Outdoor Learning and Children’s Voices: The Power of Pedagogical Documentation
Outdoor experiences have always been a large part of my life particularly as a child and then (unfortunately less so) as an adult. Long summers spent at the family cottage with my extend family from the time school was let out to the time school was let in and seasons in between. We were privileged, though we did not know it at the time, to spend those days learning a multitude of skills that others might not have access too: boating, swimming, fishing, gardening, hunting, climbing, cooking, skiing and even basic house building skills.
We were free range and definitely ‘beyond the fence’. But as we got older those ‘fun’ things made way for the focus and the expectations on academic achievements.
Few things are so important to Parents than the knowledge that their children are moving adequately along the developmental pathway to adulthood: are they performing well against others; are they learning; are they reaching milestones; are they being taught the foundational skills that will hold them steady through the navigation of academic achievement? And most importantly will our children have the skills to be a successful adult?
Like many parents today I am a working professional. I don’t have the privilege (for good or ill and probably the former) of being the main educator at home. And while we still have the family cottage, those days are short crammed vacation days. I am the typical parent forager, looking for just the right spot for my child to have a nurturing environment for the day to day. For many, choosing the right early learning environment for your child often comes down to two things: consideration for safety and learning.
So you might ask – how does this all personal reflection relate to an academic project on outdoor pedagogy?
Over the last couple of months our diverse nationwide group has been exploring Outdoor Pedagogy through a Community of Practice. We read, we talk, we review, we reflect, we share, and we push ourselves respectfully out of our comfort zones on a variety of topics. In full disclosure there are times I feel a little like an imposter. I am an Academic of Social Sciences and have been an Academic Chair of Early Childhood Education for over a decade. I also am a passionate supporter of Early Childhood Education pedagogy and in part because I have a child on the autism spectrum. I have learned a lot about Early Childhood Education, but I would not claim I am an ‘Early Childhood Educator.’ Through my lens the power of pedagogical documentation for both educators and parents, particularly in outdoor spaces, continues to resonate with me.
As a social science academic in Post-Secondary environment, I understand the theoretical advantage of observation and pedagogical documentation. That pedagogical documentation is more than a visual history of what the children are doing day to day.
As a parent of a (then) nonverbal child on the autism spectrum, the influence of child centric pedagogical documentation is much more powerfully relevant to me: it provided a window to my child’s learning. It gave a voice to a child that had none at the time. It helped me to see how my child was learning, observing and interacting with the world around her. As stated by McLean (2009), “documentation has the potential to change a parent’s perception of a child—helping them to see these ordinary moments through new eyes, which can lead to a greater understanding and appreciation of their child’s early learning experiences. “ ( p.116)
Early on, one of my child’s favorite Educators told me “Don’t let the labels define her”.
Connecting to my child through her Educators and these pieces of pedagogical documentation helped me see outside the box of labels and imposed expectations. It helped me as a parent to understand what competencies my child already had and the potential that could be. It is something I continuously reflect on to check and recheck my assumptions.
Parents too often look at documentation as a simple accounting of the day. A day that should be focused on the developmental pre academic foundation skills. “What has my child learned today to prepare for school?” This type of documentation would be easier to produce, and quite likely enough for most parents to be satisfied.
For others, documentation can be a glaring gap, another label, another box that highlights visible pieces of what you think your child is not doing masking what they are doing. You can easily miss the richer context of what learning is happening, how that child is experiencing and learning in their environment and how to build upon that learning together.
“The Reggio approach takes the view that children are protagonists in their own growth and development and teachers use documentation as a means of exploring and making visible individual and group learning processes of both children and adults (Infant-toddler Centres and Preschools Istituzione of the Municipality of Reggio Emilia [ICPIMRE] 2010). Children’s ideas are seen as worthy contributions to overall knowledge- building processes.” (Merewether, 2018, p.260)
So how does this context of children’s learning and their role as protagonists relate to Outdoor Play? The most powerful observations of my child’s learning came from watching her engage in outdoor adventurous play. Suddenly those labels and gaps in development, so glaring against artificial academic benchmarks and cultural pressures, did not seem so significant.
It was not only the higher level of engagement in an outdoor environment that was evident in the pedagogical documentation but also how those environments were just as effective if not more in her overall development.
With an obvious wealth of natural sensory opportunities, Educators could see the many ways she engaged in investigating her outdoor environment: her sense of sense of self in shadow play; her exploration of cause and effect in water play; her investigations in the multitude of sticks, leaves and other wonders; her demonstration of a sense of danger in judging safe distances to jump; or her building of self-confidence and motor skills to climb a tree. It was in outdoor play that we saw the biggest shifts from individual play to parallel play to interactive communication with her peers.
Outdoor play offered experiences that she would return to time and time again. Experiences that engaged her outside of her inner world and provoked her to interact. As parents, we could see in the pedagogical documentation her evolving personal interests and leverage those interests to co construct her learning as a team with her Educators at the center and us at home.
Parents need to understand the power of what they see in pedagogical documentation especially in outdoor play. Pedagogical documentation is not only a record of activity but an enriched reflection of their children’s learning, a look beyond the obvious milestones, checkboxes, and a pedagogy of listening. The view it offers into a child’s mind will not only change the way you view your children’s’ learning, but what we traditionally consider meaningful ‘learning’ environments.
Heather Fowler BA, MA, Academic Chair: Arts & Community, NBCC
References:
McLean, C (2019). Co-constructed Pedagogical Documentation in Early Learning Settings: A Parent Perspective. Exceptionality Education International. Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 113–134
Merewether, J (2018) Listening to young children outdoors with pedagogical Documentation. International Journal of Early Years Education. VOL. 26, NO. 3, 259–277
