Learning Outside the Classroom and Place Based Learning

How and where we learn is important. Learning outside the classroom provides a context for learning that supports new and different ways of processing information. Learning spaces outside of the classroom may also create different modes and pathways for students to understand and process information. When students engage with content in ways that require moving their bodies, observing, drawing, solving problems with their peers, and answering questions with hands-on activities, learning and meaning-making are activated. This approach to teaching is grounded in the belief that learning is actively built, experiential, evolving, collaborative, and reflective.

Teaching and learning in outside spaces helps to enhance student understanding of the environment and place, while also fostering critical thinking, problem-solving, and community awareness. This month’s webinar highlighted ways in which teachers and teaching artists create outdoor experiences for learning across curricula and across grade levels. There are many resources that support teachers in creating art and environment lessons, including professional artists who make work outside.

Side x Side has expertly created environmentally-based art lessons to support core curriculum through the arts and learning resources to support student centered learning.