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A natural solution to learning
If you go down into the woods today you'll be in for a big surprise! You'll find groups of children enjoying the great outdoors thanks to an innovative research project funded by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).
SNH is keen to promote more school trips to its 53 national nature reserves around Scotland and is looking to learn from teachers involved in the project about the simplest ways of going about organising educational outings.
SNH has funded workshops with teachers to explain the project and will be meeting the cost of the days out of the classroom and the final analysis of the findings of the project by Dr Greg Mannion at Stirling University.
One of the teachers involved with the project was Debbie Hughes when she was a teacher at Libberton Primary School near Biggar in South Lanarkshire. She organised for a group of P1-P4s to visit a SNH nature reserve near Lanark and said the children loved the experience.
"I used the trip to Gleghorn Glen in the Clyde Valley Woodlands as a way to explore the theme of 'my special place'. We had already discussed other special places such as home and the school grounds and this trip allowed the children to get out and explore how the woodland provides animal habitats.
"The lovely thing about the visit was how the children reacted to the environment. I did not want to focus on a narrow subject like geography or biology, but let the children see the broader role of the forest. We did simple exercises like staying silent to hear the noises of the woodlands and to collect items from the forest floor such as leaves and acorns. I gave them cameras to take pictures of the forest so we had plenty of material to take back to the school to develop the themes further.
"I could see the children really enjoyed the freedom they had to explore. They were fascinated by an old overgrown tree stump that they thought would make a good house for forest creatures and made up stories about what types of animals lived there. It was really nice to see them use their imaginations to express themselves.
"It was an interesting experience because it gave the children the opportunity to develop into confident individuals. It was a chance to take a broader view and appreciate nature for what it is. Hopefully, they will want to visit more places like this as they grow up," she added.
SHN Communications Officer Brian Spoor has been impressed with the response to the project.
He said: "The teachers are very enthusiastic about the opportunity for children to experience and appreciate nature and believe it has a valid part to play in Curriculum for Excellence.
"In a sense, we are testing the waters, to see how teachers can make the process of organising these trips as simple and effective as possible."
Brian has been pleased with the feedback from the teachers so far, but will have to wait until the end of the year before all the findings are in and the work is analysed by Stirling University in the new year.
He appreciates there are many barriers to organising trips for children. One thing he knows from feedback is that if the ethos of school trips is not endorsed by the local authority then teachers do not feel permitted, despite enthusiasm and support in the school.
"We'd like to see how outings to experience nature can benefit the children. We are not particularly trying to recreate the classroom in these natural places - we see the experience itself as an important part of their education and we are keen to see how teachers fit that into CfE," he added.
Clyde Valley woodlands
This reserve is made up of six different woodlands: Cleghorn Glen, Cartland Craigs, Falls of Clyde, Chatelherault, Nethan Gorge and Mauldslie Woods.
Cleghorn Glen and Cartland Craigs feature gorge woodland typical of the middle Clyde Valley. The steep gorges have protected the rich mix of ash, oak and wych elm trees from felling and development. And there's varied bird life, including warblers, bullfinches, and kingfishers. In spring, the forest floor is covered in colourful carpets of bluebells and primroses.
Finding how the trips add value
Dr Mannion's role at Stirling University is to summarise the insights and experiences of the teachers and pupils involved in the project and to help the teachers share their thoughts among themselves through online chats and face-to-face workshops.
He said: "The project is also about trying to document the way any teacher who is not a specialist in outdoor work, can find ways of bringing their pupils into outdoor contexts, especially nature, and facilitate learning in a wide variety of ways.
"There are a wide variety of approaches being tried too. There are teachers working in an interdisciplinary way, while others are working with art and design, ICT, and religious and moral education for example, so the findings will potentially have considerable reach for any teacher of any subject in primary or secondary school," he added.