Technology is both
alluring and unavoidable to children these days. But in our quest to use
technology as a means to educate, inspire, and entertain young people, we
cannot do so at the expense of spending time outdoors playing. The benefits of
unrestricted play have been documented (http://www.childrenandnature.org/research)
as have the growing trend of children spending increasing time in front of
screens and fewer time in the outdoors developing in ways children have developed
throughout time. Outdoor education is a general term used to describe education
that takes place outside of the traditional classroom in natural environments. Outdoor
education aims at enhancing social interaction, gaining a deeper understanding
of and relationship with nature, and inspiring confidence, creativity, and curiosity
in young children. Outdoor education has some roots in scouting and saw huge
developments in the late 20th Century with programs like Outward
Bound, The National Outdoor Leadership School, and college outdoor education
programs at schools such as The Evergreen State College. In addition, outdoor
education programs have been used with much success for “at-risk” student groups
and for adjudicated youth (http://www.aee.org/publications). In
addition, individual school districts have their own programs, such as the
Marine Science Station of Crystal River, Florida and 4-H programs across the
United States, such as this one in Virginia http://www.retreatatsmithmountainlake.com/prog_outdoorEd.html.
More emphasis needs to be placed on providing outdoor experiences for school
aged children. One such program that in addition to reaching school-aged children
and also provides training for teachers is the Seek Education Exlpore Discover
(SEEDS) program (http://esa.org/seeds/). These types of non-profit
community-based organizations that seek to get students outside of the
classroom and provide experiences to students need the support of not only
teachers, parents, and school districts, but educational legislation ought to
support such programs. Too often these types of programs are the first to be
cut when budgets shrink or when standardized test scores become the focus of
education. One such state that has taken great strides to ensure outdoor
education becomes a thing of the past is Minnesota. Recent legislation
recommended a series of initiatives to support outdoor education including one
that requires schools to provide outdoor education experiences to meet academic
standards. This paper provides a compelling argument for the need of such
legislature in American school districts (http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/aboutdnr/reports/legislative/outdoor_ed.pdf).
With increasing sedentary lifestyles, urbanization, growing immigrant
populations, and technology taking a greater piece of the pie, we cannot ignore
the value of experiencing the outdoors. Technology is not the panacea in education,
but only a tool, and all too often a misused one. The importance for children
to step out, get dirty, to sense the world around them cannot be
understated.
Resources:
Lack of outdoor play
said to hurt children's development
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/aboutdnr/reports/legislative/outdoor_ed.pdf
The Children &
Nature Network
http://www.childrenandnature.org/research
Ecological Society of
America http://esa.org/seeds/
The Skelton 4-H
Center http://www.retreatatsmithmountainlake.com/prog_outdoorEd.html
Seek Education, Explore, DiScover – SEEDS http://www.seedskids.org
The Marine Science
Station http://www.citrus.k12.fl.us/mss/
The Academy of
Environmental Science Inc. http://www.environmental-school.org/
