We all know things won’t be the same after the great migration back to school in August. One previously unexpected alteration to our daily practice may well be the replacing of the classroom teacher’s repeated command of “jackets off!” as the students get settled for work, with a cry of “hats and scarves on!” as schools try to adapt learning during Covid-19 and create a safe learning environment for all.
One solution being mooted by local authorities to solve the social distancing problem of classrooms too small to accommodate whole classes is to use any adjacent outdoor space. Yet, working outside may actually be a greater concern for quite a few teachers than juggling the complexities of blending remote and classroom learning, or explaining social distancing to a five-year-old who hasn’t grasped the personal space concept yet.
While school staff may rightly point out that if they had wanted to work without a roof over their heads they would have become quantity surveyors or vets, the reality of outdoor learning is nothing to fear.
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I am happier working outdoors. As a newly qualified teacher, at the first hint of sunshine, I would corral my class to pick up their chairs and books and head outside, whereupon they would complain it was too bright or not good for their allergies. So, I soon stopped doing that and got really serious: I trained as a forest school leader.
However, if schools built semi-permanent gazebos in the yard and bought in a stock of wet-weather gear, then moving outdoors wouldn’t seem so foreboding. The biggest stumbling block to using outdoor space may well be the adults: in my experience, it is not the pupils who complain about the cold, but the grown-ups.
Looking out from a warm classroom, Scottish weather might not look that inviting but if properly prepared for, it’s not that uncomfortable. There is truth in that old cliché: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes.” In reality, only high winds would be an issue, and days like that are quite unusual.
While I won’t go so far as to argue that out is better than in when it comes to teaching “traditional” subjects, it should be noted that many of us have switched over activities previously carried out under a roof, and have travelled to fresh-air alternatives without ill effect.
There are positives to be gained: the mental health benefits of being outdoors coupled with resultant better sleeping patterns would tackle what were two of the biggest challenges in education even before Covid-19 really hit us in February.
This August - or whenever you start back at school in your part of the world - heading outdoors will present you with far more solutions than problems.
