Wednesday, 23 November, 2022 - 16:30
Recent times have been very disruptive to humanity. Long periods of forced isolation, increased screen time and a trend towards online social interaction rather than in-person interactions have led to marked increases in mental health issues such as anxiety, behavioural challenges and depression.
Studies have shown that in order for us to navigate through this “new normal”, we need to place an emphasis on new skillsets within the education system. These new skills are being labelled “21st Century Skills”
They include:
- Complex Thinking Skills
- Creativity
- Collaboration
- Communication
- Creative problem solving
- Curiosity
- Risk-taking
Along with academic development, these attributes help contribute to the education of the “whole child” rather than a traditional method of schooling that was successful in educating less than 50% of children passing through the system.
Nature based play or education has been proven to successfully develop these 21st Century Skills quickly and intrinsically. Through well designed bushcraft activities and survival challenges plus guided interactions between participants, it can take less than two hours to begin to develop confidence, resilience and team building within a group in the outdoors.
A connection between skills developed outside in educational years and skills that contribute to success in adult life can clearly be seen.
A report from the National Wildlife Federation, Back to School: Back Outside (Coyle, 2010), showed such benefits include:
- Improved classroom behaviour
- Increased student motivation and enthusiasm to learn
- Better performance in maths, science, reading and social studies
- Reduced Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Higher scores on standardised tests
The outdoors is becoming a vital part of a complete education and those schools and educational facilities incorporating it within their systems are leading the way to healthier students both in mind and body.