How to create an outdoor classroom?
6 days course in PETRINJA – Croatia
KEYWORDS: outdoor education, game-based learning, ICT, sustainability, ecology, multisensory activities, outdoor classroom, hiking,
WHEN AND WHERE?
21 – 26/10/2024 Petrinja, Croatia
28/4/ – 3/5/2025 Petrinja, Croatia
14 – 19/7/2025 Preko, Island Ugljan, Zadar, Croatia
11 – 16/8/2025 Preko, Island Ugljan, Zadar, Croatia
20 – 25/10/2025 Petrinja, Croatia
WHO IS IT FOR?
This course is for primary and secondary school teachers and headmasters who want to make their schools more open to natural based learning
WHAT TO EXPECT?
Most of the activities will be held outside in natural surrounding, parks, playgrounds and forests. Some of the theoretical modules will be held in our indoor classroom where we will outline some of the most important issues and solutions concerning the outdoor education. The practical workshops aim to provide you with new skills relevant for confident and successful outdoor teaching.
This course includes presentations, outdoor workshops, and field trip(s). The course program includes a guided town tour, a field trip and an excursion (optional).
On your field trip(s) you will have the opportunity to gather some first-hand knowledge from experienced instructors concerning safety precautions and risk assessment, use of outdoor equipment, survival basics, orienteering, and small tips and tricks that could ease your outdoor ventures.
WHY THIS COURSE?
This teachers’ course is focused on implementing outdoor education in their everyday teaching. They will learn how to improve their connection to nature and how to transfer that connection to their students. The participants will find out why being outside is important for children’s development and why we must do our best to enable outdoor education as much as possible. It is our best chance to implement environmental responsibility behaviour in our students to be more effective in fighting the climate change and the loss of biodiversity.
We will try to encourage teachers to implement more exploratory learning and learning through outdoor play.
We will give participants some guidelines about landscaping your schools’ backyard or building the outdoor classroom.
We will also offer answers to your most frequent questions about outdoor teaching and give you the tools for your adaptation to new way of teaching.
Through these ideas maybe we could change today’s schools for better. Let’s make our schools more attractive to children, and move towards freer, more democratic and healthier schools. Join us on this adventure.
Main topics of our course are:
- Designing an outdoor classroom
- Strengthening participants personal relationship to nature
- Environmental education
- Pedagogical teaching materials and equipment used in outdoor education
- Teaching different school subjects outdoors
- Guidelines about landscaping your schools’ backyard or/and building the outdoor classroom
- ICT in outdoor education
- Examples of good practice worldwide
- Learning by playing and exploring
- Hiking skills trainings (e.g. orienteering, equipment, hiking techniques, risk assessment, survival skills, first aid…)
- Mindfulness and Meditation in natural environment
Community learning
This is an opportunity to meet, connect, make new friends and share knowledge with teacher from other European countries.
Make a difference
You will be tackling important issues like children health, freedom, inclusion, sustainability, ecology and climate education for all.
Personal growth
Your instructors will challenge and support you in becoming a more competent person in outdoor education in everyday teaching.
Learning outcomes:
The main objective of this training course is to provide a specific focus on outdoor education for preschool, primary and secondary schools.
The learning objectives are:
- Learn to organize spaces and materials to provide outdoor learning opportunity for children.
- Understand childrens needs for outdoors activity for health and for competencies development.
- Understanding the natural ways of learning trough play and exploring
- Know how to support the learning process as outdoor teacher.
- Know how to implement game and exploratory based learning in an outdoor classroom
- Know how to make a risk assessment
- Learn how to include creativity in everyday teaching
- Know and understand theory and methodology about outdoor education.
- Explore and discover your personal inclinations and resources connected to teaching outdoors.
- Gain confidence in teaching outdoor.
Create a learning community during the course and after.
Pre-registration
Please make your pre-registration here. We will contact you after you have sent your pre-registration form.
The participants will get course certificate and Europass mobility document.
The course is carried out if there are more than 8 participants.
The course fee is 480€. It includes the course program a guided town tour.
The accommodation and meals are provided (not included in the course fee).
Languages – English, Croatian
Training Program:
Day 1:
- Introduction
- Course outline
- Ice-breaking activities (indoor and outdoor games)
- Exchanging good practices on outdoor education
Day 2:
- Outdoor education basics
- Experience of the challenges and impact of using outdoor settings in the teaching
- Game based learning in an outdoor environment
- Designing Outdoor classroom
Day 3:
- Guided city tour
- An outdoor excursion
- Experiencing learning by doing through first-hand and sensory activities
- Multisensory activities
Day 4:
- Outdoor education routines
- ICT in Outdoor Education
- Outdoor art and creativity workshops
- Creating an outdoor classroom – workshop
Day 5:
- Final activities (How can I adapt outdoor education in my work?)
- Evaluation of the course
- Diploma awarding
Day 6.
- Half day boat excursion including outdoor activities (optional)
NOTE: Program may be subject to change!