Is the school in your community going back to school this fall? All schools and school districts are wrestling with the decision to do that safely, of course. At stake are learning loss, but also the ability for parents to focus on their work during the day, whether that is at home or at the workplace. At stake is also the health of students and staff with a contagious virus on the loose. It's a tough balancing act.
Innovative educators are adding the prospect of outdoor learning into the mix. The coronavirus spreads much less easily among people who physically distance in the outdoors. It is generally agreed that gathering outside is much safer than spending time among people in enclosed places.
Schools capitalizing on the benefits of fresh air is not a new idea. It's been done before in the face of contagious illness. Named Open Air Schools, pre-tubercular children were sent out of the typically overcrowded and unsanitary urban environments to the country to be educated in fresh air, sunlight, and space.
The movement of Open Air Schools really took off after the Spanish Flu epidemic. It affected school architecture as well. There were examples in Paris and Amsterdam of school buildings with folding windows on three sides of the classrooms.
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Open Air School, wikimedia, public domain
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In the US, the first Open Air School was in Rhode Island. Then more were added in Indiana and the Chicago area, among other places. All were outside of dense urban centers. How was a typical day in an Open Air School envisioned?
“First of all the face and hands of each one were washed, and then the
children sat down to breakfast,” the [Chicago] Tribune reported after the first
day of classes. “Then the children washed the dishes, took their first
lessons in camp duties, and received light instruction in the school
building, the tent in which the classes are to be held not having been
delivered. There were frequent intermissions for play, story telling,
and gymnastics.
“After luncheon there was an hour of rest, many of the children taking
sun baths in large canvas chairs. After more gymnastics there was
another hour for sleep, then play, more rest, and supper. The dishes
were washed again, each had a shower bath, and, provided with car fare,
the pupils were sent to their homes, to return this morning.”
Though the pilot program took place during the summer, advocates were
already thinking about how open air schools could operate once it got
colder: “The plans of the promoters of this school contemplate the
opening of winter schools with all windows and doors removed.
Tuberculous children will sit wrapped in blankets, furs, and mittens
while they study.... " An update was published later in the year: "We let the children wear overcoats and overshoes and they were as warm
as they wanted to be, with plenty of exercise and something to keep them
interested...
Any deficiency in learning is so amply compensated for by an increased
rosiness of cheek and plumpness of arm that no distress is expressed by
the strictest of formal educators.... They are
schools in which efficiency is gauged by gain in appetite, not in mental
achievement, but this does not imply that they exactly neglect the
cultivation of the mind.”
The Open Air School movement fell out of favor during the mid-1900's as circumstances changed. Fewer people lived in overcrowded conditions, and vaccines were made available for those contagious diseases.*
The focus of the Open Air School movement was on fresh air for the purpose of bolstering health. Today, in addition to fresh air, other emphases of outdoor educating are the close-up exposure to nature at school and more stimulating free play at recess. Still, can the best practices of this movement of a century ago be revived? More urgently, can we innovate some of its ideas in time for the new school year. And how?
The answer depends on your school's circumstances: its number of students, the size of the school grounds, and the reopening phase that your jurisdiction will be in by the fall. Whichever circumstances your school deals with, practical matters that need to be considered include
- shelters
- supervision and parameters
- supplies: clipboards, pencil case supplies, rolling carts for books, etc
- WiFi, tablets: yes or no?
- which subjects for outside?
- procedures and training students in the outdoor classroom expectations
- first aid kit and emergency information binder, teacher's phone
- hats, water bottles, sunscreen, safe insect repellent in summer
- winter gear and plans for plenty of movement in colder weather
- bathroom protocol
At this stage, planning on spending the whole day outside in any kind of weather seems out of reach in terms of outdoor infrastructure, space and staffing, in my opinion. Better to consider each class taking turns spending a couple of hours outside each day.
More practical ideas in Outdoors at School, Safer at School II and III.
*The history of Open Air Schools was found in an April 24, 2020 article by Lloyd Alter, and in a May 1, 2020 Chicago Tribune article by Elise de los Santos.
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