Don't drown in change: preparing for the challenges of introducing an outdoor learning curriculum

Outdoor learning approaches in schools are becoming increasingly widespread across the U.K. There is a growing range of resources available to support teachers with ideas and ways of using the outdoor environment to enhance the curriculum, and some providers offer staff training to support the development of an outdoor learning curriculum. Many primary schools rely on the skills of trained staff, such as Forest School leaders, to run their outdoor provision, but there are big opportunities for all staff to be involved. As this strategy is not without some fundamental challenges, this article focuses on the gap that often exists between a great idea (e.g. “let’s make more use of the school grounds”) and the point where there is regular and progressive use being made of the ‘outdoor classroom’.

Although being introduced to a new teaching methodology can be an exciting experience, being expected to implement that new approach with little practice or immediate support, can be both daunting and stressful. One way to help manage this stress is to consider the journey the teacher takes to become confident with embedding outdoor learning across the curricula. Changing behaviour isn’t easy and there are multiple barriers to be overcome. For some teachers the biggest barrier may be that outdoor learning is not currently on their radar. Others may have expressed an interest but remain unsure, for example, on what clothing should be worn or what technical skills they need. Extending from this, if we begin to think about the different stages of ‘readiness’ of each teacher, we automatically begin to consider the variety of support needed by teachers depending on their readiness for outdoor learning.

To help reinforce this point, we can look at longstanding behaviour change models such as the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) (Figure 1) which has been used widely in health and wellbeing projects to build support and strategies for change which have real impact1. Though this model of change outlines five stages it also recognises how change is not always straightforward; sometimes we take a small step forward and a big jump back. In brief the stages are: precontemplation (not on radar); contemplation (thinking about a change in the next 6 months); preparation (have a clear plan); action (doing it/ making changes); maintenance (keeping it up). Already from this, we can appreciate how the behaviour change equivalent of ‘throwing someone in the deep end’ is pushing them straight into ‘action’, or in this instance pushing them into outdoor learning, when they’re not ready.