Beyond the Classroom: Outdoor Learning at ISA “Everything that can be learned inside a classroom, can also be learned outside.” Many of us experienced a reconnection with nature during the pandemic. From taking more walks outside to discovering the beauty of nature in the Netherlands when we were unable to travel abroad, many of us turned to the great outdoors as a safe and healthy way to cope with the rapid changes in our daily lives. Not only did we feel the physical health benefits, but we all also discovered that spending more time in nature impacted our stress levels in a positive way and allowed us to process our emotions. In the field of educational psychology, these numerous benefits are all already well-known and researched. Educators and counsellors know that connecting with nature is essential for a child’s physical, mental and emotional development and wellbeing. As such, ISA students have been experiencing the benefits of spending time outdoors long before the pandemic, as outdoor learning has always been woven into the fabric of learning at ISA.
Benefits of Outdoor Learning
An outdoor learning environment is a child-centred approach to learning that provides students with opportunities to practice the attributes intrinsic to the PYP values and the IB Learner Profile in a unique way. Outdoor learning often has no structured activities but instead uses provocations that give each child agency over their own learning process, allowing their confidence and self-belief to grow and flourish. Spending time outdoors enhances a child’s engagement with learning. Rather than being restricted by the four walls of the traditional classroom environment,
students are given the space they need to ‘learn with their whole bodies.’ Many materials which are found in nature, such as sticks, leaves and stones are ‘loose parts’ with no specific learning objective ascribed to them, unlike traditional classroom materials. These loose parts allow students to be creative and use their
imagination, bridging their inner world and giving them ownership over the learning process by allowing them to execute the ideas they have. Not only does this give students the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the environment and the world around them, but also allows them to develop key skills for life, such as problem-solving, independence and self-reliance.
What Does Outdoor Learning Look Like?
ISA has been taking part in ‘Outdoor Classroom Day’ for several years. Outdoor Classroom Day is a global movement that celebrates the benefits of outdoor education for students, taking place twice a year, in May and November. On Outdoor Classroom Day itself, educators around the world take their students outside for a special day of outdoor learning, while the rest of the year the movement campaigns for more outdoor learning time for students. Aside from these two days, outdoor learning is a regular part of the daily routine for Lower School students. Students in Early Childhood benefit from ‘free-flow’ mornings, in which doors are left open
and students are free to move around in and outside of the classroom, allowing the arena of learning to be transposed and the benefits of outdoor learning to be brought indoors.
30