New Teaching Learning Outdoors course goes live

Education Scotland is pleased to announce the launch today of the Teaching Learning Outdoors professional learning course.  This course and associated guidance – relevant to teachers from all sectors- has been developed by SAPOE (Scottish Advisory Panel for Outdoor Education) and benefited from £17,250 of Scottish Government funding aimed at supporting outdoor learning. This has allowed this course to be made available, free of charge, to practitioners across Scotland through the Professional Learning and Leadership platform on the Education Scotland website.

It has never been more important to get our children and young people learning outdoors. This six step professional learning resource will guide you through the opportunities for outdoor learning,  why it is so important and beneficial and to help you plan high quality progressive outdoor learning experiences.  The course features videos, presentations and reflective questions looking at aspects of learning in the outdoor context; the health benefits, partners that can support you, policy context and links to key guidance, and learning and teaching resources.

The course can be found on Education Scotland’s Professional Learning and Leadership platform: https://professionallearning.education.gov.scot/learn/learning-activities/teaching-learning-outdoors/step-1/

In collaboration with our outdoor learning partners, Education Scotland has also produced a Wakelet featuring resources and guidance on Outdoor Learning and Learning for Sustainability:  https://wke.lt/w/s/beXl3C.  We are also running a series of outdoor learning webinars with our partners: https://professionallearning.education.gov.scot/learn/events/.  These webinars will be recorded and shared online to allow practitioners to view at a later date.

 

The Lost Words: helping unearth nature for new audiences

 

Ways in which this publishing phenomenon is being used to connect with diverse groups and learning settings are highlighted by Rob Bushby.

Read how educators, youth workers, countryside rangers and others are using The Lost Words to help inspire and engage people from all backgrounds to re-discover words – and find and interpret their own learning and meaning through creative connections with nature.

Free resources including 5 spell-poem downloads and an Explorer’s Guide are hosted by the John Muir Trust.

The Lost Words Examples April 19

Collaboration in Global Education CLPL

Collaboration in Global Education CLPL – The Wood Foundation
Join a network of empowered, excited practitioners for a day of collaboration, shared learning, inspiration and interactive conversations to better mould your role in delivering Learning for Sustainability and global education.
Suitable for: All education practitioners (from early years to secondary, probationer to headteachers)
Saturday, 2 March 2019 Dewars Centre, Perth
11am to 4pm Cost: Free
 

 

 

Political literacy – FREE SCOTDEC course

Political Literacy – 2 part course.

Offered by Scotdec and the Scottish Parliament Education Service, this course is a unique opportunity to consider ideas and resources to support young people to become politically literate critical thinkers.

Sessions will have an input from the Scottish Parliament Education Service giving practical advice and resources to introduce your pupils to the nuts and bolts of the democratic process in Scotland. The course will also explore what we mean by political literacy and why it is relevant in Scottish education. It will use Global Citizenship approaches to address controversial issues and will include a focus on participation and pupil voice.

This course is for all teachers.

DATES: Wednesday 14 March and Wednesday 21 March 2018

PLACE: Camelon Education Centre, Falkirk

TIME: 4.15pm – 6.00pm

REGISTRATION: Please register through Falkirk Council CPD Directory

Teachers from other local authorities are welcome to attend. If you wish to please register with mailto:isabel@scotdec.org.uk

Policy briefings – Learning for sustainability and outdoor learning

Moray House Institute of Education and Learning for Sustainability Scotland have produced a series of policy briefings on outdoor learning and learning for sustainability (LfS) within the Scottish context.

The policy briefings provide a concise background and overview of different aspects of LfS and outdoor learning and their impact on education and outcomes for learners. Themes covered include the impact of outdoor learning and LfS on attainment and behaviour and effective LfS also pedagogies.

Holyrood Briefing – Outdoor Learning in Scotland – 29-03-16

Holyrood Briefing – Learning for Sustainability – 29-03-16

Learning for Sustainability and Attainment – LfS Research Briefings – No.1

Impact of Outdoor Learning on LfS in schools – LfS Research Briefings – No. 2

Impact of Outdoor Learning, attainment and behaviour in schools – LfS Research Briefings – No 3

Learning for Sustainability – effective pedagogies – LfS Research Briefings – No.4

UN Decade of ESD and beyond in Scotland’s Schools – A retrospective review – LfS Research Briefings – No.5

 

Improving outcomes through learning for sustainability

Recent Scottish studies and other international research has identified that well-structured outdoor

Learning helps to raise attainment and:

  • facilitates children’s development in school grounds, local areas and on residential courses,
  • supports learning in all aspects of the school curriculum from 3 to 18,
  • provides opportunities for pupils to guide their own learning and develop critical thinking skills in ways elusive in the classroom,
  • raises children’s awareness of environmental and sustainability issues, resulting in understanding and promoting an ethic of care for our planet (directly linked with the concept of ‘learning for sustainability’)
  • has direct health and wellbeing benefits. This leads to high rates of ‘enhancement of challenge, enjoyment, personalisation, relevance, breadth and progression’ of learning.

Similarly, the ‘Conversations about Learning for Sustainability’ study conducted by Education Scotland in 2014 identified that Learning for Sustainability resulted in:

  • Enhanced learning and motivation and readiness to learn.
  • Increases in development of skills for life, learning and work.
  • Increases in confidence.
  • Improved reputation and standing of the establishments in their communities.
  • Improved staff morale, wellbeing and motivation.
  • Enriched ethos of school and improvements to the community spirit.

The links between education for sustainable development and quality education were further supported by an international Study conducted by UNESCO in 2015.

These briefings and reports, together with others, have been brought together here to support dialogue and interventions to raise attainment and improve outcomes for learners aligned to the Scottish Attainment Challenge, pupil equity fund and other priorities in education.

IDOX Briefing OL and Attainment

Conversations about LfS Report

UNESCO ESD and Quality Education Report

PEF and Outdoor Learning Research List

Impact of Outdoor Learning, attainment and behaviour in schools – LfS Research Briefings – No 3

Learning for Sustainability – effective pedagogies – LfS Research Briefings – No.4

Learning for Sustainability and Attainment – LfS Research Briefings – No.1

Scottish Education Awards – Applications open

Learning for Sustainability Award

http://www.scottisheducationawards.co.uk/

Do you know an early learning and childcare centre or school which has a passion for learning for sustainability including sustainable development education, global citizenship and outdoor learning? Then why not nominate them for the Learning for Sustainability Award? If this applies to your school or centre then you can submit an application directly!

 

Scottish Education Awards 2018_ Flyer Learning for Sustainability

The Scottish Education Awards recognise early learning and childcare settings and schools that have developed a vibrant and progressive culture and climate of continuous innovation.

The culture and ethos should promote respect, ambition and achievement while improving outcomes for all learners in ways which eliminate inequity.

Nominations should provide detail about all the activities, programmes and creative approaches that the setting has undertaken.

How are these being embedded across the four contexts for learning?

  • Ethos and life of the school as a community
  • Curriculum areas and subjects
  • Interdisciplinary learning
  • Opportunities for personal achievement

How are you promoting equity, equality, diversity and inclusion in relation to this award category?

What impact are your approaches having on learners, staff, their families, partner organisations, other educational establishments and the wider community?

Nominations close at 12 noon on Wednesday 14 February 2018

Vision 2030+ Report launched by Ministers

Vision 2030+, the Concluding Report of the Learning for Sustainability National Implementation Group, has been formally accepted and launched by Ministers. The Report celebrates the progress that has been made by Scottish Schools since the original Learning for Sustainability Report was launched in 2012 and reaffirms the five strategic recommendations:

  • All learners should have an entitlement to learning for sustainability.
  • In line with the GTCS Professional Standards, every practitioner, school and education leader should demonstrate learning for sustainability in their practice.
  • Every school should have a whole school approach to learning for sustainability that is robust, demonstrable. evaluated and supported by leadership at all levels.
  • All school buildings, grounds and policies should support learning for sustainability.
  • A strategic national approach to supporting learning for sustainability should be established.

The report also sets out the vision for LfS through to 2030 – the target date for realising the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

In launching the Vision 2030+ Report, Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP, Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Sciences said, “I am delighted to mark the formal launch of the Vision 2030+ Report. The report, which should be considered within the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, contains a range of very important recommendations. It is now essential that we maintain the momentum and ensure that Learning for Sustainability is fully embedded across our approach to curriculum and our three over-arching strategic priorities for education: the National Improvement Framework, Scottish Attainment Challenge and Developing the Young Workforce. Learning for Sustainability has a crucial role in supporting and enhancing these priorities.”

Read the Vision 2030+ Report

Watch the video of the launch with the Minister (starting at 9:55). Also includes an introduction by Professor Pete Higgins and a presentation by Ms Irmeli Halinen, former Head of the Curriculum in Finland.

Ministerial Statement for Launch of the Vision 2030 Report

Learning for Sustainability: Connecting Classrooms Programme 2018

Join hundreds of other teachers working in Scotland who have participated in the Learning for Sustainability: Connecting Classrooms course and are now eligible to apply for funding for overseas partnership projects and continuing to work towards GTCS Professional Recognition for Learning for Sustainability.  

There are now more opportunities to take part in this fully funded course with both blended learning (face to face sessions and online coursework) and fully online courses available until June 2018. This is an opportunity to grapple with what Learning for Sustainability means, what existing and new skills are required and how this might look in your school context. Connecting with Curriculum for Excellence and the National improvement Framework it will enable you to plan and implement LfS approaches in your classroom and school.

Dates for training

  • Edinburgh – 9 week course, Begins Saturday 13 January and ends Saturday 17 March 2018
  • For more information and to book your place, click HERE.
  • Stirling – 8 week course, Begins Saturday 27 January and ends Saturday 24 March 2018:
  • For more information and to book your place, click HERE.
  • Online Course –10 week course. Begins Friday 19 January to Friday 30 March 2018.
  • For more information and to book your place, click HERE.

For more information please email Abi Cornwall

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