Taking the classroom outdoors may offer schools the opportunity to offer full-time at-school learning during the coronavirus pandemic for the new school year in the fall. A consortium of four organizations* laid out a fairly specific proposal to that end in a June 4, 2020, webinar called Outdoor Spaces as Essential Assets for School Districts' Covid-19 Response.
Due to the probable continued need to physically distance in the fall, school districts face the challenge of not enough space for all students enrolled at their schools, and as a result not giving those students enough time to meet their learning goals and needs. At this point, initial models plan on up to 60% of students being on their school's premises at a given time with a combination of staggered schedules and online learning. There are several reasons for concern about continued online learning: learning loss, parents' jobs, physical fitness and mental health, and most concerning of all, equity. An April survey found that fully half of US students, many of them in lower income households, never logged on to their teachers' online lessons.
At the same time, 75% of environmental learning organizations express uncertainty about reopening in the fall, due to the loss of class trip revenue this spring and decreased donations. As many as 30 000 outdoor education specialists, naturalists and guides are currently furloughed and possibly facing unemployment.
The consortium that hosted the above-mentioned webinar see the above two weighty problems as a possible opportunity for a partnership.
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| Education Snapshots |
The proposal is, of course, to educate half of each class outside each day. But how would that work, first of all, in terms of staffing? The consortium ran through four possible scenarios, all of which require flexibility from teaching staff, administration and teacher unions. Each scenario also requires much collaboration, especially the fourth.
- Each district chooses a number of Master Teachers responsible for creating online content and related assignments. Half of each class uses the online content at home half the time. All classroom teachers facilitate the assignments with the other half of their students, outside or inside, half the time. A sort of flipped classroom approach.
- Eliminating the need for online content, in this scenario classroom teachers instruct half their class in their classroom using the Master Teachers' content while specialist teachers, para-educators and librarians facilitate and support the other half of the class doing assigned work outside.
- The third scenario are variations on a blend of the first two scenarios.
- The fourth scenario has the potential to be a rich collaboration between schools with a stretched teaching staff and furloughed outdoor education professionals. The consortium proposes a partnership with the staff from non-formal educational institutions like nature centers, science museums and other field trip destinations. Classroom teachers instruct half their class in their classroom while the non-formal education experts teach and guide the other halves outside. The kind of educational opportunities of outdoor learning that may take classroom teachers out of their comfort zone is their comfort zone. Their expertise can be added to any of the first three scenarios to a lesser or greater degree.
Three of these scenarios could allow schools to reopen full-time for 100% of their students. Of course teachers that participated in the webinar asked how a school (district) will pay for the extra staffing in Scenario 4. The consortium encouraged school districts to consider the
staffing costs an investment that could mitigate the cost on the
community of not reopening to 100% capacity. They also advised them and their school community to look into foundations and philanthropists who champion education and/or the environment. Lastly, the furloughed outdoor education professionals may be receiving unemployment benefits that might help mitigate costs.
Whether your school can accommodate all its students full-time depends not only on expense, but also on its space capacity. The assumption is that there is a classroom for each half class in the school building. What is your school's outdoor capacity? Can each class have half its students have an adequate outdoor space? The space for each class needs to be large enough for 10-14 students to physically distance but for each student to be able to hear the teacher/facilitator. The voice typically carries between 20-25 feet. Determine how much room each class needs to sit in a circle with the teacher as part of the circle. Students could also sit amphitheater-style or in a grid facing the teacher. Those two arrangements need less space. Determine whether there is a large enough area for each class to be seated one of those ways. Ensure that students do not have the sun in their eyes. Ensure that each class is far enough away from the sounds of the other classes. Is there still enough room for PE and recess outdoors?
Lastly, the consortium laid out three scenarios for preparing a school's outdoor space for outdoor learning, from low cost up. It was stressed that designing for the margins is universal design, and equity was emphasized.
- Low/No-cost: limit all-day outdoor classroom use to better-weather months, and plan for staggered outdoor learning in hotter, windier or colder months, depending on your climate. Use existing shade and existing chairs and/or mats (flexible seating) and clipboards.
- Small Investment: Add to the first scenario shade cloths suspended on wires and/or shade shelters. Add picnic tables, log rounds, straw or hay bales and/or benches.
- Infrastructure Aligned with Educational Program: Add to the previous scenarios the capacity for students to not be seated all day long. Use part of the time outdoors for hands-on learning. Use neighborhood parks or green space if there is any.
The webinar ended by pointing out that the paint is not dry on these ideas! I hope to keep readers up-to-date as the ideas develop further.
*The Lawrence Hall of Science at University of California, Berkeley
Green Schoolyards America
Ten Strands
Environmental Literacy and Sustainability Initiative
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