Beyond the Classroom
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What does it mean to go beyond the classroom?
Learning beyond the classroom refers to any learning that takes place outside the traditional classroom setting. This includes incursions, excursions and learning that children go through outside of school. It is extremely important to value these learning experiences as they contribute significantly to the achievement and success of student learning.
Learning outside the four walls of the classroom has many positive and negative aspects associated with it. It is important to take into account all of these factors when planning the learning space that you want your students to flourish in. Learning that is done outside of the classroom creates countless more opportunities to explore new ideas within the classroom (Nunes, 2011).
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What does this mean for a teacher?
Introducing excursions and incursions creates powerful learning opportunities for students and a whole new learning space that they can work in (Lorenza, 2009). Teachers can use the learning space beyond the classroom as motivation for student learning. Students are excited by opportunities to work outside of their classroom, therefore creating more opportunities to learn beyond the classroom would inspire your students to delve into a new way of learning (Bentley, 2012).
A strength for learning beyond the classroom comes from the learning opportunities that can stem from student discovery. Through students engaging in a new way of learning and exploring different topics and interests outside the classroom walls, their imaginations and creativity start to shine. Students are more likely to be engaged in the learning and it can lead to many follow up lessons in many different subject areas once the student are back within the classroom (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013).
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A challenge that teachers might face is the organisation and workload that is involved in planning a learning space beyond the classroom. Ensuring that each student is accounted for and safe during excursions and incursions is the number on priority for teachers. The pressure that teachers may face when executing teaching in these learning spaces could have an effect on the success of the learning (Bentley, 2012).
How does learning beyond the classroom impact on students?
Learning beyond the classroom has a different impact on different students. For many students, learning beyond the four walls of the classroom, such as incursions and excursions, is a new and exciting way to learn and has them engaged almost the minute they leave the classroom (Bentley, 2012).
For students, some benefits of learning beyond the classroom are that they can engage in hands on learning, which may be different from the learning they experience in the classroom (DeWitt & Hohenstein, 2010). Hands on learning allows students to explore a more physical element to learning and engage in a range of different learning experiences, such as visiting outdoor environments and exploring the physical elements of that environment (DeWitt & Hohenstein, 2010).
Through learning spaces such as incursions and excursions, students are more likely to be engaged in the topic regardless of their interest in it before it was introduced (Bentley, 2012). As learning beyond the classroom is generally regarded by the students as exciting and interesting, the topic that they are investigating beyond the walls of the classroom will most likely now be a topic of interest. Students can engage with and relate to topics that they have an interest in, therefore using a beyond the classroom learning space to engage students in their learning would most likely end is successful learning outcomes (Bentley, 2012).
Although excursions and incursions are generally appreciated and engaging for students, there are some students who will remain disengaged and reluctant to learn. Students who do not work well with change and disruption could respond negatively to beyond the classroom learning spaces as they prefer to learn in a structured and organised environment (Nunes, 2011).
Learning spaces beyond the classroom work well if the students respond to the new space in a positive manner. A weakness for students in this learning space is the negative outcome that may arise from this learning space if the whole class isn't adjusting well to learning beyond the walls of the classroom (Nunes, 2011). If the whole class isn't cooperating and working well together in this learning space, students may find there incursions and excursions limited as a result of the lack of cohesion.
We can increase beyond the classroom learning spaces through:
- Working in environments other than the classroom as often as possible
- Where budget allows, participate in excursions and incursions that are relevant to the subject area
- Introduce lessons that are formed around the basis of learning beyond the classroom
- Ask students where they would like to learn
"The bits I most remember about my school days are those that took place outside the classroom" - Allen Bennet