Places as Learning Environments

Aim

After completing the course, the student should be able to

• account for theories about the importance of place for learning and teaching
• analyse and assess places in school's immediate environment based on their opportunities to support different forms of teaching and learning
• apply strategies for planning and implementing teaching in outdoor environments with regard to didactic goals, the needs of the student group and sustainability aspects
• document and communicate site-based teaching arrangements in relation to governing documents and pedagogical theory
• reflect on how place-based learning can contribute to inclusion, transformative learning and sustainability competences
• take a reflective and research-informed approach to the use of outdoor environments as learning environments.

Content

The course focuses on exploring the educational potential of places in school's immediate environment. Through a place-based learning perspective, we investigate how different outdoor environments – such as schoolyards, parks, forests and urban places – can support different forms of teaching and learning. The course explores theories about the importance of place for learning, relational pedagogy and ecological awareness, as well as how the physical, social and cultural characteristics of place affect the learning environment. The course deepens strategies for identifying, analysing and using places as pedagogical resources, taking into account didactic goals, the needs of the student group and sustainability aspects. A special focus is devoted to the ability to create, direct and maintain students' attention. The course also highlights organizational and practical conditions for outdoor teaching, such as safety, accessibility, collaboration with the local community and connection to governing documents. Through a transformative learning perspective, reflection on how place-based learning can contribute to changing ways of looking at nature, society and education is encouraged.