21st century learning

                There are many contexts in which children can learn in. I have researched the Montessori method, Forest schools, learning outside the classroom and lifelong learning. I believe each of these topics have an important role in today's education and are very interesting to learn in more depth. A child's education is extremely important, and implementing methods or creating new ideas can all contribute towards delivering the best experiences and teaching that children deserve. Each topic all have a unique outlook upon education and learning, however they all seem to reflect and contradict one another.

Lifelong learning

Lifelong learning

 

          In order to obtain a good career in life, people need qualifications as well as skills and experiences. People need motivation in order to enjoy and process the information to complete the course and it needs to be purpose driven. There is a desire to gain a better eduction to live a better life financially, keep up with changing technology or help children with their work.

         In modern society, there is a greater need for people to hold diverse qualifications for jobs. For this to happen, people are required to continue on to further education after school, or return to University or further education college much later in life (Mason, 2000).
          Further education colleges offer more diverse perspectives on the learners goals, achievements, curricula and pedagogy. They are based on their needs rather then what they must be teaching them (Usher et al, 1997).        
        The European Commission (1995 cited in Burgess, 1997, p.99) state that,

    'There is a need to wet society's appetite for education and training throughout life. Everyone must be able to seize their opportunities for improvement in society and for personal fulfilment, irrespective of their social origin and educational background.'

 

However, there are barriers preventing adults who want to return to education. This includes lack of time, family commitments, lack of finances or disabled adults.

There are many lifelong learning courses available to mature students. These include access courses, vocational training, open university courses, university of the third age, Erasmus Mundus programme, Leonardo Da Vinci's vocational training, Comenius school education, Grundtvig adult education, apprenticeships and many more!






                               Examples of lifelong learning


http://www.lifelonglearningprogramme.org.uk/#sthash.uCdFP0zG.dpbs

 

 

Schools

 

 

 

Vocational education and training

 

 

Higher education

 

 

Adult education

 

 

Learning professionals

 

University of third age

  

      Huang (2006) states that the University of the third age was originated from France and for the attention of older adults wanting to do educational activities. It was designed to offer opportunities for adults to attend the University during summer.

      'Third age' relates to the second age stages of an adults life coming to an end. This is where adults have freedom to extend their minds and personal choice on what they want to learn. This does not necessarily have to be at a college or university, but can be self directed learning in a more relaxed environment (English, 2005)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JAQrAntfHw

 

 

Vocational courses/training

 

        

             Since the changing economic system within Europe, there has be a substantial increase in students taking vocational courses. Companies recruit part time employees rather than full time, offer short term contracts rather than long term which is the reasoning behind adults wanting to be more flexible and have the ability to multitask (Burgess, 1997).


 

Erasmus Mundus



 

 

          The Erasmus Mundus programme supports co-operation between non EU states and EU universities. The programme offers the top universities where students can study masters courses (Education and training, 22.4.13, p.64)

 

 

The Kolb Cycle

 

         The Kolb cycle of experiential learning has been an influence of the learning process theory.It suggests that reflecting turns an experience into learning, which becomes effective learning progressing onto further experimentation (English,  2005).

          The cycle begins with concrete experience, when a person is encountered with a new experience or situation. The reflective observation then reflects upon that new experience or situation. The third stage is abstract conceptualisation which is based upon the reflective observation creating new ideas or alteration of an existing abstract concept. The cycle ends with active experimentation which the learner will apply and test the new ideas to see what results they gain.

 

 

http://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html        

 

 





 

 

 

 

 

Useful websites for lifelong learning

 

 

 http://www.u3a.org.uk/


http://www.infed.org/lifelonglearning/b-life.htm



                                        References

 

Burgess, R. (1997), Beyond the first degree; graduate education, lifelong learning and careers. Buckingham. Open university press.


Education and training, 22.4.13, p.64, 'Erasmus'.

English, L. 2005. International encyclopedia of adult education. New York. Macmillan publishers.

 

Hung, C.S, (2006), ‘Educational gerontology’, The University of the third age in the UK, Volume 32, Number 10, Page 825.

 

Mason, A. 2000. APEL and lifelong learning. Belfast. University of Ulster.


Usher, R. Bryant, I. Johnston, R. 1997. Adult education and the postmodern challenge; learning beyond the limits. London. Routledge.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Learning outside the classroom

Learning outside the classroom. 

     Children learn in different contexts and various surroundings. School is primarily the main source of a child's education, however, they can learn in other ways. Learning begins at birth and continues throughout adult life. The brain is constantly processing new information.

    Tovey (2007) says that outdoor learning offers a unique approach compared to learning indoors. It has the space and certain extent of freedom without being concerned of the consequences and exploring which the indoors can’t offer. Laevers (1997, cited in Tovey, 2007, p.14) suggests that

‘It is when children are most involved that deep level learning takes place.’

    By using resources out of school, this can improve relationships with others, support language, communication and literacy skills, develop self confidence and physical strength, encourage independence, encourage risk taking, build on knowledge of the environment and develops mathematical skills and creativity (Edginton, 2002).

    If children are introduced to alternative learning surroundings, this can offer new experiences to enhance skills in an independent and enjoyable way.  However, the environments outside the classroom still need to be productive and offer suitable resources to develop the child’s learning. Bruce (2006, cited in May, 2011, p.48) states that

‘Children learn best when they are given appropriate responsibility, allowed to experiment, make errors, decisions and choices and are respected as autonomous learners’.

     Bilton (2010) suggests that teachers can embrace their lessons and incorporate them into the outside environment. Outdoor learning can include open spaces or hideaways, low or high ground and can follow on from what is being taught in the classroom.

    There are many environments suitable for educational purposes. These include designated spaces, spaces for exploring and investigating, spaces for use of the imagination, exploring senses and sufficient movement space (Tovey, 2007).
        Piaget influences teachers on how important it is for children to experience things. It is different to read something and make a judgement on it, without actually experiencing it in real life (Mooney, 2000). He believed that children obtain knowledge and understanding by exploring the physical world and the outdoor environment plays a vital role in the learning process (Garrick, 2009). 
        Dowling (2005) suggests that if children are given access and permission to the environment outside of the classroom, this has a successful impact on their confidence, independence, social skills, emotional development, motivation, safety issues, knowledge, skills and awareness.

    

                                     Examples of learning outside the classroom

 

 

Television

 

 

Museums

 

Family and friends

 

 

 

Environment

 

 

 

Education centres

 

 

 

Culture

 

Internet

 

 

 

 

Books

 

The Egypt centre

 

http://www.egypt.swansea.ac.uk/index.php/what-we-do

    After vising the Egypt centre, it is clear how important school trips are. They give a sense of reality to the information read from a textbook. While children can gain knowledge and understand from a book, it has more significance to them when they are provided with real life history artefacts. The Egypt centre is filled with preservation of collection which the children are shown and given explanations and there are also organised themed workshops and activities set up.

      There are hands on activities available for the children to do and there are also age related packs which the teachers can download. The downloadable packs detail all the areas that they cover such as language, communication and literacy, mathematical development, physical development, knowledge and understanding of the world, personal and social development and creative development.

 

Example of a work pack

   

1.              Egyptian Writing

During this activity children will look at different forms of writing systems. This activity is all about picture association and children are encouraged to think more about the alphabet they use everyday. It challenges them to think that not everyone (particularly in ancient times) wrote in the same way. Children will work out which direction to read the hieroglyphs and write their name phonetically. Children are taught the religious significance of hieroglyphic writing and why the kings name is protected inside a cartouche.

Creativity, Problem solving




Communication

 

 

 



      












Thinking




2.               Egyptian Mathematics

Children will examine the way numbers were written in ancient Egypt, learn about unit value rather than place value and complete simple calculations using this base-10 system. Children will be encouraged to look around the gallery and count objects recording the data in ancient Egyptian numerals!

Communication

Thinking
 

 

 



       
Creativity, Problem solving    

  

Mathematics

Useful websites for learning outside of the classroom https://due.mit.edu/initiatives/learning-outside-classroom http://www.creativeeducation.co.uk/blog/index.php/2011/06/learning-outside-the-classroom/ http://outdoormatters.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Learning-outside-the-classroom.pdf     References Bilton, H. 2010. Outdoor learning in the early years; management and innovation. Oxon. Routledge. Dowling, M. 2005. Young children's personal, social and emotional developmental. London. Sage. Second edition.   Edgington, M. 2002. The great outdoors; developing children’s learning through outdoor provision. London. British association. Garrick, R. 2009. Playing outdoors in the early years. London. Continuum. Second edition.   May, P. (2011), Child development in practice; responsive teaching and learning from birth to five. Oxon. Routledge. Mooney, C. 2000. Theories of childhood. St. Paul. Redleaf.   Tovey, H. 2007. Playing outdoors; spaces and places, risk and challenge. England. Open university press.   

 

 

 

Forest School

Forest schools

       In Denmark, Forest school have played a vital part in early years education. Forest schools were introduced to enhance children’s appreciation of the outside world and the need for looking after the environment. They aimed to encourage children to become autonomous, independent, explore and have a willingness to get dirty (Dowling, 2005).

       Originally in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, children were taken to the forest in their own school or were escorted to a local wood where they, the forest school and nursery staff would play, climb trees, explore, make dens and fires and use natural tools. This had a profound effect on the child’s confidence and self esteem (Bilton, 2010).

      Whilst at the forest, children are encouraged to roam around freely, out of sight from the teachers, re-locating them by sound helping overcome fears of getting lost. The children are not provided with any equipment, as the school encourages use of the natural land resources to build on imagination. They are also encouraged to collect wood to create fires (Tovey, 2007).

       O’Brien (2009) argues that forest school plays a big role in child development. They ensure children have regular contact with woodland areas. The aim is to signify the importance of having experience outside the classroom which can improve confidence, concentration, motivation, physical, language and communication.  

      Positives of forest schools include sufficient space for children to be energetic, free to explore the limits of their physical skills and to feel confident to take risks. This can build on them emotionally, socially and cognitively. They can also use a range of curriculum activities such as maths, science, creativity and linguistic (May, 2011).

      Tovey (2007) identifies the rapid growth of outdoor provision since the outbreak of forest schools. Doyle (2006, cited in Tovey, 2007, p.82) concludes that

“forest schools build on an individual’s innate motivation and positive attitude to learning, offering them the opportunities to take risks, make choices and initiate learning for themselves”.                      (p.82)

      Evaluation studies suggest that forest schools have an important role on children’s development and well being. Evidence has shown that children have increased confidence, the ability to work with others, an awareness of their actions, improved physical stamina and respect for the environment (Tovey, 2007).

       Children are permitted to attend the schools in diverse weather conditions and through the changing seasons. The schools offer an opportunity for individuality (Garrick, 2009). Fjortoft (2001) suggests that challenging physical experiences can have a positive impact on the physical fitness of the children.

       However, there are concerns over forest schools. People view this as offering children too much freedom and responsibility which they may not be given at home and only spend half a day or one full day a week in the forest. There are also concerns over possible conflicts between forest schools with nurseries or schools who do not offer this programme (Tovey, 2007).

 

 Activities in forest schools

 

Using tools such as a saw



 

Making a fire

                                                                           

 

Cooking










 Trusted with boundaries
 

                       

 Building a den 

                                                                           

                                                                    

 
 

      

Can forest schools help academic studies video

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17283190

Forest school video

 

http://www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/education-for-all/other-education-opportinities/forest-schools/

 

 

 







                                        

Teachers TV: Outdoor Learning with Forest School

 

http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Teachers-TV-Outdoor-Learning-with-Forest-School-6046493/

 

 

 

 

 

  Useful Forest school/outdoor learning websites

http://www.forestschools.com/

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/schoolgardening/uploads/documents/Norfolk%20Outdoor%20learning%20Early%20Years%20TOol%20kit_1299.pdf

    

   

References

Bilton, H. 2010. Outdoor learning in the early years; management and innovation. Oxon. Routledge.

 

Dowling, M. 2005. Young children’s personal, social and emotional development. London. Sage. Second edition.



Fjortoft, (2001), The natural environment as a playground for children. In Garrick, R. (2009). Playing outdoors in the early years. Page 117. London. Continuum.



Garrick, R. 2009. Playing outdoors in the early years. London. Continuum. Second edition.

 

May, P. 2011. Child development in practice; responsive teaching and learning from birth to five. Oxon. Routledge.


O’Brien, L. (2009), ‘Learning outdoors’, The forest school approach. Volume 37. Number 1. Pages 45-60.

Tovey, H. 2007. Playing outdoors; Spaces and places, risk and challenge. England. Open university press.