Beyond The Classroom
Dr Robbie Nicol
Outdoor and Environmental Education
University of Edinburgh
www.education@ed.ac.uk/outdoored
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Range and Scope of
Outdoor Learning
Physical activity
Tackling obesity
Life-long activity
Skill development
Adventure sport
Sustainability
Field Studies
Biodiversity
Awareness of local area
Cultural landscape
STEM subjects
Wellbeing
‘Greenspace’
Environmental
Education
Outdoor
activities
Outdoor
Learning
Personal &
Social
Education
Self-awareness
Self-esteem
Social development
Communal living
OUTDOOR LEARNING
To what Degree are we
dealing with:
Knowledge
Attitudes
Feelings
Is learning outdoors different
from learning indoors?
What are they learning?
A structure for programme
design?
Aims
Assumptions
Content
Methods
Evaluation
Claims
A River walk
Aims
Assumptions
Content
Methods
Needs to be
developed.
Linked to other
activities,
e.g.walking,
climbing skills
Half-day - Kilmun
Gorge.
Instructor organised
but students often
leading
Give support
when needed.
Ask each to lead
stages. Ask
them to consider
rest of group
Peer review
at end of
walk/day
Change in
selfawareness?
Anecdotal
Temporary?
Issue/problem
based discussion
over lunch, and
at times during
trip (content &
values)
Raise issues
again during
canoe
journey and
rock
climbing.
Level of
knowledge
&
understanding
Temporary?
Ask students
to consider
long term
fitness
Anecdotal
Temporary?
PSD
(g. selfawareness)
Response to
dealing with
success or failure
at times.
Awareness of
anxieties (slips,
heights, water,
cold etc).
Environment
(e.g.
sustainability,
biodiversity)
Water cycle;
erosion; sensitivity
of ecosystem;
photosynthesis
CO2 & climate
change
Basic
knowledge
Theory covered
at school
Questions: Where
does water come
from & go to?
Is weather the
same as climate?
Impact of groups.
Physical skills
(e.g. motor
control,
fitness, water
safety)
Confident walking,
scrambling.
Aerobic
Capable based
on observations
on earlier walk
Discuss foot
Individual input
placement, pace etc during walk
Evaluation
Claims
Why Learn Outdoors?
Connection
 ‘It is our sensory immersion that most
profoundly links us to the land.’
Professor Anthony Weston
 It is the lack of sensory immersion and
outdoor experiences that leads people
to be unaware of their connection to
nature.
Outdoor Learning and
Sustainability
 Opportunity to experience nature and
its physical and biological processes
 This helps to understand our
dependence (often hidden) on nature
Summary
STEM subjects knowledge +
sensory immersion in the outdoors
= an organising framework for
sustainability
Dr Robbie Nicol
Outdoor and Environmental
Education
University of Edinburgh
www.education@ed.ac.uk/outdoored