Schools Without Walls

I often say to people that education is full of assumptions that we forget to challenge. The system of universal schooling in the West is relatively young, and yet we cling to many of its orthodoxies as if they are ancient traditions.

Picture a school. Do you see a building?

Schools can't bear the whole burden of reconnecting our children with the natural world, but they can certainly do their bit. The Forest Schools initiative is one the best vehicles we have for helping schools to move lessons outdoors: it is systematic, sustainable and easily understood.

After a period of accredited training that can be fitted around their existing job, a teacher takes pupils out into a local woodland for half a day every week or fortnight. There's huge diversity in the practice, but commonly the subjects of the 'normal' curriculum are taught through the use of natural resources, and there is an emphasis on social and emotional development. Over time, pupils learn to use tools, to control fire and to manage their environment responsibly.

Surprise surprise, children who spend regular time outdoors find it easier to concentrate, show fewer symptoms of ADHD, develop better social skills, improve their creativity and outperform their indoor peers in academic achievement.

Research in the US has led to calls for a daily 'green hour' for children, as a pre-condition for effective learning. It's a start, and I sense that a more fundamental change is coming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Schools

www.forestschools.com

http://www.childrenandnature.org/

www.greenhour.org