Why not hold more classes outdoors?
This article is an English translation of the original version in Catalan.
The European project CLEARING HOUSE has launched a survey of primary and secondary school teachers throughout Catalonia to discover whether or not they hold classes outdoors, what they feel the drawbacks or obstacles are to doing so, and in what subject areas they bring up urban green spaces.
Photo: Anna Samoylova
In the present situation, with the education system needing to be rethought to ensure social distancing among students, the objectives of the European project CLEARING HOUSE are more relevant than ever. Can you imagine classes taking place outdoors? School playgrounds being redesigned and filled with plants and trees? Pupils studying language, music or maths in tree-lined gardens?
CLEARING HOUSE is seeking to motivate the education community and get it actively involved in rethinking learning environments and including plants and trees in classes.
The CLEARING HOUSE project aims to gain a comprehensive knowledge of urban trees and forests, improve their management and develop their potential. It regards the education community as a whole as crucial to achieving the goals in question. The information obtained through the survey will be used for two of the project’s main undertakings, in which the entire education community can participate.
Photo: Cub Pup Studio (CCBY)
Click here to take the survey now!
Firstly, CLEARING HOUSE is seeking to motivate the education community and get it actively involved in rethinking learning environments and including plants and trees in classes. Secondly, the project hopes to collect information with a view to producing materials for teaching pupils aged 10-14 about the world’s urban trees and forests and helping teachers introduce trees and green spaces to schools.
Would you like to help?
This article was originally published on the 5 May 2020 on the CREAF blog: http://blog.creaf.cat/noticies/per-que-sortim-mes-laire-lliure-fer-classe/
Author: Anna Ramon, Centro de Investigacion Ecologica Y Aplicaciones Forestales Consorcio (CREAF)
CREAF is a public research and innovation centre in terrestrial ecology, territorial analysis and environmental impact, which strives for excellence in knowledge generation, methodological development, transfer, training and dissemination
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under Grant Agreement 821242.