Teaching outside the Classroom
7th March, 2008The DCSF campaign to get teachers working outside of the classroom has been boosted this week with the launch of the Teaching Outside of the Classroom website. The aim is for trainee teachers to go on placements during their training at non-school educational sites, such as adventure centres and museums. The manifesto for this was launched about 6 months ago and the website is intended as a mechanism to allow interested organisations etc to sign up to be involved.
Honestly, if this had been available when I was doing a PGCE I’m pretty sure I would still be working at an Adventure centre in the Brecon Beacons, Snowdonia, or Highlands today rather than blogging about it. Perhaps applications for jobs at such settings will go through the roof as trainee teachers realise their talents and enthusiasm might be better suited to an informal curriculum of fun, stimulation, adveture, risk-taking and excitement than one of national standards, exam pressures (I could go on…).
As any teacher will tell you, going on field trips with children is a joy, a highlight for the profession as well as for the children. (It’s not just the children who remember field trips as the best days of school.) I am personally of the opinion that more ‘teaching’ and more ‘learning’ should happen outside of the classroom, although classrooms are of course perfectly suited to a great deal of the fantastic work schools do. Though we might want to wonder if it would be a good idea to get some existing staff to do these placements too, overall the scheme should provide some talented young trainees with an opportunity to think creatively about a craft that doesn’t always have to be contained with the same four walls. But then, it is sunny outside and I’d rather be on a field trip than at my desk….
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Bob Harrison
Ben Williamson
Dan Sutch
Richard Sandford
Leon Cych
Martin Owen
Tim Reader
March 7th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
[...] Über den Flux-Blog bin ich auf die “Teaching Outside the Classroom” Initiative aufmerksam geworden. Die Initiative setzt dich dafür ein, dass Schülerinnen und Schüler auch außerhalb der Schule Erfahrungen sammeln. Die Ausbildung von Lehrerinnen und Lehrer soll dazu auch in “non-school education sites” stattfinden. Hinter der Initiative steht unter anderem das Ministerium für Kinder, Schule und Familien. In ihrer Presseerklärung heißt es: [...]
March 15th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Teacher has been seconded from Fairfield school in Bristol to be based at Watershed Media centre one day a week. The aim is for a partnership of secondary schools to make effective use of creative media businesses and the watershed facilities for new Diploma courses. Watershed is keen to hear from people who want to work with this teacher who starts in May 08 for 3 years.
April 2nd, 2008 at 3:21 pm
[...] Via Ben Williamson on the Flux blog. [...]