The Advantages Of Learning Outside The Classroom
What Is Learning Outside Of The Classroom
As the name suggests, learning outside the classroom is any educational activity that helps to supplement the learning journey of a child. Learning outside the classroom is a hugely broad area, and it covers all of a young person’s journey through the educational system, ranging from younger pupils being taught about the environment around them, to those further up the school doing to work experience in order to get a feel for what adult life is like.
Research and studies show that different people learn in different ways, as such learning outside the classroom can have a range of benefits, because it can inspire more interest, and work as a reward system, as well as immersing them in different experiences that simply can’t be recreated in a classroom environment.
What Are The Main Benefits Of Learning Outside The Classroom?
Some of the main benefits of Learning Outside The Classroom include:
– Improved Attendance – it has been suggested by research that Learning Outside The Classroom environment improves a child’s attendance, as it incentives them into more participation in the education process. By offering a method of learning that seems more engaging, then truancy levels can be cut.
– Building For Later Life – for older students, the chance to take part in work experience is an extremely valuable way of learning outside the classroom because it helps them to get an idea of what kind of work place environment that they would be comfortable in, and therefore can help to push them in the right direction, or prevent them from making a decision they would later regret.
– Context – taking students to a relevant attraction or establishment that is related to the subject that you are discussing can be a huge step towards helping them get a better grasp of the subject material. For example, somewhere like Eden Camp looks to recreate world war two, whereas a science centre contextualises science that can’t be done in a classroom.
– Behaviour – although there’s a certain risk element in taking children with behavioural problems on a school trip, research has also showed that it can have a positive effect to put them in an environment that is different and potentially far more stimulating.
– Residential School Trips – this type of Learning Outside the Classroom, is beneficial in different ways to most, as it helps to provide a lot more opportunity for combining learning about things that are on the curriculum, with broader but vitally important skills such as teamwork and communications.
Encouraging Learning Outside Of The Classroom
In order for a child to develop to their full potential, learning outside the classroom is an important way to augment the lessons taught in school. Both parents and schools can help this, and every opportunity that can be taken up, should be.
Work experience is an area that should definitely be encouraged, as it allows young people to see what kind of career path they wish to take, some people may have always wanted to be a mechanic for instance, however they may get to a garage and find it is far removed from something that suits them. Others may find out an office job is not for them at all.
The learning outside the classroom manifesto is a document that outlines the importance of external learning and outlines the best way to help get your students to get the best from their time with you as their teacher.