Outdoor education

Having access to outdoor spaces at school is great for break times, but it also opens up a whole host of curriculum-linked learning possibilities that extend beyond PE lessons. However, a new study from University of South Australia researchers has found schools may not be making the most of the outdoor areas they have when it comes to curriculum delivery.

Professor Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education at Southern Cross University, joins The Research Files this month to talk about the Childhood Nature Play study. We’ll be chatting about the different types of nature play, and the teaching and learning resources that have been co-designed as a result of the research project.

‘What can we learn from one school that is showing the way in supporting sustainable education using a whole-school approach throughout its entire systems and operations?’ Julie Bosevska and Dr Jeana Kriewaldt, from the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, share four ‘lighthouse practices’ to help schools strengthen their approach to sustainability.

In this reader submission, teacher Martin Poeder makes a case for why Steiner education’s imaginative curriculum delivery is well positioned to meet the future demands of a transforming world, sharing practical examples of students’ engagement with the natural world from his own school in Bairnsdale, Regional Victoria.

In 2019, Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School won a New South Wales Outdoor Education Award. In today’s Q&A, we speak to Scott Williams, the school’s Outdoor Education Coordinator, about the extensive program offered to students.

Miss Chen shares some of the F-2 resources she’s been using in her classroom. In today’s activity, the Foundation students learn more about the ocean in their Science lessons by visiting the local beach.

New research has found learning in nature has a significant positive impact on engagement back in the classroom, with educators able to teach for almost twice as long without having to pause and redirect students’ attention.

Teacher chats to Claire Warden about Nature Pedagogy – what it is and how it works in practice, including lesson planning and risk management.

For Nature Pedagogue Claire Warden, outdoor learning is about giving children an opportunity to learn in and with the natural world.