Learning outside is now essential

“No one will protect what they do not care about: and no one will care about what they’ve never experienced” – Sir David Attenborough

This year our world has changed in ways most of us have only read about in fiction, many of the things we took for granted, have just stopped. Amidst all this change one thing our government and perhaps the people unanimously do want to stay the same, is our children’s education. Schools, as they are, should stay open; 

“Keeping our schools closed a moment longer than is absolutely necessary is socially intolerable, economically unsustainable and morally indefensible” – Boris Johnson in August

Education for society is obviously essential. Many parents today need to balance the responsibilities of modern life, meaning more children need to be cared for by others. It takes a village, but what kind of village do we all want for our future?

Strict covid measures and guidelines govern schools across the country to safely contain hundreds of children in school buildings to keep us all safe. Already schools are having to close due to high numbers of staff and children forced to self-isolate. 

Yet, overwhelming scientific advice tells us that there is far lower risk when outside. So, is it not obvious? We take learning outside.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Broadly the scientific and medical experts have been clear that there is less likelihood of transmission of this disease outdoors than indoors”. Jonathan Van-Tam, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, who also previously stated that the virus appears to spread less easily outdoors because of natural ventilation.

He told the daily Downing Street briefing in April that “there is a definite truism across all of the science literature that ventilation is a most critical part of reducing transmission from respiratory viruses”. Mr Van-Tam explained that normal breezes and air currents appeared to quickly disperse “any kind of plumes of anything”.

“So from that perspective, it is absolutely categorically clear that outdoor spaces with higher degrees of ventilation are less problematic environments for transmission than indoor spaces.” 

Safer learning is learning outside.  So let’s educate outside more often, than not. And not order our children to wear masks, but actually let them get the ventilation they need. 

Worryingly, our access to clean air, anywhere is a genuine concern for the future, we are on the edge of a far bigger crisis, one that is leading to the destruction of our natural world. We are witnessing rising global temperatures, polluted waters, polluted soil, an ocean full of plastic, deforestation on a colossal scale, global mass species extinction, and I could unfortunately go on and on. We are seeing to our own annihilation. 

Last year 11,000 scientists warned of “untold suffering due to the climate crisis”, unless there are major transformations to global society.

Are we willing to make those transformations? Are we the people willing to make those transformations, or do we have to wait until we are told to? 

And so, with our ‘House on fire” as Greta Thunburg so powerfully put it. What have we done? Nothing. What are we doing? Very, very little. 

We have not stopped the planes, or stopped driving, we don’t slow down and use less, we haven’t banned plastic, we do not protect our forests, we do not tell people to change their lives to save themselves and each other. 

This year has shown us that when we accept, we have a crisis on our hands we can change the world, almost overnight.  We changed everything for Covid yet we continue to ignore the emergency which will ultimately destroy our very existence, why? 

We are so far, far disconnected from nature, from our true wild nature that we have scarcely noticed, or been proportionally bothered that over 50 % of the world’s wildlife has disappeared over the last 40 years and counting. A consequence of the way humans choose to live. We feel separate from nature, superior to nature. The illusion of the human assent has tricked us into believing our lives will always get better and as humanity, we will fix it with our ever-improving technological & scientific advancements.

So how can we fix this? What do we need from our education systems now, business as usual; factories & corporations for hardworking industrialists? Or could this be the opportunity we need, collectively to see past the illusion and go back to nature, and think about what our children really need from their education. 

We have learned over the many years we have been warned of the climate crisis that Governments and the people majority were not going to make the necessary changes to prevent our extinction, along with more than 50% of the planet's biodiversity and wildlife. 

This year has proved that we can make drastic changes to our lives, when we understand there is a huge risk to life, we can change. 

We cannot return to the structures we know are not serving us, on a survival scale. Now is the time that we need to fundamentally change the way we do education. Children should be educated outside, at least 60% of the time. If children spend more time in nature learning about it, understanding it and building an emotional connection with it, they will care about it.

Children today spend on average less than 30 minutes a week playing in nature and nearly 7 hours a day on screens. – Childwise research

I have been educating children in nature for 20 years in all weathers. Children are resilient, we are resilient, we have not survived for 200,00 years as Homo Sapiens without resilience. We can be out in all weathers, enjoying the sights, smells, sounds and feelings created in all seasons. Outdoor learning doesn’t mean elemental extremism, comfortable and practical outdoor shelters can be built, with children taking part in the processes so essential to our wild nature. 

Project Rewild is part of a national research programme to make rewilding accessible and relevant. We want to work towards rewilding our education, delivering alternative woodland educational programmes, community nature education and play and partnerships with schools to help them deliver more nature-based education. We want to work with communities to engage people in our mission to re-connect and rewild. 

Learning outside is cheaper, it's way more fun, it's safer during this pandemic, it’s better for the planet, and I haven’t even mentioned the undeniable and proven mental and physical health benefits which I witness every day in my work. 

I urge all schools, educators, councils, community groups, families, parents, there has not been a more pertinent time than now to let our children learn and grow outside in nature. 

Luke Funnell – Project Rewild

www.projectrewild.co.uk