{"id":4721,"date":"2020-06-19T10:46:18","date_gmt":"2020-06-19T10:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/learningoutdoorssupportteam\/?page_id=4721"},"modified":"2025-04-22T13:26:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T13:26:00","slug":"why-learn-outdoors-callingitout","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/learningoutdoorssupportteam\/why-learn-outdoors-callingitout\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Learn Outdoors? #Callingitout"},"content":{"rendered":"

#CallingItOut\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Outdoors might be the best place to learn<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

‘The outdoor environment has massive\u00a0potential for learning. We are extremely fortunate to have such rich urban and rural environments on our\u00a0doorsteps and our children and young people\u2019s learning experiences can be enhanced by maximising\u00a0the potential of the outdoors. The Scottish Government is keen to see all our children and young people\u00a0having positive learning experiences in a variety of settings.’ \u00a0Scottish Government\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0Curriculum for Excellence Through Outdoor Learning<\/a><\/p>\n

#CallingItOut\u00a0<\/strong>Why do schools default to learning Indoors; sitting stationary, with restricted space to move or make noise or mess. With very limited access to natural light, fresh air, real objects, artefacts, sounds, smells or problems; instead viewing secondhand representations of the real world through books or screens. \u00a0First hand experiences of the complexity, interdependence and uncertainty of real life are challenging if not impossible to simulate in a classroom box.\"\"<\/p>\n

After all, everyone’s favourite school teacher was Mrs Naa<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

M<\/strong>– Mess
\nR<\/strong>– Risk
\nS<\/strong>– Space
\nN<\/strong>– Noice
\nA<\/strong>– Artefacts
\nA<\/strong>– Authenticity<\/p>\n

Indoor classroom learning possibly evolved in response to affordable learner teacher ratios, standardised inputs, subject mores, paper and timetables. And less as the ideal place to learn something.<\/p>\n

#CallingItOut<\/strong>\u00a0 “Isn’t it ironic”- despite our continuous \u00a0improvement journey to reduce learning inequity, that the ‘classroom’ is still sacrosanct. \u00a0Has familiarity so blinded us to the imperfections of mass learning, through easily moderated artificial secondhand experience indoors, that we consider first hand learning in context, in the real world, as the extra bolt on bit?<\/p>\n

#CallingItOut<\/strong>\u00a0However this is also a caution! Outdoors may have many virtues, but all outdoor learning is not equal. The same overfamiliarity and efficiency imperatives can lead to mass produced unauthentic outdoor experience. Whilst often still motivational because of the novelty, outdoor learning overly focused on an activity or a setting, can risk loosing the learner and their learning, the awe and wonder of the wider world.<\/p>\n

So aside from more engaging & meaningful learning, why Outdoors?<\/p>\n

#CallingItOut<\/strong>\u00a0 Multiple joined up other benefits: Healthier, Safer, Greener, Wealthier & Fairer<\/strong><\/a>… are all possible, simultaneously, whilst learning outdoors!<\/p>\n

\"\"#CallingItOut<\/strong>\u00a0 Modern human bodies and brains have evolved by surviving and excelling in the natural world for well over 10,000 generations<\/a>. By comparison the artificial indoors, light and heat, that is our normal has only been our natural habitat for maybe 5 generations, and our technological normal is only 1 or 2 \u00a0generations. \u00a0As such research<\/a> increasingly suggests that our brains and bodies unsurprisingly still respond, relax and restore most effectively in outdoor, especially natural, places.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

#CallingItOut\u00a0\u00a0Outdoors might be the best place to learn. ‘The outdoor environment has massive\u00a0potential for learning. We are extremely fortunate to have such rich urban and rural environments on our\u00a0doorsteps and our children and young people\u2019s learning experiences can be enhanced by maximising\u00a0the potential of the outdoors. The Scottish Government is keen to see all our … Continue reading Why Learn Outdoors? #Callingitout<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22340,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4721","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/learningoutdoorssupportteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/learningoutdoorssupportteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/learningoutdoorssupportteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/learningoutdoorssupportteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22340"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/learningoutdoorssupportteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4721"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/learningoutdoorssupportteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4856,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/learningoutdoorssupportteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4721\/revisions\/4856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ea\/learningoutdoorssupportteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}