{"id":11556,"date":"2017-12-08T00:09:22","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T16:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/singteach.nie.edu.sg?p=11556"},"modified":"2021-09-15T06:54:02","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T06:54:02","slug":"issue63-research01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/singteach.nie.edu.sg\/2017\/12\/08\/issue63-research01\/","title":{"rendered":"Fostering a Sense of Place Through the Outdoors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>A common perception among teachers and parents is that outdoor learning focuses largely on adventure activities that carry a certain degree of risk. Extending outdoor education to the wider school community while mitigating this negative perception requires a deeper look into the philosophies behind outdoor education and how it can lead to real, authentic learning for students.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_11584\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11584\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11584\" src=\"https:\/\/singteach.nie.edu.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Tay-Kim-Seng-2-cropped-400x275.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"275\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-11584\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beyond participating in outdoor activities, Kim Seng believes it is important that students reflect on their experiences in order to learn.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Kayaking, hiking and mountain-climbing \u2013 these are some activities that come to mind when one thinks of outdoor education. However, outdoor education is more than just participation in such adventures.<\/p>\n<h1>Reflective and Experiential Learning<\/h1>\n<p>According to Mr Tay Kim Seng, Senior Specialist (Outdoor Education) at the <a href=\"https:\/\/moe.gov.sg\/\">Ministry of Education (MOE)<\/a>, one of the key philosophies behind outdoor education as espoused by John Dewey is that of experiential education: providing an educative experience rooted in real world situations. Dewey\u2019s philosophy further suggests that if students do not reflect on their own learning and apply the learning into future situations, the experience may not be educative.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo make an experience educative, it is not enough to just expose students to outdoor activities,\u201d says Kim Seng. \u201cWe need to bring them to the next stage of reflecting on what they have been experiencing in order for them to learn. This is a critical aspect of experiential learning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p align=\"LEFT\">\n<div class=\"shortcode-block-quote-center\" style=\"color:#999999\">\n<p align=\"LEFT\">&#8220;We need to help our children be more inquisitive about the environment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8211; <b>Kim Seng<\/b>,<b> <\/b>on the need to look beyond the adventure aspect of outdoor education<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h1>Place-based Learning<\/h1>\n<p>One way educators can emphasize reflection during outdoor activities is through place-based learning. While outdoor education is invariably about the acquisition of outdoor skills through adventure activities, it should not neglect the insights and knowledge that students can gain from the outdoor spaces themselves, says Kim Seng.<\/p>\n<p>His research centres on the concept of place-based learning, which seeks to help students develop an awareness, sensitivity and concern for the environment.<\/p>\n<p>By incorporating place-based learning into the outdoor education curriculum, teachers can create more authentic learning experiences for their students. \u201cGetting kids to learn more about place, people and the natural world helps us to educate for the larger aim of sustainability,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt also leads to community-based learning and citizenship education.\u201d<\/p>\n<h1>Gaining Both Skills <em>and <\/em>Knowledge<\/h1>\n<p>To implement place-based learning, a fundamental question about outdoor education<br \/>\nthe teacher should ask is: What does the place have to offer in terms of opportunities for student learning? Instead of treating a place as a mere \u201cbackdrop\u201d to an activity, immersion into different environments can help students become more aware of places and people, and develop curiosity about their surroundings.<\/p>\n<p>He cites an example of how a school trip to Kota Tinggi in Malaysia can be a valuable opportunity for students to learn about the significance of a place.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was one school that brought their students on a kayaking expedition along the Johor River in Kota Tinggi and many of these students did not know that a large part of our water supply from Johor River is treated there,\u201d says Kim Seng. Such a situation is an opportunity for students to learn about the historical significance of Kota Tinggi and the water scarcity problem Singapore faces.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are many potential learning opportunities when you combine place-based learning with adventure learning, so the focus shouldn\u2019t just be kayaking,\u201d he adds. \u201cWe need to help our children be more inquisitive about the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In this case, place-based learning could also involve students interacting with the people living along the river bank to better understand real world issues such as water scarcity and environmental degradation.<\/p>\n<p align=\"LEFT\">\n<div class=\"shortcode-block-quote-right\" style=\"color:#999999\">\n<p align=\"LEFT\">&#8220;Getting kids to learn more about places, people and the natural world helps us to educate for the larger aim of sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8211; <b>Kim Seng <\/b>on why it is important to develop students\u2019 awareness of their surroundings<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h1>Education for Sustainability<\/h1>\n<p>With challenges such as climate change facing us, Kim Seng hopes that outdoor education will eventually be more broad-based to include environmental education and education for sustainability.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Outward Bound Singapore (OBS), they teach our students to adhere to the \u2018leave no trace\u2019 principles to protect our natural spaces, but education for sustainability goes beyond that,\u201d he says. \u201cWe need to educate our students on the scarcity of natural resources and the need to live sustainably on a daily basis. Place-based learning is one approach to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One way to practise sustainable living is to start with the classroom. By fostering a sense of attachment to a place \u2013 in this case, the classroom \u2013 students naturally learn to conserve energy (by switching off the lights) and keep the classroom clean (by picking up litter on the ground), among other things.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the primary school level, we encourage teachers to start in the classroom and school backyard. At the secondary level, we encourage them to bring students out to a local park and community where they can learn more about the environment and people,\u201d he says. \u201cGiven the importance of education for sustainability, outdoor education can play a more prominent role in preparing students for the issues confronting us today.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A common perception among teachers and parents is that outdoor learning focuses largely on adventure activities that carry [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11584,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[32,337],"tags":[127,150,189,233,339,340],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/singteach.nie.edu.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11556"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/singteach.nie.edu.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/singteach.nie.edu.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singteach.nie.edu.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singteach.nie.edu.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11556"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/singteach.nie.edu.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17902,"href":"https:\/\/singteach.nie.edu.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11556\/revisions\/17902"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singteach.nie.edu.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/singteach.nie.edu.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singteach.nie.edu.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singteach.nie.edu.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}