Professional Development Workshop: ‘Outdoor Learning & the Curriculum’
This practical workshop demonstrates how the Australian Curriculum cross-curriculum priority area of Sustainability can be addressed while taking learning outdoors. The content draws on place-responsive pedagogies and nature connection practices which connect students to place and foster a care of the natural world.
Workshop participants will:
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- Learn about the benefits of outdoor learning and how outdoor activities can be applied to learning areas including Science, English, Humanities and Social Sciences and the Arts.
- Experience a range of activities and tools that foster connection to place and grow children’s ecological literacy. Activities include ‘sit spots’, ‘the web of life’; nature journaling; the ‘Council of all Beings’ and more.
- Reflect with other participants on the activities experienced and consider ways to adapt or extend them for different groups of students or for different learning areas.
- Be introduced to ‘nature names’ – a practice that can be woven through units of work to support students to learn about the plants and animals in local ecosystems and their relationships with each other.
- Take home a resources list, activity descriptions with links to the Australian curriculum and a certificate for 6 hours of professional development.
The approaches and activities introduced in this workshop support students to increase critical and creative thinking and have the knowledge, understanding and skills to engage in creating a more sustainable world. Outdoor learning using these experience-based strategies also supports children’s emotional well-being and physical health.
While the workshop is focused on primary school teachers, the learnings are also applicable to teachers and educators who work with other students as well as homeschooling parents. The content relates particularly to sections 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.2, and 3.3 of the Australian professional standards for teachers.
This workshop is being run at Northey Street City Farm on August 13, 2022.
We are also available to come to your school to run PD sessions for staff that are linked to the Australian Curriculum in the areas of Building Eco-Literacy, Place-Based Education, Deep Ecology for schools, Successful School Gardening and Waste Education.
Testimonials
If I can facilitate my students to feel as nourished, connected, and calm as I do after this workshop, I will be a happy teacher! – Megan Porter, Year 5 teacher.
This workshop nurtured and tended to the earthy seeds beginning to sprout in my mind and heart. I now have a lush garden of inspiration, learning, creativity, mindfulness + play growing wildly! Thank you so much. – Sophie Kent, School Gardening Educator.
Emma’s work is academically well researched and professionally presented, with lots of new take home ideas for teachers to action with children in nature, especially in the school setting. – Joy Emms, homeschool parent, and forest school practitioner.
Emma’s knowledge and passion for engaging people with their local environment and nature is always inspiring; this workshop provided exactly what I’d hoped for and it was wonderful to hear the impact it has for teachers in attendance today. – Davina Tapper, Homeschool Parent.
I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop. It was well-structured but also with the space of outdoor education. This workshop will support me in being a teacher that provides more holistic education. Thank you. – Participant at 2021 workshop.
This workshop provided fantastic learning opportunities across all primary learning contexts. Can’t wait to share this with colleagues and to bring my students outside! – Participant at 2021 workshop.
WiseEarth Education 