The scientific literature is clear: materializing school learning by playing outside, between two breaths of fresh air, has its share of physical, psychological, cognitive, social and eco-environmental benefits for students. A look at a fun and relevant education method in all seasons.
Memorize your vocabulary words while running out of steam in a relay race; assimilate the notions of multiplication and division in a game of “mathematics soccer”; note down numbers and shapes while walking outside, then dissect their components once you return to your desk; read about rituals in the forest. These are just a few examples of educational activities offered to children by Pascale Tremblay, teacher of 3e and 4e primary years at Saint-Félix school, an outdoor establishment attached to the Rives-du-Saguenay School Service Center.
Mme Tremblay is one of the resource teachers at École en Réseau (EER), a virtual networking platform established around twenty years ago by the Quebec Ministry of Education and the Center facilitating research and innovation in organizations (CEFRIO) to connect the province’s school boards together. With her colleague Julie Turcotte, Pascale Tremblay developed the Mission plein air program for École en network, which teachers can use to find ideas for lessons to give outdoors.
“We, for example, built a project around survival,” explains Pascale Tremblay. An expert from UQAC [Université du Québec à Chicoutimi] came to talk to the students about how we make a shelter, how we tie knots. Subsequently, over a period of six weeks, students have projects to do in class and an ethical project to think about. For example, can our behaviors change in a survival situation with our peers? They also have work to do in French, and the teachers experience survival missions with the students. »
From the bud to the moon
In science, troops belonging to École en network — within the framework of the Mission plein air program, or not — can observe animals and the way in which they adapt to the cold, and study the traces left on the ground in an “investigative approach”, depicts Mme Tremblay. The children are then invited to share their discoveries on a collaborative wall (“padlet”). As part of a project centered around buds, they will, among other things, measure tree branches over a period of several weeks, acquiring in the same gesture the basics of geometry and the transformation from bud to leaf. In astronomy, we learn in particular to perceive the contours of the moon in broad daylight.
How does the fact of storing skills in the open, with red cheeks or eyes squinting in the sun’s rays, rather than within the four walls of a traditional premises, constitute an advantage for young people? “It helps anchor learning. By observing traces outside, this is not where the students will learn to use the ruler, but when we return to class, it is concrete to think about the distance between the traces. It contextualizes a lot. And there are several other contributions: space, freedom, being in action…” summarizes Pascale Tremblay, who detects a growing interest in the method in her wider professional circle.
“It’s a movement that is booming. More and more schools have courses designed for the outdoors. Teachers are increasingly equipped. We also see it with university students; teaching students begin to hear about it in their fourth internship and experience teaching through natural pedagogy. »
Unlimited ideas
Jean-Philippe Ayotte-Beaudet, professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Sherbrooke and holder of the Research Chair in Outdoor Education, agrees with Pascale Tremblay regarding consolidation. training when it is provided away from books, “with your hands inside”.
“Abstract thinking, for a young person, is much more difficult than concrete thinking. When we are in concrete contact with an environment where we can apply what we have learned, it is much easier to assimilate it. In the open air, we have the opportunity to apply knowledge in a pictorial way for young people. »
Whether we live in a city environment or in nature, all disciplines lend themselves to the exercise of teaching in the great outdoors. In the arts, we examine shapes and perspectives through street furniture and graffiti decorating buildings, we sculpt ephemeral works of art in the snow or we practice photography. The construction of a fort inspired by The tuque war will automatically result in a space and perimeter analysis. Even languages are transmitted by imagining a story dreamed up by looking at houses, trees and vehicles nearby.
“The examples are limitless. The children are much more engaged and live the experience, which takes on more meaning than a disconnected, more traditional paper-and-pencil activity in class,” notes Mr. Ayotte-Beaudet, who advocates links between theory and practice. to fuel general stimulation in human beings.
“Overall, being in light physical activity also promotes cognitive activity. When we ask young people to be seated and passive in class, this is not necessarily ideal for cognitive engagement. There are plenty of reasons to get involved in the outdoors. »
With small steps
Himself at the origin of the creation of the Research Chair in Outdoor Education through requests initiated two years ago to the government – the pandemic having marked a turning point in this niche -, Jean- Does Philippe Ayotte-Beaudet believe that decision-making bodies are focusing enough on the resources at hand to rethink education outside and generate benefits?
“From what we see around the world, the outdoors, in general, are still very underutilized. We are still very much in an internal, classical, academic school structure, in the world in general. But in Quebec, a lot is happening. The Ministry of Education advocates professional autonomy rather than imposition, but I see more and more initiatives supporting the development of outdoor education practices. »
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