Forest School is an outdoor learning method that originated in Scandinavia and is gaining traction throughout the UK and in Canada. Forest School is play-based and child centered, where the educators take cues from the students as to what they would like to investigate. The children involved in Forest School gain many insights, including an enhanced knowledge of their local environment. Forest School learning can take place on or off of school grounds and can happen on a weekly basis or more or less often (Harris, 2017). When children are outside, they can learn differently - with more physicality. The children are able to run and explore. Forest School lends itself to child-lead learning, or inquiry-based learning (Harris, 2017). At the Guelph Outdoor School we call this nature immersion programming.
At Forest School, students are engaged in an active questioning process about nature and embrace discoveries that drive their learning. This approach stimulates curiosity and ensures that children are actively engaged in their learning, rather than passively receiving knowledge. The inquiry approach is experience-based and results in learning that is fun, memorable, and well consolidated. The research findings suggest that blending Forest School concepts with mainstream settings contributes to children’s social, cognitive, emotional and physical skill development through experiential learning using play (Coates & Pimlott-Wilson, 2019).
The physical benefits of nature immersion programs
There are many physical benefits to outdoor learning and education for students. They include fresh air, change of scenery and physical movement. Children have a natural need to move to help expel energy and allowing them to do so helps them better embrace new learning when they return to the classroom (Alphonso, 2013). Being outside and unrestricted by four walls, children have the freedom and opportunity to move freely and engage in many different types of physical activities. “Engagement in a range of physical activities not only [presents] children with the opportunity to learn about the natural environment... but also [helps] children learn about how to navigate a challenging environment” (Coates & Pimlott-Wilson, 2019, p.31). Spending time in forests has been shown to boost the immune system, increase energy, decrease anxiety, depression and anger and reduce stress and bring about a state of
relaxation (Li, 2018, p.64). Outdoor education allows children to develop both their fine and gross motor skills with running, balancing, digging, and climbing, as well as more intricate work with clay, rope tying and hand crafts (Walmsley, N. & Westall D., 2018).
Enhanced social skills gained from nature immersion programs
Learning in Forest School brings about an increase in collaboration and teamwork for students. In traditional school settings children are limited to working independently or with others seated in close proximity to themselves. Working outdoors with no set seating, children can expand their social network and learn more about their peers and how to work together. In an outdoor setting, students are often observed working “alongside peers constantly on joint activities,
aiming to achieve mutual goals” (Coates & Pimlott-Wilson, 2019). The breaking down of physical barriers in an outdoor setting appears to have a correlation to breaking down social barriers as well.
Building a connection to nature and the environment
Being in the natural environment and using the different senses of sight, smell, touch and sound truly immerses someone in that place. “Immersion in the natural environment...exposes the young directly and immediately to the very elements from which humans evolved: earth, water, air and other living kin, large and small” (Louv, 2008, p.98). Students who spend more time outdoors, have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the environment which translates into their learning indoors as well. Constable (2019) makes the connection between increasing children’s knowledge of the outside world and their roles as caretakers of the earth. “These children are the same people who in thirty years’ time will be expected to solve the problems associated with global warming...” (p. 3). It is vital that we give students the opportunity to become familiar with the natural world. Anderson, Comay, & Chiarotto (2017), list two main criteria for developing environmentally aware citizens; giving repeated opportunity for unstructured outdoor play and being with an “environmentally aware adult” (p. 67).
How can forest school assist in children's social and academic engagement at school?
Forest School helps students develop the skills to both look after themselves and their classmates(Constable, 2019). Constable noted in her book that there had been noticeable improvements in the students behaviour after outdoor learning. Sisson and Lash state that “long, uninterrupted time outdoors allows children to develop strong relationships with nature, teachers, and one another” (2017, p. 10). Strong relationships between student and teacher can improve student engagement and increase their chance for success (Student Identity and Engagement in Elementary Schools, 2011). “Forest Schools and environmental attitudes: A case study of children aged 8-11 years” (2015) mentions that the majority of children are kinesthetic learners (37%) and Forest School allows for those learners to use their hands to
create, whether that is mixing solids and liquids in an outdoor kitchen or digging for worms. They are able to learn in a way that is best suited to their needs. The article continues by stating that after participating in a multi-week Forest School program, the students demonstrated increased self-esteem, confidence, improved social skills, motivation, and concentration (Turtle, Convery, & Convery, 2015).
The connection between Forest School and inquiry-based learning environments
Forest School or outdoor learning pairs well with inquiry-based learning by providing a stimulating environment in which children can fully participate. Inquiry based learning “promotes engagement, literacy and deep learning for all students, especially reluctant ones, and invites them in the classroom project as fair and necessary participants” (Wilhelm and Wilhelm, 2010, p.39). The engagement aspect of learning is key here, being in the outdoors and having access to natural materials to work with has been shown to increase student engagement. In one study it was noted that “it became apparent that what [Forest School] offered children was the opportunity to engage in experiential, hands-on learning that engaged all of their senses in the learning process” (Coates & Pimlott-Wilson, 2019, p.30). Through an ever changing environment with many available stimuli, an outdoor setting goes hand in hand with
increasing student interest. Having students who are engaged with their work and the information they gain from it, helps them form a deeper understanding of the construction of knowledge.
References
Alphonso, C. (2013, September 23). Schools looking outside to inspire students. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com
Anderson D., Comay, J., & Chiarotto, L. (2017). Natural Curiosity 2nd Edition. Montmagny, QC: Marquis Book Printing.
Coates, J & Pimlott-Wilson, H. (2019). Learning While Playing: Children’s Forest School Experiences in the UK. British Educational Research Journal, 45(1), 21-40, DOI:10.1002/berj.3491
Constable, K. (2019). The Outdoor Classroom in Practice, Ages 3-7. Oxon: Routledge.
Elliot, H. (2015). Forest School in an inner city? Making the impossible possible. Education, 43(6), 3-13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2013.872159
Harris, F. (2017). Outdoor learning spaces: The case of forest school. Royal Geographical Society, 50, 222-231, DOI:10.1111/area.12360
Li, Dr.Qing (2018). Forest bathing: How trees can help you find health and happiness. New York, NY: Viking.
Louv, Richard. (2008). Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Walmsley, N., & Westall, D. (2018). Forest School Adventures: Outdoor Skills and Play for Children. East Sussex: Guild of Master Craftsman Publications Ltd.
Wilhelm, J. D., & Wilhelm, P. J. (2010). Inquiring Minds Learn to Read, Write, and Think: Reaching All Learners through Inquiry. Middle School Journal, 41(5), 39-46, DOI: 10.1080/00940771.2010.11461738
