Life Long Learning through Stories.

Isn't it amazing how life so frequently goes round in circles? None less so than in Outdoor Learning where the use of stories has been quintessentially a core element in being outdoors. 

So, sitting round the Carbeth Fires in the mid years of the 20th Century is just one of the many billions of social and formal settings including our parents' knees where the telling of and listening to stories has been and, for as long as our specie of animal retains the power of speech or any form of person-to-person communication, will always be THE most important form of learning. 

So, it is interesting to have read at least three emails from different groups I have chosen to be a member of, each extolling the beauty and intensity of engaging participants in story-telling. It's a pity that one presenter has hijacked what is common to most experienced practitioners by personalising the intrinsic value of storytelling as if it is a new discovery;

I quote: I have found that where there is truth or emotional impact a story can make 

a positive and lasting difference.  

but I am sure s/he is exceptionally well intentioned and perhaps stating the obvious is not so patronising as it might first seem because modern education is becoming saturated by number crunching or as it is called in Scotland; Tracking and Monitoring.

The burning obsession amongst both our politicians and senior education managers to be able to prove both their value and the success of their policies has lead to a dire and demonic drive for a relentless demand of streams of data-based evidence of the impact from each and every learning experience where creating, imagining and longer-term impact don't fit.

It's no wonder that the outdoor learning industry feels it needs to keep re-stating the obvious. As learning becomes ever more reduced to assessable outcomes, creativity and free-thinking become side-lined in the world of school curriucula by those who purport to want the very best for young people.

Our bean-counters, political managers and blinkered education leaders need to be constantly reminded of what anybody involved in the creative subjects knows: stories are the core of human communication and the significance of stories is an irreplaceable facet of human history not to be tampered with nor replaced by digital 'intelligence' and policies which value learning in terms of 'money spent = output achieved. 

Curiosity, Connections and Creativity

As a teacher, I have always held close to my heart the need to be able to inspire curiosity in learners, the importance of learning to be connected and the vital ingredient of promoting creativity. Now, in writing 'creativity' I mean all aspects of the human power of ingenuity; whether it be inventing, making, refining, developing, using, growing, helping or any other 'ing' process which adds to the mental and physical well-being of our species.

It is by using the outdoor environment, I believe we have the best opportunity to  enable most learning through doing. Also, this real life classroom promotes profoundly deep learning which can have extraordinary benefits for everyone: and what's more, it's vital we make a concerted, unequivocal and genuine effort to change the way we teach because, as animals, we have developed the most sophisticated and ghastly means to harm and destroy each other, accumulate huge coffers of cash by exploiting others, deny others and sometimes ourselves of compassion and, worst of all, let our selfishness drive our productive energies regardless of the unidentifiable and unjustifiable damage we do to each other and at each others' expense. The current Western models of compulsory education have been exhausted and we need a radical re-think.

The article I have chosen to highlight here is one of a number of increasingly numerous pleas in newspapers, blogs, documentaries by academics, education professionals and well kent personalities who are trying desperately to engage both policy makers and the wider population in thinking about what we really value, what we truly believe is the purpose of education and how our blinkered approach to teaching and learning is only compounding the problems we, as a Nation and as a individuals, are creating for ourselves. 

With the greatest of respect to Ben Fogle, his article is reproduced here with additional bracketed comments by me. 

“Instead of pumping time and money into exams (which only really provide data that teaching of some sort or another has occurred), we should focus on wellbeing and encouraging children to connect with the natural world”  Ben Fogle

Government plans to introduce national tests for seven-year-olds shows just how far our exam obsession has come. Our kids now face constant assessment as politicians attempt to measure the success of schools. Children have become tiny cogs in a box-ticking government machine. Education has lost its way.

This matters to me a great deal, especially since becoming a father to Ludo, five, and Iona, four. I don’t want my children to feel the same sense of failure I did growing up because they’re not good at passing tests. Let’s be honest, some people are better suited to exams than others in the same way that some of us are more sportier or arty.

There are a few of us whose minds turn to putty under pressure. Exams left me feeling worthless and lacking in confidence. The worse I did in each test, the more pressure I felt to deliver results that never came. When I failed half my A-levels, and was rejected by my university choices, I spiralled into a depression.

The wilderness rescued me. I have been shaped by my experiences in the great outdoors. Feeling comfortable in the wild gave me the confidence to be who I am, not who others want me to be. There is a natural simplicity to nature; it is far more tactile and tangible than the classroom. 

It’s time to turn classrooms inside out

Instead of pumping time and money into exams, we should focus on (mental and physical) wellbeing (compassion, self-awareness and understanding of each other) and encouraging our children to connect with the natural world. I’m not suggesting the abolition of the exam system, but we could certainly cut back to allow more time for children to explore the world around them.

It doesn’t need a huge investment either. Even if you don’t have immediate access, wilderness camps and schools are waiting to receive inner-city children. Part of the beauty of wilderness schooling is that the overheads are very low. You want a classroom? Build a shelter from nature’s store. You want to eat? Forage for it.

And evidence shows connecting with nature really works. Free play in the outdoors is good for social and emotional development, improves self-awareness, and makes children more co-operative. A study by the American Medical Association in 2005 concluded that: “Children will be smarter, better able to get along with others, healthier and happier when they have regular opportunities for free and unstructured play in the out-of-doors.” 

There is also scientific evidence that the wilderness can reduce hyperactivity and has a soothing effect on children, especially those suffering from attention deficit disorder.

We’ve got it all wrong. We need to bring positivity, health and wellbeing back into our schools. It’s time to turn everything on its head and classrooms inside out.

There are many examples to learn from. (The most often quoted example is) German visionary Kurt Hahn; who was one of the early pioneers of outdoor education. He founded Schule Schloss Salem in Germany and the United World Colleges movement that includes Atlantic college in Wales and Gordonston in Scotland. His educational vision encompassed craftsmanship, community service, outdoor pursuits and physical skills.

The Scandinavians have also led the way in this field for many years, not only ensuring class time in the wilderness, but also replacing teaching by subjects with topics. 

Wilderness schooling involves a similar approach of non-conformist team work, with kids expected to work together in nature. No longer do they sit in rows while their teachers lecture, lessons are now collaborative. The system is geared towards improving communication, confidence, character and resilience rather than pushing kids through what have essentially become exam & attainment factories (where most of the so called knowledge is rarely if ever called on again).

Our once progressive and world-class education system now seems to have ground to a halt. Why are we still using teaching systems that rely on cramming information to be regurgitated in exams? (and why are we failing to recognise that simply following what has been before - Grammar schools, National testing in Scotland, curricula which rely on the university-based system of discrete subject specific timetabling and repeated attacks on the teaching profession including the grossly critical demand for ‘continuous improvement’, whatever that is.)

I want an education system that works inside out. The outdoors becomes a weekly topic – encompassing geography, environment, resourcefulness, home economics, science, and maths – undertaken outside. Classes could be in an inner-city park, scrub land or garden.

As my own children step on to the conveyor belt, I am determined to give them a rounded education. I am in a fortunate position to share some of the wonders of the wilderness with my own kids. But we all have a responsibility to ensure every child has access to the same life-enhancing opportunities. The government should think long and hard before launching another budget-sapping exam and think about investing in the health and well being of future generations.

We’ve got it all wrong. We need to bring positivity, health and well being back into our schools. It’s time to turn everything on its head and classrooms inside out.

There are many examples to learn from. (The most often quoted example is) German visionary Kurt Hahn; who was one of the early pioneers of outdoor education. He founded Schule Schloss Salem in Germany and the United World Colleges movement that includes Atlantic college in Wales and Gordonston in Scotland. His educational vision encompassed craftsmanship, community service, outdoor pursuits and physical skills.

The Scandinavians have also led the way in this field for many years, not only ensuring class time in the wilderness, but also at virtually all levels of school education, replacing teaching by subjects with topics. 

Wilderness schooling involves a similar approach of non-conformist team work, with kids expected to work together in nature. No longer do they sit in rows while their teachers lecture, lessons are now collaborative. The system is geared towards improving communication, confidence, character and resilience rather than pushing kids through what have essentially become exam factories.

Our once progressive and world-class education system now seems to have ground to a halt. Why are we still using teaching systems that rely on cramming information to be regurgitated in exams? (and why are we failing to recognise that simply following what has been before - Grammar schools, National testing in Scotland, curricula which rely on the university-based system of discrete subject specific timetabling and repeated attacks on the teaching profession including the grossly critical demand for ‘continuous improvement’, whatever that is.)

I want an education system that works inside out. The outdoors becomes a weekly topic – encompassing geography, environment, resourcefulness, home economics, science, and maths – undertaken outside. Classes could be in an inner-city park, scrub land or garden.

As my own children step on to the conveyor belt, I am determined to give them a rounded education. I am in a fortunate position to share some of the wonders of the wilderness with my own kids. But we all have a responsibility to ensure every child has access to the same life-enhancing opportunities. The government should think long and hard before launching another budget-sapping exam and think about investing in the health and well being of future generations. (Ben Fogle)