Posted Tuesday 11 July 2023
Kingston University's PGCE primary, early years and working with children and young people: social pedagogy and social work courses have been giving students a chance to explore the increasingly popular practice of forest schooling.
As part of their curriculum, the students have an opportunity to combine theory taught in class with the invaluable real-life experience on the site developed on the picturesque woodland grounds of the University's Kingston Hill campus, where they have the opportunity to work with local pupils from schools the University have a partnership with.
Forest schooling is the new approach to teaching, which promotes outdoor and child-led learning. It first originated in Scandinavia but is rapidly gaining popularity in the UK with over 10,000 schools operating across the country. The combination of the forest school approach and the standard curriculum is found to have a positive effect on children's social, cognitive, emotional, and physical skill development.
During their course, teacher training students begin with traditional in-class training, learning about the background and main philosophy of a forest school, before going outside into nature to get first-hand experience. Through group and individual exercises, the students step into the role of children, actively participating in creative activities, engaging their senses, and embracing the freedom of not working towards the completion of a particular task – a characteristic intrinsic to traditional classroom-based learning activities.
The freedom to explore and engage with nature and the lack of any pressure of the classroom is at the heart of the forest school philosophy. "Loads of communication takes place very naturally where children are automatically talking, sharing, and learning how to show empathy for others and just be kind to nature," points out Ms. Jackson. "By engaging in forest schooling exercises students develop empathy, creativity, team building, and communication, which they then apply in their future work."
"As a practitioner engaging with children during the forest school session you constantly learn something new," said Joanna. "A child might tell you something you never knew about the environment, which is always very exciting."
Looking ahead, Kingston University remains committed to advancing forest schooling principles and re-establishing partnerships with local primary schools, which were disrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The University hopes to resume welcoming the pupils to explore the forest schooling facilities at Kingston Hill campus at the same time giving the teaching students a chance to practice their skills in real-life scenarios.
12 November 2024
12 November 2024
11 November 2024