The Forest School initiative originated in Scandinavia, where 'friluftsliv', or open air living and learning is a natural part of life from early education to adulthood. The research around the benefits of Forest School have grown significantly and it is now a popular and internationally recognised outdoor education delivery model. An authentic Forest School follows six key principles that shape and govern the Forest School ethos.
These six principles are:
Forest School is a long-term process of regular sessions, rather than one-off or infrequent visits; the cycle of planning, observation, adaptation and review links each session.
Forest School takes place in a woodland or natural environment to support the development of a lifelong relationship between the learner and the natural world.
Forest School uses a range of learner centered processes to create a community for being, development and learning.
Forest School aims to promote the holistic development of all involved, fostering resilient, confident, independent and creative learners.
Forest School offers learners the opportunity to take supported risks appropriate to the environment and to themselves.
Forest School is run by qualified Forest School practitioners, who continuously maintain and develop their professional practice.
So how does Forest school promote self esteem and emotional intelligence?
Emotional intelligence - the ability to understand the way people feel and react, and to use this skill to make good judgements and to avoid or solve problems (Cambridge Dictionary - Cambridge University Press).
In Forest School, the journey of learning creates opportunity for children to develop positive self esteem and resilience. Children’s self esteem and levels of resilience are intrinsically linked to their early life experiences, attachment, ability to make and sustain relationships, emotional literacy and physical and emotional health. Those children with lower levels of self esteem and emotional literacy often struggle to manage their emotions and behaviours are present that are trying to communicate the child’s needs.
Often children with multiple ACE’s (adverse childhood experiences) or trauma have low self esteem and low levels of resilience. Often the actions and behaviours that we see are masking the real emotions that are going on for the child but that they child cannot express these as they are too challenging for the child to articulate with their limited emotional vocabulary (Siegel, 2012).
Children with high levels of self esteem and levels of emotional intelligence are generally able to explore, take calculated risks and finds ways to resolves challenges as they have the foundational belief in themselves that they are good and worthwhile, they have a willingness to try and try again if they fail. These children are also good at asking for help, sustaining and forming relationships and are happy to be imaginative and creative with their play without fear of judgment of thinking they are ‘doing it wrong’.
Forest school can help in many ways to help build and sustain positive self esteem for all learners and leaders. The natural environment is a great environment for learners to learn about respect, trust, independence and responsibility. For example activities like nature trail exploration and craft making have no definitive standard to the outcome, this gives the learner an imaginative space to explore their own competency, hence building their self-confidence and trust in their own ability and thoughts.
Interactions with fellow learners in the natural environment help children realise the need for appropriate social interaction while still living true to one’s individual self, much like how nature has some rules of engagement which we all follow. For example the animals, plants and terrain requires learners to respond to them accordingly in order to survive and continue a sustainable relationship. Learners can respect the boundaries within the natural environment and still be themselves as nature does not decide who they are.
The natural environment is a great space in which to take the time and space to acknowledge emotions, understand how emotions feel and to teach children how to accept and manage emotions. Nature has a calming effect on the neural pathways in the brain and thus learners may feel less overwhelmed by tasks or be less over stimulated by the environment around them as can be the case in an indoor classroom environment.
The forest school way of learning allows for the individual perspectives to be heard, and children learn to negotiate and listen to different points of view. With greater self esteem and emotional intelligence children can start to deepen their levels of empathy, collaboration and kindness. By offering children opportunities, tasks and objects that are less prescribed with what they have to do, children learn to play creatively and work together to learn. The adult leaders in the environment can stand back and observe natural interactions between children and the environment and join in/offer guidance when needed to support safety, manage conflict and to further extend learning and inquiry/support child’s problem solving.
The role of the adult leader within the forest school also must recognise where the learners are in terms of their self esteem and emotional intelligence. It can be helpful to use a scale for benchmarking - The Leuven Scale is a good example of this and can be helpful in showing progression of learners in terms of emotional development. The tool was developed by a team based at the Research Centre for Experiential Education (Leuven University – Belgium) under the supervision of Dr. Ferre Laevers. Laevers created a 5 point scale to measure both wellbeing and involvement. Wellbeing is linked to self-confidence, self-esteem and resilience. Involvement refers to being intensely engaged in activities and is considered to be a necessary condition for deep level learning and development. If there is a lack of wellbeing and or involvement, it is likely a child’s development will be threatened. The higher the levels of wellbeing and involvement we can achieve for the child, the more we can add to the child’s development. Higher levels of wellbeing and involvement = deeper level of learning.
Natural environments are excellent places to develop resilient, confident, independent and creative learners.
A major factor that fosters resilience in learners at Forest school is being outdoors in all weathers. Learners have to adapt to the way they tackle activities based on the seasons and the weather conditions. They also have to learn how to get in and out of wet weather clothing – something that takes patience and practice.
Learners also build resilience and independence by having the freedom to explore and learn. In the study by McCree et al (2018) it was concluded that the opportunity for the children to play and the ability to choose on their own terms had a clear impact on the children’s ability to self-regulate and develop resilience.
The possibilities for creative play in the woodland or natural environment is vast. Creativity in forest school is not just developed by adult led art or craft based activities. Children are free to choose and explore the ways they approach challenges and activities and the natural environment encourages children to think critically and creatively. The natural environment is rich with loose parts – e.g. stones, logs, sticks, leaves, soil, rope. Simon Nicholson’s theory of loose parts (1971) - meaning objects with no prescribed play task - materials that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up, and taken apart and put back together in multiple ways, proposes that access to loose parts encourages children’s creativity and imagination and provides a greater range of opportunities.
Leaders at forest school sessions do not aim to ‘teach’ or tell children what to do. Leaders provide ideas, activities and resources and facilitate opportunities for children to pursue their interests.
Child led learning encourages independence and supports self reliance. Children learn that they do not have to always seek adult approval before attempting something or rely on adults to help if a problem arises.
By having positive levels of resilience, confidence, independence and creativity children are able to make decisions about their own learning, direct their own interests and develop in their own time
References:
www.forestschooleducationseries.wordpress.com/2017/07/04/self-esteem-emotional-intelligence/ accessed 11.1.21
The Gottman Institute www.gottman.com/blog/the-anger-iceberg/ accessed 11.1.21
Hanscom, Angela (2016) Balanced and barefoot. How outdoor play makes for strong, confident and capable children. New Harbinger publications. Oakland CA.
Siegel, Daniel (2012) The Whole Brain Child. 12 Proven strategies to nurture your child’s developing mind. Robinson. London.
Harper, Nevin; Rose, Kathryn; Segal, David (2019) Nature Based Therapy. A Practitioners guide to working outdoors with children, youth and families. New Society publishers. Canada.
www.emotionallyhealthyschools.org/primary/the-leuven-scale
Nicholson, S. (1971). How NOT to cheat children: The Theory of Loose Parts. Landscape Architecture, 62, 30–34. [Google Scholar]
McCree, Mel; Cutting, Roger; Sherwin, Dean (2018) The Hare and the Tortoise go to Forest School: taking the scenic route to academic attainment via emotional wellbeing outdoors. Early child development and care. Vol 188:7 pgs 980-996 [online]
Gill (2007) ‘No Fear: growing up in a risk adverse society’
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