Unit VIII Learning in and out of School

Unit VIII Learning in and out of School

1.     Purpose of learning in and out of school: what we know? And what we need

2.     To know?

3.     Advantages of learning outside the classroom

4.     Importance of observation learning out of school

5.     Out of school learning: extending curriculum learning to the local area

6.     Approaches to learning outside the class room

 DEFINITION

Learning outside the classroom or Education outside the classroom can be defined, in its broadest sense, as any structured learning experience that takes place beyond the classroom environment during the school day, after school or during the holidays (Department for Education and Skills,UK 2005). It can include, amongst other activities, cultural trips, science and geography fieldwork, environmental and countryside education, adventurous group activities, learning through outdoor play and visits to museums and heritage sites.

PURPOSE OF LEARNING OUT OF SCHOOL

By helping young people apply their knowledge across a range of challenges, learning outside the classroom builds bridges between theory and reality, schools2 and communities, young people and their futures. Quality learning

experiences in ‘real’ situations have the capacity to raise achievement across a

range of subjects and to develop better personal and social skills. When these experiences are well planned, safely managed and personalised to meet the needs of every child they can

1.     Improve academic achievement.

2.     Provide a bridge to higher order learning.

3.     Develop skills and independence in a widening range of environments.

4.     Make learning more engaging and relevant to young people.

5.     Develop active citizens and stewards of the environment.

6.     Nurture creativity.

7.     Provide opportunities for informal learning through play.

8.     Reduce behaviour problems and improve attendance.

9.     Stimulate, inspire and improve motivation.

10. Develop the ability to deal with uncertainty.

11. Provide challenge and the opportunity to take acceptable levels of risk.

12. Improve young people’s attitudes to learning. 

ADVANTAGES OF LEARNING OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM

It is essential that young children get frequent and regular opportunities to explore and learn in the outdoor environment and this should not be seen as an optional extra. In recent years there has been a cultural shift in our society that has reduced the access and use of outdoors for many young children. Contributory factors include increased fear amongst adults in relation to children’s safety and technological advances leading to an overwhelming prominence of more sedentary indoor activities, such as television, video and computer games.

Learning outside the classroom

v Supports the development of healthy and active lifestyles by offering children opportunities for physical activity, freedom and movement, and promoting a sense of well-being.

v Gives children contact with the natural world and offers them experiences that are unique to outdoors, such as direct contact with the weather and the seasons.

v Playing and learning outside also helps children to understand and respect nature, the environment and the interdependence of humans, animals, plants, and lifecycles.

v Outdoor play also supports children’s problem-solving skills and nurtures their creativity, as well as providing rich opportunities for their developing imagination, inventiveness and resourcefulness.

v Children need an outdoor environment that can provide them with space, both upwards and outwards, and places to explore, experiment, discover, be active and healthy, and to develop their physical capabilities.

v The outdoor environment offers space and therefore is particularly important to those children who learn best through active movement. Very young children learn predominately through their sensory and physical experiences which supports brain development and the creation of neural networks.

v For many children, playing outdoors at their early years setting may be the only opportunity they have to play safely and freely while they learn to assess risk and develop the skills to manage new situations.

v Learning that flows seamlessly between indoors and outdoors makes the most efficient use of resources and builds on interests and enthusiasms.

v Anyone who takes children outside regularly sees the enjoyment, and sense of wonder and excitement that is generated when children actively engage with their environment.

v Children who spend more time outdoors make more friends.

v Learning outside improves attitudes to learning.

v Creates a more active imagination.

v Children who spend time outdoors are generally happier than those who stay indoors.

v Time outside increases focus on tasks.

v There are many obstacles to overcome when outdoors which boosts problem solving skills.

v Time outside improves mental wellbeing and self-esteem.

v Freedom outdoors can reduce aggression.

v It reduces obesity as children that learn to love the outdoors continue to do so in adult life.

v Outdoor teaching gives the student the opportunity to be in a team to cooperate with others, learn how to share his opinion with them as well as how to deal with any other’s idea and develop it.

v The student can get so many new information and experience by studying with nature.

v Outdoor lesson provides real experiences and more understanding of information

v Outdoor lesson improves student learning of motivation and success because the concepts and topics is able to understand by student

v Student become active and student can remember the facts

v Student are happier, excited and outdoor lesson makes that the world as a classroom    

There are numerous research articles written by doctors, scientists and mental health experts explaining the benefits for children who spend more time learning outside.

WHAT WE KNOW

v Class room learning

WHAT NEED TO KNOW

classroom environment as a teaching and learning resource and may include:

v School site activities (e.g. science lessons in a vegetable or wildlife area, drama in the outdoors)

v Off-site day visits (e.g. to environmental centres, art galleries, historic buildings, local community projects, outdoor and adventurous activities)

v Before/after school study support (e.g. voluntary out of school hours learning activity)

v Off-site residential experiences within the UK (e.g. field study centre, Duke of Edinburgh Award, outdoor and adventurous activities)

v Off-site residential experiences overseas (e.g. cultural and language exchanges)

v Non-residential activities that take place during school holiday periods (e.g. city farm summer schools, Summer Reading Challenge, Do It for Real activities).

v  Learning outside the classroom,

v  Real world, Real Learning, Real Benefit,

v  Living classroom

The Teacher NEED to Know the following skills.

v From the start, set clearly defined objectives for the visit

v Prioritise your objectives

v Remember to make the amount of planning and preparation proportional

v Check out your school’s Policy

v Talk to your school’s Educational Visits Co-ordinator

v Education Visits or Outdoor Education Adviser

v Good practice guide: Health and Safety of Pupils on School Visits

v Detailed planning into the location

v Make agreement with significant number of organisations – commercial, charitable and voluntary – who specialise in school visits.

v Many local authorities have their own outdoor centres

v Look at the previous Visit report /pages to get an idea about the range of opportunities offered by members of the Real World Learning Partnership

v do a planning pre-visit, preferably with your colleagues,

v Confirm that the site is appropriate to the needs of the group both in terms of safety and your teaching and learning objectives

v Prepare a written risk assessment and safety management plan and Risk Assessment

IMPORTANCE OF OBSERVATION LEARNING OUT OF SCHOOL

Observational learning is sometimes also referred to as shaping, modeling, and vicarious reinforcement. While it can take place at any point in life, it tends to be the most common during childhood as children learn from the authority figures and peers in their lives.

The importance of observational learning lies in helping individuals, especially children, acquire new responses by observing others' behavior. Albert Bandura states that people's behavior could be determined by their environment. Observational learning occurs through observing negative and positive behaviors

It also plays an important role in the socialization process, as children learn how to behave and respond to others by observing how their parents and other caregivers interact with each other and with other people.

Observational Learning process

Psychologist Albert Bandura is identified with learning through observation. He and other researchers have demonstrated that we are naturally motivated to engage in observational learning.

If you've ever made faces at an infant and watched them try to mimic your funny expressions, then you certainly understand how observational learning can be such a powerful force even from a very young age.

Bandura's stresses the importance of observational learning in his Social Learning theory by Babo Doll experiment.

Examples of Observational Learning in Action

• A child watches his mother folding the laundry. He later picks up some clothing and imitates folding the clothes.
• A young couple goes on a date to a Chinese restaurant. They watch other diners in the restaurant eating with chopsticks and copy their actions in order to learn out to use these utensils.

• A boy watches another boy on the playground get in trouble for hitting another child. He learns from observing this interaction that he should not hit others.
• A group of children plays hide-and-seek at recess. One child joins the group, but has never played before and is not sure what to do. After observing the other children play, she quickly learns the basic rules of the game and joins in.

Factors That Influence Observational Learning

Bandura's research, there are a number of factors that increase the likelihood that a behavior will be imitated.

We are more likely to imitate:

• People we perceive as warm and nurturing​.
• People who receive rewards for their behavior​.
• When you have been rewarded for imitating the behavior in the past​.
• When we lack confidence in our own knowledge or abilities​.
• People who are in an authoritative position over our lives​.
• People who are similar to us in age, sex, and interests​.
• People who we admire or who are of a higher social status​.
• When the situation is confusing, ambiguous, or unfamiliar.

EXTENDING CURRICULUM LEARNING TO THE LOCAL AREA

There are many ways in which learning outside the classroom can be integrated into the school curriculum – not just subjects such as social studies, geography and science where fieldwork is a tradition. Languages, the arts, mathematics, business and commerce and many others also lend themselves to learning outside the classroom.

For example, in language studies, the skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening can be developed through a range of experiences outside the classroom.

Listening and Speaking

The School Grounds and Environs

·         Listening to sounds and identifying them.

·         Observing and discussing processes of decision making and conflict resolution.

·         Interviewing.

The Local Community

·       Visiting a police station, clinic, bank, market or park and identifying the different tones of voice that people use.

·       Visiting a youth centre, and record the different types of sounds as people go about different activities.

Urban Centres

·         Visiting an urban area and listening to the sounds of the city – a market, a railway station, a busy intersection, etc.

·         Visiting and talking with people who live or work in the city.

·         Developing a radio programme based on the sounds and voices of a town.

Rural and Natural Areas

·       Listening to the sounds of a forest, the seashore or a running stream.

·       Listening to the sounds on a farm. Ask the farmer to help you identify them.

Reading

The School Grounds and Environs

·       Reading the notice boards in the school.

The Local Community

·         Visiting the local library and using it.

·         Reading material that deals with local people and places, and relating this to learners own experiences.

Urban Centres

·         Reading the signs posted in town, from traffic signs to advertising.

Rural and Natural Areas

·         Following written instructions for individual or group activities.

·         Reading stories, poems, and non-fiction about natural history.

Writing

 The School Grounds and Environs

·         Compiling a school map to guide visitors.

·         Writing a description of a day in the life of a typical student.

The Local Community

·       Recording local data for later presentation, e.g., through role play, mime, dance, or video.

·       Writing about family, community or work-related experiences.

Urban Centres

·         Writing a letter to the editor of the newspaper, about a matter of current interest.

Rural and Natural Areas

·       Writing a poem about your feelings while sitting in a beautiful natural area.