Learning Outside: The Benefits of Place Based Education

Before taking this class I never really considered that outdoor education was possible, or, for that matter, beneficial. But, after reading some articles and finding out that some schools are exclusively outdoors, I realized that having school outdoors at every school is not entirely possible. Thus, I considered how some schools could incorporate outdoor learning into their curriculum. One school, the Robert E. Willett Elementary school, located in California, has an outdoor education page listed on its site. They plan to take their fifth grade class to the Sly Park Outdoor Education camp for five days. It requires some trust and financial commitment by the parents but I think that every school should try and do something like this to better educate their students.

The trip is well-planned and coordinated by the school's staff (making sure the kids have the proper medication if needed; chaperones are fingerprinted; having a pre-trip meeting). And, most importantly, the trip is truly beneficial to the kids. The children partake in group focused activities that promote teamwork and require cooperation to succeed. Social skills are essential as the children need to communicate in an unfamiliar environment. Some children are also able to demonstrate some skills that they would not be able to display inside the classroom: working as a leader, enduring physical activity, learning about nature. Essentially, it is a way to convey that while academic education is important, environmental education should not be ignored. The children should be given experiences outside of the classroom simply because it exposes them to nature. It teaches them about the environment and it teaches them to appreciate our world. Of course, doing something like this is difficult for an urban school far away from camps like this, but I think that outdoor education should always be in the discussion about reforming our schools. It's one thing to read about the environment, but to actually feel it and experience it is far more important. If we want our children to grow up educated, to strive towards making the world a better place, it is absolutely essential to incorporate outdoor education.

Froebel and Banking

Froebel is a German philosopher who is most known for creating what we now know as Kindergarten. Before Froebel the separation between infant, child, and adult was much more broad. Yet, Froebel had a revolutionary philosophy: children could develop social, developmental, and academic skills at a young age. He "designed open-ended instructional materials called the Gifts, with complementary Occupations" (Leblanc). Essentially, Froebel believed that children could develop essential skills with the right curriculum. Utilizing toys he created activities that greatly benefitted the students that teachers could introduce to young children. Everything he taught focused on building  a child's skills in a building block manner. Children would start small and learn the basics so, when they reached the normal age for schooling they would already understand the basic fundamentals of education. Initially, his philosophies were not well-received but after his death his vision was implemented throughout the world.

Freire's banking concept of education is a critique on the education system. From his studies Freire formulated that children were basically receptors of information. The teacher dictates the intended information while the child records and memorizes said information. Froebel would certainly be against this type of schooling. He wanted to promote social activity and engaged learning; not a feeder system of information. Students, especially young children, are not meant to sit and simply record information. Thanks to Froebel's ideas, we now understand that children need to be engaged in  an active learning environment. Learning the fundamentals is, of course, essential to elementary education but how we convey that information is extremely important. Children need to be slowly introduced concepts, to interact with their fellow students and learn on their own. If they are simply told what to do and what they need to know it will hamper their creativity and strip them of understanding some fundamental and developmental skills. It is strange now to consider that used to be such a foreign concept but it is great to see that so many schools are adapting Froebel's philosophy and understanding the importance of developing a child's cognitive and social skills.

Leblanc, Miriam. "Friedrich Froebel: His life and influence on education." Community Playthings. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.

Educational Philosophy

The Educational Philosophy Test along with its scoring sheet is an interesting way to look at ones personal teaching philosophy. Like all questionnaire based tests, it is not completely accurate but it can be used as a tool to reflect upon your own philosophy, why you think the way you do, and why others do not suit you. Based upon my scores I am technically a Reconstructionist. In fact, the only other philosophy that I scored high on was Progressivism; however, Progressivism is a little too reliant on personal experience for my taste, even if I do believe in its focus on adaptability.

The questions that determine Reconstructionism/Critical Theory are quite interesting. For instance, even though I love literature, I believe it is worthless if we do not use it as a tool to expand our minds and enact new modes of thought. Schools do far too little work in social reform and it should be a primary aspect of education. Without a focus on change, what are we truly promoting in our schools? Traditional values are a nice thought, something to remember and understand eras, but if we emphasize "passing on tradition" our society will continue to deteriorate. Those who believe that remaining stagnant is a viable option are living in a fantasy world. We need to be able to adapt to technology, to philosophy, and to current issues. Without context we are only teaching our students a jumble of information that they can vomit out during a test, only to forget it in the future. Thus, question 25 is essential to my education philosophy. "Essential skills" is such a cop-out term, as if you could definitively create a list of things that everyone needs to be able to do. It's ludicrous. If we're not pushing our students to become better people, to consequently better society, I honestly don't see the point in education. If you wanna create automatons who all think and believe in the same manner, good for you. We will continue to spiral as a society. But, if we want to do anything worthwhile, to truly benefit our students, we have to strive towards creating a better society. Apathy is a dangerous contagion that continues to spread throughout our country and, if there isn't a push to destroy it, we will continue to be in a state of entropy.