Outdoor learning within teacher education: building student teacher confidence by modelling how to use an outdoor classroom

Ager, Jennifer and Macgregor, Lisa ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6613-7112 (2024) Outdoor learning within teacher education: building student teacher confidence by modelling how to use an outdoor classroom. In: TEAN (Teacher Education Advancement Network) Conference 2024, 22-23 May 2024, Manchester, UK. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Studies have indicated a decrease in children's outdoor time compared to earlier generations. However, there is a collective desire among children to spend more time outdoors, especially within the school environment (Prince et al, 2022). Research shows that a key limitation in the delivery of outdoor learning in schools is teacher confidence (Barrable et al, 2020). We aim to demonstrate how conducting Initial Teacher Education (ITE) sessions in an outdoor classroom can enrich teacher education, increase confidence and prepare the workforce to meet the evolving needs of children. An outdoor classroom, on a city centre university campus, serves as a dynamic environment for teacher educators. Explicit modelling of its use by teacher educators aligns to congruent teaching (Swennen et al, 2008), allowing for contextualised theoretical concepts and tangible experiences that extend classroom-based learning and be replicated in practice on a school site. The presenters research, using a sample of undergraduate and postgraduate student teachers, explored their perceptions of teaching in the outdoors, specifically an outdoor classroom. Evaluations of seminars found that students’ confidence in planning, teaching and assessing children outdoors, increased. One example being where the students build dens to analyse children’s learning. In addition to consideration of children’s learning, this experiential session highlighted the transformative effect of the students own learning of pedagogy, resulting in the establishment of a strong learning community specifically linked to the experience of an outdoor seminar. Observations of this then being enacted in a school context was used as a reflective frame in subsequent campus-based sessions. The concept of experiential learning aligns with various models (Beard and Wilson, 2013), emphasising effective acquisition of procedural and substantive knowledge and engaging in hands-on experiences to foster a practical understanding of teaching methods and theoretical concepts. This presentation aims to detail opportunities and benefits to developing and using an outdoor classroom and the wide-reaching advantages this can have for students, institutions and the teaching profession. Educational partnerships, marketing and recruitment, course content and community benefits will all be explored, with examples provided by the presenters of the direct impact, making this presentation suitable for a variety of stakeholders. In summary, the pedagogic approach of using an outdoor classroom in university sessions, is fully transferrable to any school. It supports the professional development of teaching students by increasing their confidence to use the outdoor environment daily for all primary school-aged children (Prince and MacGregor, 2022).

Key References:
Barrable, A., Touloumakos, T and Lapere L. (2022) Exploring student teachers’ motivations and sources of confidence: the case of outdoor learning, European Journal of Teacher Education 45 (3): 356-372
Beard, C.& Wilson, J.P. (2013). Experiential Learning. A handbook for education, training and coaching. 3rd ed. London: Kogan Page Ltd.
Prince, H, Hordern, R., Towers, D & Holman, C. (2022). Outdoor learning and place-based curriculum framework. Cumbria: University of Cumbria. Available at: https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/6723
Prince, H. and MacGregor, L. (2022) ‘Outdoor learning’, in Cooper, H. and Elton-Chalcraft, S. (ed.) Professional studies in primary education. 4th edn. SAGE: London. pp. 348-367.
Swennen, A., Lunenberg, M. and Korthagen, F. (2008) ‘Preach what you teach! Teacher educators and congruent teaching’, Teachers and teaching, theory and practice, 14(5–6), pp. 531–542. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600802571387.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Departments:	Institute of Education > Initial Teacher Education
Additional Information:	Presentation 19 at this conference.
Depositing User:	Anna Lupton
Date Deposited:	18 Jun 2024 16:17
Last Modified:	18 Jun 2024 16:30
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/7743

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