging activities, from how to make a scarecrow, to interpreting a painting in a gallery, from getting the best from a library visit, to how best to attack a medieval castle. This practical guide for busy teachers will help them to link what they do in and out of the class. It's a must for every staffroom bookshelf.

One educator's story detailing a cross-Canada run to inspire students and teachers to get outside and experience the benefits and beauty of nature. You'd think starting a non-profit organization aimed at getting young people to spend less time in front of screens and more time outside would be difficult enough. But with a decrepit support vehicle housing two dogs that despised each other, a good friend who left after five months, a lot of peanut butter, and a hope to inspire thousands of students, Colin Harris decided to start this journey by running 7600 kilometres, the equivalent of 181 marathons, across Canada. And to ensure this was a truly Canadian venture, he started in the bleak and snowy month of January. Take Me Outside is Colin's story of spending nine months running from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Victoria, British Columbia, visiting over 80 schools along the way to engage with 20,000 students about the importance of spending time outside learning, playing, and exploring in the Canadian landscape. With one of the biggest and best backyards in the world, people across Canada are spending the vast majority of their time inside. Yet, our identity as Canadians has always been rooted in our relationship with the outdoors. This wildly entertaining book not only recounts what it's like to run across the world's second-largest country but also implores readers of all ages to reignite their connection with the natural world.

Presents a collection of essays combining anecdotal and theoretical insights into environmental ethics and human ecology to help foster environmentally responsible students.

Bank Street College of Education professor Salvatore Vascellaro is a leading advocate of taking children and teachers into a wider world as the key to improving our struggling schools. Combining practical and theoretical guidance, Out of the Classroom and into the World visits a rich variety of classrooms transformed by innovative field trip curricula—showing how students’ hearts and minds are opened as they discover how a suspension bridge works, what connects them to the people and places of their neighborhood, and as they come to understand the ecosystem of a river by following it to its source. Vascellaro shows, equally, that what teachers can offer children is fueled by their own engagement with the world, and he offers stunning examples of teachers awakened by their direct experiences with the social issues plaguing American society—from the flood-torn areas of New Orleans to the mining areas of West Virginia. Based on the core principles of progressive pedagogy, and the wisdom gained from Vascellaro’s experience as a teacher, school administrator, and teacher educator, Out of the Classroom and into the World is a direct retort to test scores and standards as adequate measures of teaching and learning—an inspiring call and major new resource for anyone interested in reinvigorating America’s classrooms.