The project aimed to promote and integrate the practice of outdoor learning through weekly risky or adventurous play activities in primary schools, benefitting not only the children but also teachers and students in teacher education at universities. The main goals were: - Developing and improving pedagogical competences of primary school teachers, teaching assistants and other staff (such as caregivers) in outdoor learning and risky or adventurous play. - Enhancing the well-being of primary school children (including low achievers, children with different learning abilities and barriers to learning, etc.) through supporting independent exploration and risky play in the outdoor environment which allow for active (experiential) learning as a way of engaging children. - Developing materials for teachers to aid their professional development and incorporate outdoor learning and risky play as part of their toolkit. - Identifying the key competencies for outdoor learning and (unstructured) risky play that students of teacher training (and other relevant curricula) need to acquire; and integrating the developed materials into the core curricula at universities.
Inequality in learning is an urgent issue, severely impacting on individual children’s life chances, and economies and societies around the world. There is growing evidence that learning through active - adventurous - play in the outdoors may present a solution to this problem of inequality. Many studies demonstrate the benefits of learning through play, especially for early brain development – these include social, emotional, cognitive and physical benefits. Yet the value and potential of learning through play is still not recognized widely enough. Teachers are asked to plan responsively and adopt a whole new teaching style, supporting the independent exploration and risky play of children in the outdoor environment. Research demonstrates how challenging this is and how many concerns this raises among teachers. More and more, schools and teachers are looking for guidance and support to incorporate more experiential learning styles in the outdoors. This project aimed to meet that need by offering a range of resources, delivering workshops, and by sharing best practices from partner countries in order to develop new skills, methods and practical know-how for teachers and other relevant stakeholders.