Moving classes outside can improve test scores, wellbeing: report
At least one day a week, Amanda Lloyd’s year 4 class can be found building shelters in the playground or drawing maps as they walk around the school.
It could be mistaken as a break from class, but the students are actually in the middle of their science, geography, maths and English lessons.
Dr Lloyd, a part-time teacher at St Mary’s Star of the Sea primary school in Milton on NSW’s south coast, is also a leading researcher in outdoor learning and an advocate of moving away from desks and whiteboards.
“Whatever outcomes can be achieved inside, if we can do that outside it’s even better,” she said.
“At the moment, we’re looking at [the use and nature of] different materials in science and what we’re doing is building shelters.
“In English, we’re looking at the text The Great Expedition, so the children map out a route and dramatise it by walking around the playground. They take lots of photos and show it all in PowerPoint presentations with literacy outcomes.
“It’s all standard curriculum material being done outside.”
Outdoor learning has been found to improve students’ mental and physical health, resilience, critical thinking, problem solving skills, emotional intelligence and performance in class tests, according to a new report by Planet Ark based on local and international research.
Share
Find this article interesting? Share on social media to get friends and colleagues involved!