Nursery World - Outdoor CPD: part 1 - Get yourself out there

With its benefits in the spotlight, outdoor learning is having a moment – and the implications for adult CPD are obvious, finds Gabriella Jozwiak in a new series

Adults, like children, often find the outdoors more stimulating

The argument for outdoor learning has never been stronger. After the UK Government announced the first Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020, by May, outdoor learning experts were calling for the education sector to take up the opportunities it offers.

Helen Bilton from the University of Reading’s Institute of Education called for educationalists to recognise the example set by early education. ‘Schools have an opportunity in uncertain circumstances to learn from the early years sector, where the outdoors has always been considered a teaching and learning environment alongside inside,’ she said.

Education experts recognise the benefits of outdoor learning for children, and these are well-documented. However, research into the benefits of outdoor learning on practitioners themselves is less abundant, and Ofsted has never published any material on the subject.

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