Take the class outside! : a call for place-based outdoor learning in the Australian primary school curriculum

Despite evidence supporting the benefits of outdoor learning, there is seemingly a decline in school learning experiences that take place outside the four walls of the classroom. Writing within a Western context, Waite (2010) argues that despite broad educational aims being addressed through outdoor learning, the classroom and indoor settings remain the usual place that learning is considered to occur. Correspondingly, Harris and Bilton (2018) highlight that while there are strong educational reasons in favour of outdoor learning, many teachers may find it difficult to engage with these experiences for students, particularly with a global “… growing emphasis on measurable academic outcomes” (p. 1). Within this contemporary context, there is a need to rethink approaches to outdoor learning that provide students with meaningful and engaging educational experiences across all areas of the curriculum. This article presents an argument in favour of place-based outdoor learning (PBOL), drawing from case study research conducted in an Australian primary school. Firstly, an overview of a place-based outdoor learning framework designed for the implementation of this study is presented. This is followed by a discussion of the key findings on the yearlong program’s impact on student learning, wellbeing, and connection with local places. Throughout the immersive case study, multiple data sources, including interviews with teaching staff, fieldwork observations, and participatory child-friendly research activities, reveal counterpoints in support of a place-responsive curriculum. Such a curriculum deconstructs the dominant image of the classroom as the traditional site for serious learning, and reconsiders teaching alongside nature whereby children are engaged in regular lessons in an outdoors environment whenever possible, and to a greater extent than is currently being reported across the country.