Why developing outdoor education is important

This is me. Around 3 years old in the back garden of my house in the Rhondda Valleys. From a very early age I have been lucky enough to be encouraged to explore the outdoors. I think that all teachers should be using and encouraging outdoor learning. In this post I intend to outline why. To me the barriers of excess risk assessment (it's not that difficult and, in my view, forms an essential part of trip planning) and staff cover (there are always ways around that).

I should add that this is all from a personal perspective of being a qualified mountain leader, general outdoors bod and the experiences of using the outdoors in teaching.

Stories, seeing other places is one of the best things that young people can do. Getting into scrapes, pushing personal boundaries, and getting out of the comfort zone all expand perspective. This has a huge, positive, effect on young people's self esteem.

Friends: The outdoors is a life long journey of learning. As well as fitness, my most enduring friendships are those that were forged during an epic encounter with the wilds.

Personal Development: Many of the skills that employers are looking for can be developed in the outdoor environment. I am, naturally a shy type, honest ;). Through the outdoors I was able to develop team work, social skills, organisation and evaluations skills. I also learnt to take most things with a pinch of salt, and not to be afraid to look silly! My fussy eating also vanished, as if you don't eat the food then your go hungry!

Problem solving: So how do you get the person snoring the roof down out of the dorm? What should I prioritise with? Extra food or full waterproofs?

Collaboration: One of the most valuable skills developed in the outdoors is collaboration. I soon learnt that going it alone was not the best way to earn the trust of my climbing partners. I had to adapt. For example, one of the toughest lessons for young people in the outdoors to learn is to move at the pace of the slowest person. I have seen young people develop this skill and then develop subtle ways of not letting their team mates feel bad. I remember one particular lad who would pretend to tie his shoe laces in order to let people catch up.

So how can this be developed? Of course, my view is that every school should be encouraging residentials to outdoor centres, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme and adventure. However, you can encourage a young persons interest by helping them to find a local caving/climbing/biking club, or just by listening to their stories of exploration and adventure. In addition, instead of staying inside, let's get outside more!

High Impact, Low effort

This month is the start of the #29daysofwriting challenge. I enjoyed this last year and will be using my Staffrm account to post. I'll also be reporting here, both to give a little more detail and to keep a log of what I have written. The challenge developed a great sense of community last year, which is why I'm choosing to write on Staffrm. What I would say to those who are new to writing or don't want to run out of ideas is: Write for yourself. Clarify an idea, write something out loud. The process of distilling thoughts into writing is immensely beneficial to your practice. If other read, comment and respond, that's a bonus. Ignore the muppets who know nothing of your context, style or students. Mix it up - I like to read about real stuff from real classrooms and schools and also about other stuff. If we always write about school, how does that work for workload? If you've nothing nice to say, don't say it. So, the following has been ...

What makes a learning experience profound? Personal reflections and possible implications for classroom practice.

I have recently begun a Leadership Pathways journey. As part of the first core day, we were asked to reflect on a profound learning experience. This got me thinking about how many profound learning experiences I have both been involved in, and how many I have been able to give to others. Our group came up with a huge long list, but these are my five. Emotional Connected Demanding Reflective Collaborative As always, these are personal thoughts and quite mixed up. I put them here so that I can look back on them (plus they’d get lost inside my world-cup-free brain) 1. Emotional I can’t think of a time where deep learning hasn’t engaged my emotions. From being awe inspired to that tingle feeling when a student gets a light bulb moment. From this-is-the-happiest-day-ever, to I-think-I’m-about-to die. How often do we engage the emotions of those we teach? Here, I would argue that having a safe learning environment i...

Year 10 need your help! Can we get Twitter and Facebook in to a GCSE project?

I’ve been told that social media has no place in the classroom. Now, this post is not to battle that argument head on. Let’s smash it. This week, Year 10 are visiting Hengistbury Head . They are investigating whether this piece of coastline should be protected. They are wondering what you think? You may know the location well, you may not know it at all. But we’d like to hear from you all the same. This will either result in some usable data and comments, or not. Either way, we'll know and I’m sure that your comments will help spark discussion in class! What would Year 10 like me to do? Just simply comment on this post or tweet me, with an answer to this question: ‘Should Hengistubury Head be protected from the Sea? Just answer Yes or No and give a brief reason. It would also be useful if you could tell us whether you know the area or not. Many thanks in anticipation…… Image – my own.

David Rogers

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