Outdoor Learning: April 2017

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Outdoor Learning
Chapter · April 2017

DOI: 10.4135/9781483385198.n216
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The SAGE Encyclopedia of Out-of-
School Learning
Outdoor Learning
Contributors: Brant G. Miller

Edited by: Kylie Peppler
Book Title: The SAGE Encyclopedia of Out-of-School Learning
Chapter Title: "Outdoor Learning"
Pub. Date: 2017
Access Date: April 11, 2017
Publishing Company: SAGE Publications, Inc.
City: Thousand Oaks,
Print ISBN: 9781483385211
Online ISBN: 9781483385198
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483385198.n216
Print pages: 560-561
©2017 SAGE Publications, Inc.. All Rights Reserved.
This PDF has been generated from SAGE Knowledge. Please note that the pagination of
the online version will vary from the pagination of the print book.
SAGE SAGE Reference
Contact SAGE Publications at http://www.sagepub.com.
Outdoor learning has historically been considered within the realm of informal education
settings. For example, outdoor learning occurs during summer camps based in outdoor
settings, on field trips to state parks and nature preserves, or through destination event–
based activities such as natural history interpretation through backpacking, rafting, and bike
touring, to name a few. More recently, outdoor learning has been considered as an approach
to engaging students in formal education settings as an alternative approach to traditional
classroom instruction. Outdoor learning draws on a variety of theoretical foundations including
place-based education, expeditionary learning, and experiential learning.
Outdoor learning can be defined as learning in an outdoor context based on experiences and
interactions with physical and cultural phenomena. Outdoor learning is relevant in that it is a
reality each of us has a connection to but has not been fully vetted for use across educational
contexts. This entry examines the differences between outdoor education and outdoor
learning, looks at what it means to learn in an outdoor setting, and provides examples of
outdoor learning from both informal and formal educational contexts.
Outdoor Education Versus Outdoor Learning
Outdoor education and outdoor learning are not only related in a variety of ways but also have
some distinct differences. Outdoor education is a distinct field of study on which educational
programs have been based since the mid-1900s. Outdoor learning is a concept more easily
adopted by educators to explain the content (e.g., science, social studies) they have used in
designing learning experiences for students. Thus, outdoor learning has more of a broad-
based utility for both formal and informal education providers for out-of-school learning.
Outdoor education has been, and still is, within the purview of informal education providers
and is based on shorter term, supplementary learning experiences to a student’s formal
schooling. Outdoor learning, although more far reaching and accessible to a variety of
educational contexts, risks being underutilized as an approach or tool because it is
considered to be on the periphery of sound pedagogy or ill fitting within formal educational
settings.
Learning Outside
Outdoor learning is predicated on the idea that learners engage with contexts outside a brick-
and-mortar classroom setting. The outdoors can provide easily accessible contexts for content
of interest. For example, students could go to a forest to learn about the dynamic
relationships between various flora and fauna or travel to a local historic site to learn about a
significant historical event and see how the landscape affected decisions that led to particular
outcomes. Using place to engage students by going beyond the classroom and school opens
up important connections for students around physical and cultural variables. There is no
classroom substitute for tangible interactions with natural historical specimens, biological
factors, and artifacts manipulated by man. By tapping into the various funds of knowledge
inherent in settings outside the classroom, the learning opportunities are multitudinous.
Examples of Outdoor Learning
Examples of outdoor learning can be taken from both formal and informal education settings.
An example of the former is a place- and project-based program funded by the Environmental
Protection Agency that supported outdoor learning for high school students in northern Idaho.
Page 2 of 3 The SAGE Encyclopedia of Out-of-School Learning

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The field-based experiential education program was delivered over the course of an academic
year with three distinct experiences in outdoor learning. The first experience engaged
students in activities around water quality by taking students to a local stream or river, the
second experience had students look at ecosystem-based function through agriculture by
traveling to a farm (e.g., tree farm, organic lavender farm), and the third experience provided
students with a lens into the import of water quantity through snow science by traveling to
locations supporting an adequate snow pack (e.g., ski recreation areas). Each outdoor
learning experience was purposeful and built on in-class preparation to elicit understanding
once in the outdoor context. While in the field, the physical and cultural phenomena were
highlighted for their complex and dynamic interactions. Without going into the field, there
would be no way for the students to appreciate or understand the complexity inherent in
communities, broadly defined.
The second example represents an informal education setting in the form of an outdoor
science school. In central Idaho, there is a venue providing outdoor learning experiences for
upper elementary through high school students from throughout the state in the form of
weeklong, immersive outdoor learning experiences. Students learn science content (e.g.,
ecosystems, adaptations, geology) through the situated context of a state park neighboring
the outdoor science school. The science content serves as a launching point for student
questions based on the outdoor environment in which they learned the content. Students are
then supported in carrying out their inquiry project from the formation of a measurable
question to the presentation of findings to peers. The learning occurring at the outdoor
science school is completely reliant on students being outside. Outside learning occurred
when students had a tangible experience with the physical phenomena of the biotic and
abiotic factors of a state park as well as the culturally negotiated aspects of Western scientific
thought.
Both examples intentionally use the outdoors or local contexts to engage learners in the
physical and cultural phenomena of a location. The outdoors provides a seemingly endless
array of possibilities for learning across disciplinary boundaries. Outdoor learning puts
students into scenarios where they are faced with physical and cultural phenomena that
shape landscapes and societies. By utilizing the richness of content found in out-of-school
settings, learning takes on a greater relevance and in turn is found to be more meaningful for
students.
See alsoPlace-Making; Situated Learning; Summer Camps
Brant G. Miller
http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483385198.n216
10.4135/9781483385198.n216
Further Readings
Gruenewald, D. A. (2003). The best of both worlds: A critical pedagogy of place. Educational
Researcher, 32(4), 3–12.
Gruenewald, D. A., & Smith, G. A. (Eds.). (2014). Place-based education in the global age:
Local diversity. New York, NY: Routledge.
Priest, S. (1986). Redefining outdoor education: A matter of many relationships. Journal of
Environmental Education, 17(3), 13–15.
Sobel, D. (2005). Place-based education: Connecting classrooms and communities. Great
Barrington, MA: Orion.
Page 3 of 3 The SAGE Encyclopedia of Out-of-School Learning
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See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

Chapter · April 2017

Idaho EPSCoR MILES View project

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Contributors: Brant G. Miller

Outdoor Education Versus Outdoor Learning

Examples of Outdoor Learning

Page 2 of 3 The SAGE Encyclopedia of Out-of-School Learning

See alsoPlace-Making; Situated Learning; Summer Camps

Page 3 of 3 The SAGE Encyclopedia of Out-of-School Learning

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