Outdoor learning ‘boosts children’s development’
“We need to be a little bit clearer about what forms of outdoor learning meet what purposes and aims (of curricula),” Ms Waite told BBC News.
“So rather than just being outdoors magically making things happen, activities such as residential outdoor experiences would be particularly effective for developing social skills and leadership,” she said.
“Whereas field studies would be particularly effective for greater awareness of the environment.
“What we argue in the report is for people to think about the purpose and place (of the activity), as well as the people involved, in order to construct different forms of outdoor learning that will meet certain (teaching) aims.”
Ms Waite said that the findings acknowledged that schools were under pressure to deliver results, and found increasing constraints on time, finance and other resources.
She said that linking outdoor activities to learning outcomes would allow it to become part of a curriculum so there would be “no need to find extra time” for outdoor learning.
She added: “Getting it embedded within policy gives that extra reassurance to teachers that this is something justifiable to do.”
Ms Waite’s fellow co-author Prof Karen Malone, from Western Sydney University, added: “This report maps the evidence to encourage researchers and policymakers to meet at the interface of research and policy in order to shape a positive future for our children.”
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