{"id":7312,"date":"2018-09-17T05:24:55","date_gmt":"2018-09-17T05:24:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/?p=7312"},"modified":"2018-09-17T05:24:55","modified_gmt":"2018-09-17T05:24:55","slug":"progression-in-outdoor-learning-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/2018\/09\/17\/progression-in-outdoor-learning-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Progression in outdoor learning \u2013 part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I noted last week, the\u00a0respected\u00a0Institute for Outdoor Learning<\/em> has drafted\u00a0a childhood progression in outdoor learning. \u00a0This is a \"mapping of\u00a0the range of outdoor learning interventions designed to enable children and young people to form a healthy, developmental and sustainable self-led relationship with the natural environment\". \u00a0This is to be welcomed and addresses two challenges:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. to enable a progression of outdoor learning opportunities<\/li>\n
  2. to use a new progression of opportunities to enable a progression of outdoor learning outcomes<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This post focuses on the second challenge.<\/p>\n

    Challenge 2<\/strong> <\/em>is to use a new progression of opportunities to enable a progression of outdoor learning outcomes. \u00a0This focuses on a \u2018progression of outcomes\u2019.\u00a0 Specifically, the \u201cchallenge is to use a new progression of opportunities to enable a progression of outdoor learning outcomes.\u201d \u00a0In what follows, the first bullet point is about pedagogy and strategy; the second about delivery (ie pedagogy) and evaluation of progressive outcomes; the third about building insight on \u201dthe role of learning in delivering outcomes\u201d \u2013 and on the role of the learner (as an \u2018active agent\u2019 in this). \u00a0It seems obvious that this differentiation between learning (as an outcome of pedagogy) and the outcomes (from \/ as a result of learning) needs developing further.<\/p>\n

    There is a mapping of activities that are deemed appropriate at certain ages and in formal \/ informal \/ non-formal settings. \u00a0There are two distinctive continua set out on the axes.\u00a0 The vertical (age-related and incomplete) axis is clearly not meant to set out discrete stages (pre-5, 5 to 9, etc), and yet the developmental outcomes are fully discrete.\u00a0 There is no risk-taking before 9; and no exploration or memory-making after 9 \u2013 unless things below are meant to subsume those below.\u00a0 There is a question about whether the axis should run the other way: pre-5 at the bottom, etc.\u00a0 This would be conventional and it would leave open space at the top of the chart rather than the foot.<\/p>\n

    The horizontal axis is not really a continuum in the same sense as age is. \u00a0And it begs the question: formal \/ non-formal \/ informal what?\u00a0Is it learning?\u00a0 education? \u00a0study? \u00a0pedagogy? A\u00a0<\/em>mixture of these?\u00a0 Or are they activities<\/em>?\u00a0 If so, that seems an unsatisfactory term.\u00a0 Again, it\u2019s not clear why the axis is at the top.<\/p>\n

    I thought education folk had abandoned this typology years ago as, for example, good schools will always incorporate the non-formal and informal, there can be quite formal teaching in non-formal settings, and much informal education includes elements of pedagogy.<\/p>\n

    There is text relating to\u00a0\"things to consider about enabling a progression of outdoor learning experiences\", and there is a risk in the way this is set out, of seeing a one-size fit for everyone. \u00a0For example, some people (even young ones) will seek out understanding rather than emotion; others may well do both. \u00a0I\u2019m tempted to add that there is more to the human \u2013 nature relationship than \u201cconnection\u201d.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t the challenge for educators to help learners learn about whatever it is they are interested in \u2013 rather than settling for helping them learn what the teacher (or curriculum) is interested in?<\/p>\n

    Finally, we are presented with \"a spectrum of OL opportunities\". \u00a0It is not a spectrum, however, and is about activities rather than learning. \u00a0Inevitably, the distinction between the formal \/ non-formal \/ informal\u00a0is loose, as it is in life. \u00a0The \"Activities or programmes that tend to be facilitated and that can be evaluated or accredited\u201d are not restricted to the non-formal.\u00a0 Anything can be evaluated, and a child\u2019s informal experience at the sea-side will have been facilitated by someone.\u00a0 The non-formal can have a curriculum in the widest meaning of the idea.<\/p>\n

    Overall,\u00a0I\u2019d just say that the question all this leaves me with is: learning what? \u00a0<\/em>But this is the question I always seem to end up with whenever I consider a text about outdoor learning, as no on ever seems to say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As I noted last week, the\u00a0respected\u00a0Institute for Outdoor Learning has drafted\u00a0a childhood progression in outdoor learning. \u00a0This is a \"mapping of\u00a0the range of outdoor learning interventions designed to enable children and young people to form a healthy, developmental and sustainable...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment","category-news-and-updates"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7312\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}