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Federica Gravina
Project Officer - SERN

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Developing innovative learning context in pre-schools' outdoors spaces

About the project

Outdoor education in pre-schools represents an indispensable educational strategy complementary to indoor education, based more on direct contact with the environment and its phenomena. The partnership, consisting of 7 organisations from 4 EU countries(Sweden, Italy, Latvia and Cyprus), believes there is a need to rethink and improve the pedagogical use of outdoor spaces of pre-schools in order to promote children’s learning.

Objectives

The general objective of the 3-year-project is to enhance pre-school quality by developing and enhancing knowledge about the design and planning of stimulating outdoor environments.
The Specific Objectives of the project are:
1. To improve the quality of children’s learning through innovative outdoor learning environment
2. To improve pre-school teacher’s skills and strategies about outdoor activities
3. To design innovative outdoor learning spaces by bringing together expertise from different fields

Activities

The project activities include 6 transnational project meetings an 3 training seminars aimed at supporting the production of three main products of the project: Two models of outdoor learning spaces in pre-schools, a guide for the development and valorisation of outdoor spaces and an Online Training module on outdoor activities for teachers based on the content of the guide.
Such products will be disseminated in the four countries of the partnership towards the key target groups of the project: Pre-schools managers and municipal decision-makers, pre-school teachers, researchers, families, Professionals from other fields and children attending pre-schools.

Results

The main results are the development of innovative outdoor learning spaces designed and tested with the support of experts from other fields than education (architects, landscape designers, science educators) and improved pre-school teachers’ skills pertaining the planning and implementation of outdoor activities.

Outputs

The project developed two Intellectual Outputs:

OUTPUT 1: Models of outdoor learning spaces in pre-schools

The output consists of two innovative models of innovative outdoor learning space in pre-schools, as follows:

Model A – Creation of new pre-school outdoor learning environment
Model B – Re-designing of existing pre-school outdoor setting.

In particular the models developed through this IO will include elements valorising:

  • Problem solving, explorative and practical approaches
  • Constructive, creative and playful approaches
  • Experience-based learning -Learning by body and senses
  • Learning by communication and social collaboration

OUTPUT 2: Guide for the development and valorisation of outdoor spaces

The output is about guidelines for the planning and using outdoor spaces in pre-schools according to the approach elaborated in the models (Ouput1). The guidelines will provide a key tool for ECEC actors in the partner countries but also in the rest of the European Union aiming at improving the quality of learning in their outdoor spaces.

The guidelines will be articulated in the three main parts:

  • A research part framing the value of the outdoor spaces in relation to quality of ECEC
  • A part describing the main elements emerged from the creation of the models
  • A section dedicated to a description and an analysis of the process and methodology used by the partners
  • A section dedicated to the best practices tested with example of different activities
 
Click here to download the Guide for the development and valorisation of outdoor spaces.
Click here to download the Booklet of the good practices
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Guide for the development and valorisation of outdoor spaces
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