Outdoor education in your school operation

The entire school team gathers for a first session on a drizzly Tuesday evening in autumn 2021. The purpose of this staff meeting? To have all teachers give their opinions and inputs on the focus set by the management and the Environment At School (MOS) team. This proceeds roughly in five chapters.

Does more outdoor education scare teachers? Curious? Critical? Throughout the process, Ann and Wendy regularly measure the figurative temperature. A feelings disk full of smileys is a handy tool for this. Teachers can also use it in their own (pre-school) classrooms to display and nuance emotions around complex themes.

At the start of the process, the teachers appear first and foremost curious. They think there is much more that can be done around outdoor education in the school. There is also some frustration: how to do this when the school, and especially the playground, is still very much like a warzone due to renovation? And are they strong enough didactically? There is also the fear that this will come at the expense of other teaching hours.

The process the school will go through can be captured in the metaphor of the mountain hike. Before primary school Het Anker achieves 10 out of 10 on outdoor education, some changes need to be made. What exactly, the teachers write on post-its as Ann fires off questions for inspiration. "So what do we do in class? What do you see in the classroom, in the teacher's room, in the principal's office? How do we make decisions? What do parents, the neighbourhood do? What is different in the class schedule? What initiative was taken by students?"

The answers are taped to a large drawing at the top. The bench at the bottom of the drawing reflects the current situation. How many points out of 10 does it deserve and why? Again the teachers deliberate in group. A narrow pass comes out. Because the thinking process has already started, there have already been formations and they are already working on integrating it into lessons. But they are still searching, there is a need for more information, physical space and concrete material to go outside, for instance.

What needs to be done to score 1 point higher by 1 June? It's an interesting question to distil concrete action points from. And so the post-its come up again AND the questions for inspiration. "What were the stakes? What role did you include yourself?" The answers on post-its pave the way between the bench and the top. Learning inspirational work forms, boosting one's own competences, ready-made teaching materials, appropriate clothing for the children, daring to look beyond the school environment... The MOS team is already getting a lot of inspiration.

The effects of these actions and measures will also be discussed this evening. Because in the end, what else are they doing it for? That pupils will have more respect for nature and their environment. That learning will become more ingrained, that it will become a habit for their later lives and that parents will also get involved. Beautiful goals that the team is happy to put its shoulders to.

On a journey to the top, you also bump into side roads. These symbolise everything that can stop you from reaching your ultimate goal. Large class groups, opposition from parents, too bad weather ... The team's answers are all neatly noted down. An ideal reminder for the core group that will work on this further.

A symbolic dip in the pool concludes this session. Who is the saviour among colleagues? Who is sitting in the cafeteria watching everything? Who is on the starting block, but does not yet dare to jump? Who jumped, but almost went under? Conclusion: not everyone stands and positions themselves differently in the imaginary pool at the start of the process. That too is important to know. For the core group as well as for colleagues.

After the teachers head home, the core team meets briefly to discuss what they all heard tonight. An outline of some kind of mission statement is written: 'Our school sees outdoor education as something achievable so that students learn and live sustainably in a rich context'. Which yards they specifically address is fodder for a future meeting with the core team. To be continued.