Global Citizenship magazine for schools

There is strong evidence of the benefits for Scotland’s learners that taking learning outside the four walls of the classroom can bring. A recent survey of Scottish teachers at all levels who take their pupils into the outdoors locally found it makes learning more enjoyable, challenging, active and collaborative.¹ From the school grounds and the local area to going abroad, there are many locations for using the outdoor learning approach to teaching.

“The outdoor environment is rich and resourceful and helps develop children’s understanding.” Nursery Head Teacher

However, outdoor learning does not automatically build the skills, values and attitudes required to address the social inequalities and environmental concerns we face today. So how can local outdoor learning in Scotland help learners recognise their place and role in our interdependent and globalised world?

Opening up the classroom

Outdoor learning has an important role to play in helping children understand about our planet and the complex life systems it supports. It is a participatory experience which helps pupils make real personal connections to the world in which we live providing a sense of place. Outdoor learning can motivate young people to think about and take action at local, national and global levels to live harmoniously and deal effectively with the impact we have on the environment.

Furthermore it can act as a rich stimulus for creative thinking and learning, affording opportunities for enquiry, critical thinking and reflection. This experiential approach to learning has strong synergies with a Global Citizenship approach.

“My daughter has a much greater understanding of the world around her and the need to care for it.” Parent, Primary School pupil

Learning for Sustainability

In Scotland the GTCS Professional Standards place Learning for Sustainability at their heart. This brings together outdoor learning, global citizenship and sustainable development education into a coherent whole to ensure that teachers and learners are prepared to help meet the challenges facing the world locally and globally. All teachers are expected to ‘use outdoor learning opportunities within and beyond the school boundary’.

Outdoor learning which prepares young people to meet the challenges facing the world, requires teachers who feel prepared to facilitate this deep learning. It requires teachers who are confident to take their learners on a very personal journey to explore their own place and reflect on what it is about their place they want to sustain or that they want to change.

“Team work and getting involved in the community are the best things about what the school does.” Secondary school learner

Conversations about Learning for Sustainability

The work of 20 schools and nurseries in 14 local authorities across the country is celebrated in Conversations about learning for sustainability² This report was launched by Education Scotland in December 2014, marking the end of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Outdoor Learning is a core feature of each inspiring case study and overall the use of outdoor learning and real-life contexts within their community was found to help engage children and young people in their learning. Given direct experience of Scotland’s natural and cultural heritage there is evidence that learners develop respect and care for themselves, for others and for the world.

Joined-up learning

Milnathort Primary School, Perth & Kinross, for example, is part of a cluster group which benefits from the Growing up with Loch Leven partnership programme. The programme has been developed by RSPB Scotland, Historic Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage to connect children with their local natural, cultural and historic heritage. Working with Judy Paul from RSPB Scotland, the P6/P7 learners first took a global perspective, exploring how the RSPB is working with local peoplein Gola, Sierra Leone and Sumatra, Indonesia to protect forests from logging, provide habitats for endangered wildlife and build opportunities for sustainable lifestyles.

Classes then looked at the local context, visiting their local nature reserve to examine a local habitat that also has species that are in danger. Loch Leven is an example of a declining wetland habitat with equally declining wetland bird species mainly due to development and agriculture. The children learned about the lapwing, a bird that has declined by 50% in the last 40 years due to loss of habitat and threats to nature on their own doorstep, an area in which they could take some action to make a difference. They compared habitats with their respective environmental and human impacts gaining a global perspective and then a local context for sustainability.

Judy Paul said, “The emotional connection with the local environment provides a better understanding of impacts on habitats and species and learning about the opportunities for a more sustainable way of living both locally and globally.”

On our schools pages you will find two other excellent case studies that exemplify how Global Citizenship, Sustainable Development and Outdoor Learning can be woven together to provide a rich, context for learning.

Our Forest, Our Future, produced by Scotdec, in collaboration with Forestry Commission Scotland, provides a variety of outdoor and classroom activities that examine the interdependence between people and forests using case studies from Scotland and the Congo Basin.

It also encourages reflection on the possible futures for the world’s forests and ways to take positive practical action for forests, where people learn to co-exist with them in a sustainable way.

Useful organisations

• Eco Schools
• Grounds for Learning
• John Muir Award

The following is a list of providers from Education Scotland.

www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningandteaching