An article in the Baltimore Sun captivated me: In
Oregon’s Mount Hood National Forest, Outdoor School for Students.
I’ve been eager to get involved in community organizations in the DC
area that support school gardens,
so I was of course excited reading about this program. The article
noted, “At Camp Howard in Mount Hood National Forest near Corbett, Ore.,
outdoor education is a rite-of-passage for Oregon public school
students. It’s meant to instill a respect for nature
in each generation, and studies show it improves attendance and boosts
test scores.”
The
concept of outdoor school isn’t new to Oregon, but in recent years,
budgetary cuts have made it a rare component of curricula
within many school districts across the state. On
this year’s ballot, Oregon asked
voters to approve Measure 99, which would “dedicate money to ensure
every Oregon fifth- or sixth-grade student could participate in a
week-long outdoor school program.”
The
plan for acquiring the funding was to dedicate $22 million per year of
Oregon lottery money to the outdoor school programs and spoiler alert:
Oregon passed this measure
and demonstrated wide and almost bipartisan support.
I especially enjoyed reading the evidence that points to outdoor school as a beneficial experience for many school children
with lasting positive outcomes. Portland State University led a study that found
that among students of color and those in lower income brackets, outdoor school particularly increased their attendance rates. The
Multnomah Education Service District conducted surveys on high school
students who volunteer for outdoor school, and the reports demonstrated
an increase in confidence, public speaking, and self-advocacy.
While
these effects are an ideal outcome for every student in school, I
wonder how scalable outdoor school is, especially in urban areas.
How could outdoor school be replicated for students within urban districts?
I
would like to see every school collaborate with a community
organization that supports some component of being outside and getting
involved with learning more about nature
and the outdoors. As
I learn more about school and community partnerships, I’m motivated
by the fact that there are community organizations willing to donate
time or resources to schools, and I can imagine that community or local
farms could establish concrete relationships with districts to provide
experiences for children to gain exposure to
local agriculture. This could be a possible, local solution that would allow for
more students’ contact to the same principles and concepts of outdoor school but at a lower cost. If anyone knows of programs like Oregon's outdoor school, please feel free to share!
More information at the following links:
3 comments:
A few weeks ago, I posted about the Forest Hill Nature Preschool, which has its own outdoor classroom. Families found it very beneficial for their students. One of the reasons this setting was considered good for students is because young children learn through play. I wonder if the parents would be as receptive thinking about young adults participating in outdoor activities. I think, as students get older, the idea of the importance of "play" decreases. Obviously, these students aren't "playing" in the traditional sense that preschoolers do, but they are playing in the sense that they are having the chance to explore and engage with the environment around them. The research from this article shows the benefits of these experiences for students. In my post, I also questioned how the idea of outdoor classrooms could work in more urban areas, where outdoor options are limited and sometimes unsafe. One possible solution is sponsoring trips to outdoor areas or parks where children in these schools can visit, such as Irvine Nature Center. Of course that would not only bring questions of cost for transportation, etc., but also criticism for students spending less time in school.
Students spend a lot of time in front of screens. Even though technology is the future, it sometimes is unsettling to hear my students tell me how often they are on the computer. I teach in the suburbs, where students have opportunities to be outside and play. I like the idea that having these outdoor classrooms helps students to enjoy and respect the environment. Maybe, to take a small step towards the idea of outdoor learning, schools could designate some space to create gardens and outdoor spaces. My high school was located in Baltimore City. We took the small area in the back of the school and created a rain garden. Schools could attempt to create something like rain gardens and give students opportunities to work outside with the garden. They could look to community organizations to fund whatever materials are needed to create the garden. It is a much smaller endeavor than outdoor classrooms, but it could be a step in the right direction to give students exposure to the outdoors.
This outdoor education program reminded me of a program that my fourth grade students participated in this year. TasteWise Kids is a non-profit organization that runs a program called Days of Taste. The program is three days. The first and third sessions are about an hour and hosted at the elementary school. The second session is a 1/2 day field trip hosted at a local farm. The first day of the program, the students learn about different tastes, which seasons are the best for which foods, and they actually get to taste various ingredients to determine what kind of taste they have. The second day of the program, the students get to visit a local farm to learn about what the farmer grows and how the food goes from the farm to the table. My students visited One Straw Farm. In addition to touring the farm, each student also got his or her own package of fresh vegetables right from the farm. On the third and final session, the chef (who also visits the first day) guides the students in making a salad. The students follow a specific set of directions, but the chef teaches them how they can make changes to fit what kind of tastes they like. My students loved this program and they learned so much about different types of tastes and also about how food is grown. They loved making their own fresh salad and they couldn't wait to try cooking more at home.
This program is different from actually having outdoor learning, but I think it is a step in the right direction. The great thing about this program, that makes is accessible to more students, is that is free for the school and students to participate. The program covers all of the food and materials needed for the first and third session as well as the cost of the buses for the second session. I work in a particularly affluent school, where parents are very supportive of field trips and the majority are able to afford them, but my students still did not have to pay anything. I think this is a great program for students who attend schools with a high FARMs rate and/or students in urban schools because it gives them some basic knowledge about fresh food and how they can make good choices on their own. Although these students may not always have the access to fresh food the way my students do, at least they will have knowledge about food to use when they do get access to fresh foods.
I'm not sure how many other programs like this exist for elementary schools, but I think they are very beneficial even if they are only for a few days. I think that having education in these, what I will call non-traditional academic subjects for lack of a better term, is crucial to help students learn how to make responsible choices, to critically think, and to become real-life problem-solvers in a variety of situations.
I used to teach at a school that featured outdoor education as part of their curriculum, and the children loved having forest time. We also had a garden that we maintained, and a large compost bin.
Due to the region, we did have some major issues with ticks, though. That was the only real downside I saw, but forest time was free play, it wasn't focused lesson time, at this school.
A friend of mine is teaching at the Fiddleheads Forest School as part of University of Washington's Botanic Gardens, and it sounds like such a lovely place to learn. It appears to be quite the educational trend in the pacific northwest. http://www.seattleschild.com/Bundle-up-Seattle-is-the-epicenter-for-outdoor-preschools/
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