As a leader in the province for outdoor and sustainability education, School District 47 is looking for ways to further improve.
A review of all district outdoor programs was conducted this past spring by the Outdoor Education, Sustainability and Wellness Steering Committee.
The committee, led by Rod Perrault, vice-principal at Brooks Secondary School, took a high level look at how this kind of learning is rolled out in the district.
Perrault made the committee’s report to Powell River Board of Education during its public meeting Tuesday, June 16.
The committee identified gaps and overlaps, as well as possible solutions to apparent issues.
One key accomplishment of the committee, Perrault mentioned, was establishing a common set of terms and references to improve understanding. Outdoor learning can be defined as education that takes place outside the “bricks and mortar” of the school in a natural environment, while outdoor education focuses more on learning activities “to lead others to safely experience the outdoors.” Wellness education is any learning that “supports the development of a person’s health and well-being.” And nature education is “all the experiences that focus on environmental awareness, stewardship and participation both in and outside the traditional classroom.”
The committee made a number of recommendations to the board in its report, including that the committee continue to meet and oversee the development of “scope and sequence” of district programs as well as acting as a support for teachers and administrators who are interested in pursuing further initiatives.
The committee identified many learning opportunities for elementary students, but few for high school students, particularly those in grades eight though 10.
Other recommendations include making more training available in safety and outdoor learning for teachers, increasing the amount of overnight usage of Powell Lake Outdoor Learning Centre, integrating more wellness education into all schools, creating more spaces for natural learning at schools, creating a bank of outdoor clothing and equipment for students to have access to so learning can take place year round and locating and updating the district’s inventory of the outdoor equipment. Perrault said equipment is currently stored and maintained by those who regularly use it, but this approach “runs the risk of items being lost or not maintained.”
