Learning outdoors: A platinum strategy in the time of COVID-19
In public health, we look for what I call “golden strategies.” Emerging from a combo of historical insight, community wisdom, and research, these strategies show promise for promoting health across a whole population of people. Seat belts, fire safety training, and immunizations represent golden strategies.
What about low-cost strategies that boost health in multiple ways across a population? I call those “platinum strategies.”
Even before COVID-19, outdoor learning was golden. Now, as it goes platinum, its manifold benefits mean that outdoor learning should transcend a temporary response to this pandemic. It should become a fundamental strategy in the way we raise our children. Let’s unpack why.
Outdoor learning can help prevent spread of airborne diseases. Mounting evidence suggests that gathering in small groups outdoors, rather than in indoor classrooms, can lower the risk of airborne virus transmission. Wearing masks, washing hands, maintaining a distance — these also remain essential tactics for reducing transmission, even while outdoors. All of these can happen while adhering with overall state, municipal, and school district policies.
Outdoor learning is holistically effective. Because learning outdoors integrates cognitive, physical, and sensory processing, a growing body of research shows how it boosts learning. Building on seminal research that demonstrated the capacity of time in nature for restoring attention, research has also documented improved behavior among children who live with attention and other differences. And because young children learn best through play, outdoor learning supports healthy development, with improved executive functioning among its benefits. Among children and adults who have experienced trauma or stress, exposure to nature can offer healing. Going big picture, research has also demonstrated the power of outdoor learning for shaping youth and adults more likely to steward our planet. Platinum, indeed.
Outdoor learning is social learning. When children explore complex outdoor spaces alongside friends and classmates, they engage in pro-social behaviors, gaining mental and emotional benefits along the way — a benefit needed now, during the pandemic, more than ever. Because of this evidence, more countries have normalized outdoor education, although it has proven a slower but growing trend in the U.S. Parental attitudes about safety remain one of the strongest barriers to outdoor play, but schools can help shape new norms by given children assignments to explore the outdoors during out-of-school time.
During a time when either-or thinking (e.g., all in-person, all-virtual) seems to dominate the education discourse, how can educators — and families — pivot?
Start with low-hanging fruit. Use existing assets. Are there nearby spaces to safely use with small groups of students? Take a look at Google maps or the web site for your local parks district. Where are the green “pockets?” What open space is right around your school? A cemetery? A detention pond? A small urban park? Too often, we assume that we need to take a field trip for outdoor learning when nature is nearby, all around us.
Identify reliable support people. Who can assist? Is there a role for other school staff or a volunteer who is practicing physical distancing to help with classroom management? Now might be the time to think about engaging older students who might be “off” that day to become “junior instructors.” They, too, will benefit, especially if they receive training and pledge to adhere to behavioral guidelines that reduce the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. (Hint: This is one of those platinum strategies).
It’s also key to know and address the potential pitfalls of outdoor learning. Parent and teacher resistance, infrastructure and safety concerns, and state or district rules and regulations can dampen enthusiasm for otherwise effective learning strategies. Learn to expect these. And take time to learn more about the risk of cultural appropriation and historical trauma associated with outdoor and “adventure learning,” especially among Indigenous peoples and African American communities. It looms large, but it also offers tremendous opportunity for learning and growth.
One of the most egregious barriers to all kinds of learning is racial and associated economic segregation, which pose challenges on so many levels. Transportation to and from learning spaces means children have close contact, so identifying “nearby nature” opportunities and safe green spaces becomes critical. Local parks and recreation authorities can help.
Here are a few tips to begin to shift.
Gear up, but stay minimal. Classrooms that have adapted to outdoor learning often pool resources to equip students with low-cost rubber boots and rain gear. In fact, outdoor learning veterans offer sage guidance about how to schedule time, work with insects, provide seating, make environments accessible, and dealing with the elements (I live in Wisconsin — WE have elements!). Right now, a nation-wide group of more than 100 early adopters has begun to test methods in real time.
Know it is possible to learn, together, safely. Do you need plans to adapt to inclement weather, like downpours or lightning? Of course. But many outdoor learning activities can proceed in just about all types of weather. In fact, the process of adapting to changes in the environment counts toward what we might call resilience, or “grit.” To respond to parents’ questions about staying safe in the outdoors, the American Academy of Pediatrics offers answers.
Set clear and realistic expectations. Remind everyone that we’re all on a learning curve. Managing expectations and making room for failures — and treating “failure” as a learning exercise — can help set a growth-oriented tone.
Recognize inequities, but know they can be changed. Not all children — or schools — have the same access to green and outdoor spaces. In times of austerity, city park budgets are often cut first, so as part of their civic learning, children and youth can advocate for continued support of nearby green spaces to shore up needed infrastructure. Some of the largest private philanthropies in the U.S., including the Robert Wood Johnson and W.K. Kellogg Foundations, have recognized the multiple public health benefits — healthy youth, crime prevention, economic revitalization — of investments to make access to green space more equitable. Remember, we’re investing in platinum strategies — strategies that should maintain their shine far past this pandemic and support human capital investments in climate resilience.
Adapt curriculum for the outdoors. “A lot of times, you can do the same activity, but a shift outdoors makes it much more engaged,” says Connie Michaud, a first-grade teacher with the Milwaukee Public Schools. “Take literacy outside. Noticing and writing about what you see, hear, or feel outside? That’s great stuff.” In some states, such as California and Wisconsin, have detailed standards for ecoliteracy to help guide connections to other standards across the curriculum.
Trust kids to step up. Remembering that outdoor learning does not asking for more, it asks for different. Just as a seasoned educator sets clear expectations indoors, so he does to inspire great behaviors outdoors. “A lot of times with elementary school kids, you don’t have to veer that far from your plan,” says Peter Michaud, who teaches fifth grade in New Berlin, Wisconsin. “Make your expectations crystal clear. Help students understand WHY you’re learning outside, what is expected of them, and how they will make that successful.” (And yes, Connie and Peter are platinum relatives of the author.)
Develop rapport with the community. Seek first to understand. Pose questions to parents and kids: What fears or barriers come up for you when you think about learning outdoors? You may hear important concerns stemming from household economic stress, such as parents wanting children’s clothing or shoes to stay clean (they may have only a few “school clothes”). Or, among families who need to invest in hair care, “getting your hands dirty” might also mean hair gets dirty. If parents aren’t able to safely express cultural norms to educators — and if these preferences do not feel respected — the deal is off.
Instead, search for ways to learn about and adapt to these concerns, and most parents will support you. Securing multiple pairs of rain boots in multiple sizes, along with hooded ponchos, does not have to break the bank. (One teacher’s DonorsChoose site shows a pretty deluxe menu.) In many climes, teaching kids how to layer clothing is a life skill. Swedish elementary schools teach safe fire-building as a key life skill.
Does outdoor learning take some additional skill and effort? Sure. But what are our alternatives? Parents and educators have adapted in many situations, and our kids deserve our support. Let’s trust they can do it safely, together.
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Mary Michaud teaches health systems and public health at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and serves on the Advisory Board for Green Schoolyards America.
