Summary
- What Is Outdoor Learning?
- Eminent Endorsements of Outdoor Learning
- Why Outdoor Learning Is Important
- Benefits of Outdoor Learning
What Is Outdoor Learning?
The term outdoor learning is not a new concept. It has been in practice for years together.
We can even say that outdoor learning has been a part of the gurukul system, where pupils would learn and experience concepts out in the open.
Outdoor learning can be defined as the transfer of knowledge through experiential means. It can be learning through play, expeditions, excursions, environmental studies, adventure camps, or even nature walks.
As the name suggests it is nothing but learning outdoors. It does not entail the brick-and-mortar type of learning. It is more of the experience and hands-on learning rather than for the sake of memorizing for an examination.
Therefore, inferring from the above, it can be said that there is no exact answer to the question – What is outdoor learning because it is a very comprehensive concept. It includes any learning that is absorbed through an experience.
The idea of outdoor learning has been endorsed by several eminent personalities.
“I am happy to place on record that the government supports the role of adventure as part of active education, especially in helping young people to learn about assessing and managing risk, in offering them new and exciting challenges, and in helping them to gain skills in leadership and team working that will be of huge value in their progression to adulthood.”
-Tony Blair, Prime Minister, September 2001 in support of the English Outdoor Council’s ‘Campaign for Adventure’.
“We believe that out-of-classroom learning is a key part of a good education, and will include the quality of out-of-classroom education in the criteria on which schools are inspected.”
-Liberal Democrat Election Manifesto 2005 2019
Why Outdoor Learning Is Important?
Outdoor learning is important for more reasons than one.
1. Outdoor Learning Conveys First Hand Information
One of the reasons why outdoor learning is important is because it allows the students to gain first-hand information.
For example, reading about the life cycle of a butterfly in a textbook will be less effective than actually going to a butterfly park and seeing the different stages of a butterfly’s life cycle.
While experiencing the different stages, students can visualize the process and transformation, unlike a still textbook picture which can provide limited visualization.
2. Great Stress Reliever
Outdoor learning serves as a great stress reliever. It is a change from the monotonous classroom four-wall atmosphere.
To be able to go out in the open is itself a great stress buster. It gives students a break from their textbooks, homework, and assignments.
Outdoor learning necessarily involves some amount of physical activity. This physical activity in turn leads to lower levels of stress.
Research has shown the beneficial effects of physical activity on the pathophysiological processes of anxiety.
Numerous studies and meta-analyses show that exercise is also associated with reduced anxiety in clinical settings. Physical activity positively impacts a number of biological, as well as psychological, mechanisms.
3. Outdoor Learning Can Kindle More than One Sense Organs
Outdoor learning activates the five senses in the human body touch, taste, smell, sound, and sight. This is one of the benefits of outdoor learning.
Arousing more than one sense will automatically enable students to perform better. Let’s take the example of dairy products. In a classroom, a teacher or a textbook can list a few items that come under dairy products
- Butter
- Ice-cream
- Curd
- Paneer
Here the pictures in the textbook can open up the visual senses.
However, an outdoor learning event that takes students to a dairy products processing company will allow students to touch, smell, taste, and see the dairy products. This opens up more than one sense and in turn, helps in the learning process.
4. Improves Memory Power
As seen from the above example, outdoor learning ignites more than one sense organ. Therefore, the grasping power naturally improves when you perceive and learn through more than one sense.
Natural surroundings and being in the open calms the mind, body, and soul and helps the mind to focus on the right things.
Research conducted by Forest Research Scotland conducted an experiment on children. The research focused on the comparison between indoor and outdoor learning differences between students. The study made the following observations:
- The outdoor task was recalled in greater detail by children than the indoor task and it was remembered first by 74.2% of the children.
- More was recalled about the woodland settings than the playground setting, implying the influence of the natural richness of the woodland settings.
- The experienced outdoor teachers reported stronger recollections as a characteristic of woodland lessons, and gave examples of how they utilise these to support classroom learning for underachievers
5. No Scope for Passive Learning
Another outdoor learning importance is that it promotes active learning. In a classroom, there are many types of learners.
Students may be active learners, passive learners, or dormant learners. Whereas in the outdoor learning process, there is no scope for passive or dormant learning. All students remain active in outdoor learning.
In active learning, students engage themselves in the project. Unlike passive or dormant learning where some students remain quiet and inactive.
The hands-on, integrative, and collaborative active learning experiences lead to high levels of student achievement and personal development.
6. Makes Learning Fun
One of the benefits of outdoor learning is that it makes learning fun for students.
During outdoor learning sessions, the rules and decorum of the classroom are eliminated which means students are a bit more free to interact with friends and classmates, making the atmosphere more lively and fun.
Moreover, outdoor learning involves natural surroundings which change every day. Students find it fun to watch the change in the outdoor settings, unlike a rigid classroom whose four walls can never change.
7. Convinced Minds
One of the benefits of outdoor learning is that students can see real results rather than read about the results from a book.
Therefore, this convinces students about the results of a particular experiment. Students need not rely on the information from the textbook but can see the results in reality.
8. Develops Critical Thinking Skills
To the question – what are the benefits of outdoor learning? We can say that one of the benefits of outdoor learning is that it develops critical thinking skills for students.
Since students can see the real results, they are also able to make their own observations and analysis. They do not need to rely on the analysis of the writer of the book.
Students can think critically and make their observations based on what they have experienced outdoors.
9. Eliminates Closed Views
A student reading from a textbook will have knowledge that is limited to information provided in the textbook.
However, a student who is exposed to outdoor learning knows no bounds. Closed views now give way to open views and broader horizons.
10. Beneficial to Health
Outdoor learning necessarily involves fresh air and natural surroundings. All these contribute to a healthy lifestyle.
Also, in a classroom kind of setup, students have to sit and listen to the lectures. The absence of any physical activity may lead to a sedentary kind of lifestyle.
Whereas, through outdoor learning, students can explore, move around and walk through nature while learning. The physical activity on an outdoor learning expedition can help students in fitness and physical activity.
Outdoor learning exposes students to sunlight. Sunlight is very essential for human health. Research shows that sunlight is a great source of Vitamin D which the human body requires.
11. Outdoor Learning Promotes Nature-Loving Emotions
In a commercial world, it is necessary to instill the feeling of love for nature amongst students. Outdoor learning is one of the best ways to promote this feeling of love towards nature.
One of the main reasons why outdoor learning is important is because it encourages students to love their natural surroundings.
12. Improves Social Skills
Outdoor learning improves social skills. You may ask how and why outdoor learning improves social skills. Well, the answer is simple.
In a classroom atmosphere, students are bound and restricted within the four walls. On the other hand, in an outdoor learning environment students are free to move around and mingle with others.
Being able to interact with others improves social skills and thereby contributes to personality development.
13. Take-Home Ideas
Another benefit of outdoor learning is that students can take home ideas that are learned and implement them at home.
For example, take students to an orchard as an outdoor learning activity. Here, they learn how to grow vegetables and the benefits of growing your vegetables.
Students have hands-on experience of how to manage a garden. They take home these ideas and start their vegetable garden at home.
Conclusion
Outdoor learning has innumerable benefits. In fact, research published on ResearchGate and written by Brant G Miller, University of Idaho, stated that outdoor learning provides a seemingly endless array of possibilities for learning across disciplinary boundaries.
Outdoor learning puts students into scenarios where they are faced with physical and cultural phenomena that shape landscapes and societies.
By utilizing the richness of content found in out-of-school settings, learning takes on greater relevance and in turn, is found to be more meaningful for students.
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