Delivering subject content through nine life themes
Last week we highlighted a new survey that indicates that children want to spend more time in nature. This week the BBC ran an online story about how working on a farm is helping a group of young people who struggle in mainstream education to tackle anxiety. As well as highlighting the value of vocational education, the piece was also a reminder of the mental health benefits of spending quality time outdoors. We have written many times before that interacting with nature is something to be encouraged, promoted and supported – for educational and for wellbeing reasons. At the heart of Life-Based Learning is the belief that children and young people need to be learning about and – crucially – experiencing nature and the environment in a thorough and systematic way.
The farm that featured in the online article is in Gloucestershire and is run by an outdoor education provider called GroundEd. They provide training in land studies and horticulture to post-16 students who have special educational needs such as autism and anxiety. Most of the assessment criteria for their BTEC course can be met by tackling daily jobs around the farm, such as repairing fences, mucking out the chickens and planting saplings.
Evidence of the impact of the work on students’ wellbeing is clear. A member of the GroundEd team is quoted as saying: “We can see the change in kids very quickly when they come here. We can see the confidence grow.”
One of the students says: “I feel happier, less stressed and more confident than I was in school.” Another says: “Now I’m happier because I have practical tasks to complete, and I’ve been given responsibility and the freedom to work on my own and with others.”
Last week we highlighted a new survey from the National Trust and First News children’s newspaper. Key findings of the survey were that 76% of children want to spend more time in nature and that 56% want better access to nature. The survey also indicated that there is huge support from parents for the government’s 2023 commitment – part of its ten-point Environmental Improvement Plan – that everyone should live within fifteen minutes of a green or blue space.
Following on from the publication of the survey, Steve Brace, who is the chief executive of the Geographical Association, wrote a letter to the Guardian newspaper on how young people can be supported to get into nature at a local level. This is what he wrote:
The director general of the National Trust, Hilary McGrady, is correct when she says that “the benefit of ensuring access to nature is plain to see but there is unequal access to it”. Sadly, evidence shows that this situation is also reflected in our schools.
A letter in the Guardian, published 9 April 2024 (print edition)
Over the last twenty years, Ofsted reports have shown that school fieldwork has been declining. And a survey of geography teachers in 2023 indicated that, since Covid, up to 40% of secondary schools may have cut their provision of fieldwork. This trend affects smaller schools and those serving disadvantaged pupils the hardest.
A combination of costs, Covid catch-up and other administrative hurdles are limiting the work of many geography teachers who want to offer their pupils high-quality fieldwork.
So as well as trips that might take place farther afield, at the Geographical Association we are supporting teachers to explore local, low-cost fieldwork – whether investigating carbon storage in a local wood, soil infiltration in the school grounds or the health of a local stream.
Regardless of the weather, it is in the field where young people encounter the messy, complicated real world and develop a deeper understanding of how our human and natural worlds interact. It will be this understanding that is essential if young people are to become the future custodians of our environment.
Life-Based Learning prioritises not just learning about the natural world but also actually experiencing and enjoying nature and the environment. In addition to helping protect the planet and its biodiversity, interacting with nature has wider benefits for children and young people – everything from improving physical and mental wellbeing to boosting confidence and self-esteem and developing teamwork and communication skills.
Image at the head of this article by Trevor M from Pixabay.
