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paper on outdoor learning

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Article - attitudes about nature

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Abstract

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of in-depth outdoor experience on participants' attitudes toward nature. The author developed a scale of attitudes toward nature, measuring four factors: pro-environment, positive affect, camp, and environmental ethic. A wilderness experience questionnaire covering six aspects, namely oneness, timelessness, primitiveness, humility, solitude, and care (Borrie, 1995), was administered each day to 44 students in grades 4-11 who attended an 8-day camp in order to measure the degree to which they perceive nature. The scale of attitudes toward nature was administered four times during the camp: at the beginning, before a backcountry hiking trip, after the trip, and at the end of camp. Covariance analysis revealed that the group that had a deeper outdoor experience showed a significant increase in positive attitudes toward nature compared with a less deeply experienced group.

Recommended Citation

Okada, M., Okamura, T., & Zushi, K. (2013). The effects of in-depth outdoor experience on attitudes toward nature. Journal of Outdoor Recreation, Education, and Leadership, 5(3), 192-209. https://doi.org/10.7768/1948-5123.1152

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The effects of in-depth outdoor experience on attitudes toward nature

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Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of in-depth outdoor experience on participants' attitudes toward nature. The author developed a scale of attitudes toward nature, measuring four factors: pro-environment, positive affect, camp, and environmental ethic.

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outdoor play, children

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Young Children’s Relationship with Nature: Its Importance to Children’s Development and the Earth’s Future

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Young Children’s Relationship with Nature: Its Importance to Children’s Development and the Earth’s Future

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LW

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This report presents the key findings from the Natural Connections Demonstration Project, which identified that the fundamental challenges to learning outside the classroom in the natural environment () in schools were local and revolved around a lack of teacher confidence in teaching outside and fragmentation of LINE service provision. These underpinned the more traditionally cited challenges of curriculum pressures, concern about risks and cost.

This and other evidence was used by Natural England and a wide range of partner organisations to shape the design of the demonstration project. The project was funded by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Natural England and Historic England, commissioned by Natural England, and delivered in South West England by Plymouth University.

Natural Connections was intended to:

Stimulate the demand from schools and teachers for learning outside the classroom in the local natural environment.

Support schools and teachers to build learning outside the classroom in the local natural environment into their planning and practices.

Stimulate the supply of high quality learning outside the classroom in the natural environment services for schools and teachers.

Further detail is available in Natural England Commissioned Report NECR215 Annex 1.

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Natural Connections Demonstration Project, 2012-2016: Final Report and Analysis of the Key Evaluation Questions - NECR215

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This report presents the key findings from the Natural Connections Demonstration Project, which identified that the fundamental challenges to learning outside the classroom in the natural environment (LINE) in schools were local and revolved around a lack of teacher confidence in teaching outside and fragmentation of LINE service provision.

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LW

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LW

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Wednesday, June 20, 2012
The UK Real World Learning Network partners have produced a baseline report investigating the focus of the Working Groups.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
The UK Real World Learning Network partners have produced a baseline report investigating the focus of the Working Groups.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Using the natural world for teaching science in March 2013 at Castle Head Field Centre.

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Wednesday, June 20, 2012 The UK Real World Learning Network partners have produced a baseline report investigating the focus of the Working Groups. Thursday, September 18, 2014 The UK Real World Learning Network partners have produced a baseline report investigating the focus of the Working Groups.

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sample paper, how to lay it out

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Article on the Beatles and meditation on the brain + education and meditation

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When the Beatles went to India to study Transcendental Meditation at a remote ashram in the 1960's, meditation was still largely seen in the West as a cultish fad favored by celebrities and hippies. Fifty years later, meditation has gone mainstream.

Mindfulness-based meditation is now firmly established as a valid stress-reduction tool and is backed by a growing body of solid science illuminating its effects on the brain and health. It is being applied to an ever-growing list of conditions and life situations, including keeping kindergarteners calm, boosting job satisfaction, overcoming addiction, and beating back pain. Mindfulness meditation, as Fortune magazine reported in March, has become a billion-dollar business.

The idea that such a seemingly simple practice as mindful breathing-the method essentially boils down to sitting still, focusing on the present moment, and bringing attention to the breath-can alter the structure of the brain and improve health has caught the attention of researchers right along with the public. Like many booming businesses based on emerging science, the claimed benefits of mindfulness practices sometimes run ahead of the science.

What's clear is that meditation changes the brain in a number of ways, some of them well-characterized. Less clear is how those brain changes translate to health improvements, how much of a "dose" of meditation is needed, or how long the benefits last, among other questions. A looming challenge for the field is how to best apply mindfulness practices to solve real-life problems in schools, homes, and workplaces, and to approach these applications with sound research that tracks the results and informs best practices.

Very few long-term studies have gauged how mindfulness practice affects health over the lifespan, and the few that have show mixed results. The most robust longitudinal data comes from studies in chronic pain, where mindfulness practice shows a clear benefit in pain reduction even years after initial training. Meditation is also associated with less relapse in depression and substance abuse.

The effects are much less clear in healthy populations, simply because the studies have not been done. Still, nearly half of businesses will offer mindfulness training to their employees by 2017, according to forthcoming survey data cited in the article.
Mindful Students
Schools are jumping on board the meditation train, with organizations training teachers by the thousands to incorporate mindfulness practices into their classrooms, adapted for students from preschool to university. A few pilot studies have shown positive benefits among students and teachers, but longitudinal studies to objectively evaluate the enduring effects of school-based mindfulness are only beginning.

"These strategies have never been investigated seriously in children before, but now a number of researchers are doing so," says Richard Davidson, director of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a prominent researcher in the field. "What we don't have are really good long-term longitudinal studies with multiyear follow up. That kind of evidence is simply lacking."

Efforts are underway to close the gap in longitudinal data. Davidson's center received funding from the U.S. Department of Education to conduct a three-year randomized, controlled trial of mindfulness training among 700 fourth and fifth graders in Madison public schools. In the largest investigation yet of mindfulness in schools, the U.K.-based Wellcome Trust, just launched a seven-year longitudinal study involving 7,000 11- to 16-year-olds to assess the impact of a school-based mindfulness training program, which will include brain scans on 600 of the students.

While the long-term benefits are sorted out, even short-term effects of well-timed mindfulness-based interventions may be useful, says Michael Posner, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Oregon and a member of the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives. Stress reduction is a good example, he says.

School can be stressful, whether it's a private prep school or an inner-city public school ravaged by poverty and violence. Young brains are more plastic as they undergo rapid development that makes them more adaptable to environmental influences, good or bad. The hope is that by teaching children healthful ways to manage stress, they can better cope with school in the short term and be more resilient to stress-related diseases and mental health problems over the long term. As Davidson notes, the potential for instilling healthy stress-management habits early on is great.
Making Connections
From a neuroscience perspective, the attraction to apply mindfulness to education stems from how the practice changes the brain. Meditation broadly influences two major brain systems, explains Davidson: attention and emotion. The regulation of these systems is key-the ability to focus attention without distraction in the first case and the capacity to exercise control over emotional impulses in the second.

These effects may be connected to the anterior cingulate, a major hub of the attention circuit that is also involved in cognitive and emotional control, says Posner, who has spent his career studying the attention system.

A recent research focus is how mindfulness practices influence the connectivity among the brain regions that comprise these circuits, Davidson says. "Some of the effects of meditation-some people would say a lot of them-may be on the alterations in connectivity of these circuits, which play important roles in both attention and emotion regulation."

Connections in the brain are comprised of white matter tracts-myelinated axons that can sometimes stretch long distances to transfer the biochemical signals of activated neurons. They are the telephone cables of the central nervous system. When myelin, the fatty white sheath that envelops axons, degrades, as it does in multiple sclerosis, or is damaged, as in spinal cord injury, the results can be subtle or devastating. Healthy brain function depends on an intact system of white matter tracts with sufficient myelin coating to shuttle brain signals efficiently along the circuit.

Increasing evidence suggests that the better the connectivity in a given brain circuit, the more efficient the circuit. Neural efficiency pays off in many ways, one of which is better cognitive control, which translates into things like staying on task and regulating emotional responses-the same behaviors that mindfulness practice improves.

Scientists can measure the efficiency of white matter tracts in living humans using an MRI technique known as Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI). Important pathways connecting the prefrontal cortex to emotional regions in the brain appear to be strengthened by meditation, including the uncinate fasciculus, a key part of the emotion-regulation circuit.

Posner's team and others have used DTI to show that meditation alters white matter tracts all around the anterior cingulate, and are now trying to understand the mechanisms by which meditation "trains" attention and emotion regulation.
Demystifying the Mechanisms
Posner is focusing on white matter to investigate how a mental activity like mindfulness meditation can influence attention behaviors. His hypothesis -currently being tested in an animal model-is that meditation induces a low-frequency theta brain rhythm (a brain-wave pattern defined as 4-8 cycles per second as recorded on EEG) in frontal brain regions. This particular pattern of nerve-cell firing is known to trigger an enzyme that activates dormant oligodendrocytes, the precursor glial cells that make myelin.

The theory is plausible in light of new research indicating that white matter is more plastic than was previously thought. Animal research from the laboratory of William Richardson at University College London showed that motor learning fairly rapidly activates dormant oligodendrocytes to produce myelin, and that learning is dependent on the activated cells. This idea of " activity-dependent myelination," which has been replicated repeatedly since McKenzie's initial report, opens the door to therapeutic approaches that trigger myelin-forming cells to become active.

In an attempt to observe what has been seen in human fMRI studies following mindfulness practice, Posner is working with the Niell laboratory at the University of Oregon and using optogenetics, a technique that uses light to turn genetically modified neurons on and off at will, to induce rhythmic activity in neurons in the anterior cingulate. The researchers put mice into a meditative state characterized by a theta brain rhythm for 30 minutes a day for one month, then characterized the white matter changes around the anterior cingulate. Their preliminary results (not yet published) show that the corpus callosum, the primary inter-hemispheric white-matter cable through which many affected axons pass, is significantly thicker in the treated mice. The team is now using electron microscopy to confirm and expand the initial findings.

This is an elegant example of how science takes a behavioral observation, such as increased attentiveness following mindfulness training, and tracks it backward: first to the brain circuit that is involved (attention-regulation network), next to the type of change within that circuit (improved white-matter integrity), and then to the specific mechanism underlying the change (theta rhythm-induced activation of myelin-forming cells).

It also helps explain why there is so much interest in teaching children mindfulness, as the potential is huge for positively impacting the neural circuitry of attention and emotional regulation systems at an age when the brain is highly plastic and behavioral habits (good or bad) can strongly influence its "wiring-up."

"The intention of this work is that kids will learn simple practices that will become lifetime habits and be incorporated into their daily life as part of their personal hygiene," says Davidson. "We envision a time when these kinds of things would be as common as brushing your teeth twice a day."

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When the Beatles went to India to study Transcendental Meditation at a remote ashram in the 1960's, meditation was still largely seen in the West as a cultish fad favored by celebrities and hippies. Fifty years later, meditation has gone mainstream.

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Neurosciences dedicated site

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learning languages in schools

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Learning a foreign language is difficult, right? Well, yes it is if you start at 11, only do it for three years, get the bare minimum of curriculum time, have your classes so spaced out that you forget what you learned last Wednesday when it comes to the next lesson on Tuesday, and never get to apply your skills, so it's all theory and no practice (let alone pleasure).

This is pretty much how schoolchildren in the state sector are taught modern foreign languages in the UK. And according to Dr Robert Crawshaw, head of European languages and culture at Lancaster university, it means that the state of language learning is "very variegated" across the country.

Partly, he says, this is due to the different types of school, "which determines the size of the sixth form which in turn dictates the type of provision."

It's also partly due to which exam board the school uses, "because language teaching in secondary tends to be very much exam driven."

No child in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland has to learn a modern foreign language before they start secondary. And since 2004 when it became optional to take a modern language exam at GCSE, it's only compulsory to carry on till age 14.

Even if a pupil does opt to take the GCSE, what's required to pass comes in for criticism.

"Many language teachers in secondary schools are heartily sick of the formulaic format of GCSE exams which all too easily has the effect of stifling the motivation of students with the greatest potential for advanced language learning," says Crawshaw.

His view is echoed by Dr Jim Anderson, senior lecturer in languages in education at Goldsmiths. "The GCSE exam is very narrow: it lacks interesting content and appropriate tasks," he says. This probably contributes to the fact that "fewer than 10% are doing any sort of language learning after GCSE."

While all pupils in Wales must learn Welsh from reception to GCSE and then take an exam, there's a 'short course' option within the GCSE in Welsh as a second language, which Julie Brake, senior lecturer in Welsh at Glyndwr university says "is not taken seriously at all."

There is, she says, a "lack of Welsh speaking teachers, and the number of hours devoted to that course varies between schools. In some it's just an hour a fortnight. Many are leaving school without very good Welsh language skills."

This is unfortunate, given that all public sector services in Wales are required by law to deliver in Welsh and English, so any bilingual job applicant will have an advantage.

The focus on learning Welsh early hasn't, however, been replicated for other foreign languages that might benefit children in Wales in the jobs market elsewhere. Ceri James, director of Wales' National Centre for Languages which carried out a six year long "very successful" pilot on language teaching in primary which was nevertheless not rolled out, says that "there is no momentum here for primary languages. It's not statutory in primary; it depends entirely on the school."

The situation is the same in Scotland, though there is currently a consultation on recommendations that all children should have the chance to study two foreign languages as well as English from primary onwards.

"People's concerns are how we will be able to implement that; will we have enough teachers?" explains Dr Lore Gallastegi, lecturer in the faculty of education and language studies at the Open University.

Investment in teacher training and motivating students to keep at it through the difficult, boring bits, are, say the experts, key to making genuine progress, no matter when a child starts learning a language.

But apart from a few scattered initiatives - Professor Do Coyle of Aberdeen university has, for instance, set up the first PGCE specifically training teachers in bilingual education, the Association for Language Learning's FLAME project promotes combining languages with other subjects, and the British Council's Connecting Classrooms project gives pupils a chance to enjoy communicating with their peers in other cultures - it seems nothing statutory is set to improve anytime soon.

"Languages are not high on anyone's agenda and are not seen as a core subject," says Crawshaw - an opinion the new draft primary and secondary national curriculum appears to confirm.

"As far as languages are concerned, [the draft curricula] lack any basis for understanding progression in language teaching," comments Anderson. "For people entering the profession it will be confusing and unhelpful."

That the UK is not a place where bilingual ability is valued is demonstrated again in the attitude to the tens of thousands children who do arrive at school with abilities in another language, he observes.

"The potential for children to reach high levels of competence in these languages is not recognised or supported by government - in the new national curriculum, there is no mention of bilingual learners who have the opportunity to learn languages at home and no plan for how these languages could be shared in the classroom." In a country which has attracted migrants from across the world, this means that in two or three generations, children with migrant heritage grow up to be monolingual, or only conversationally functional in the language spoken by their parents or grandparents.

In other countries, experts point out, young children don't just do more hours of language learning, they are also taught some of their other subjects through the medium of that language.

This type of immersion would instantly improve curriculum content, suggests Anderson, who says that on a recent visit to the USA, he saw primary age children being taught other subjects half in English and half in Chinese, which they had been learning from nursery upwards.

There's enormous motivation to be gained by learning another subject in a language that you're studying - not least because it takes the pressure off striving for perfection in grammar and syntax, and allows students to enjoy their growing ability to understand and communicate.

But given the many blocks to students achieving at a foreign language in the UK, it's hardly surprising that there's been a dramatic drop off in numbers of students choosing to continue post-GCSE. The ever decreasing pool of pupils keen to develop language skills now serves the UK poorly when it comes to deepening our understanding of other people and societies, believes Crawshaw.

"Learning a foreign language definitely makes you think about cultural differences, and the fact that other people are radically different," he says. "To be more aware of otherness is certainly one of the side effects of learning a foreign language which is not regarded at the moment as one of the core aspects of primary and secondary language learning."

It also has depressing implications for the UK's chances of competing in an increasingly internationalised employment market.

Vicky Gough, schools adviser for the British Council says that in the organisation's recent survey of worldwide companies, it was clear that they believed good language skills improved employability and intercultural fluency. These employers didn't just value the bare ability to function in another language, she explains, but also felt that "being able to adapt what you're saying in different ways, having cultural sensitivity and also having an awareness of your own culture," were critical skills for anyone who wanted to work outside their country of origin - all of which are fostered by learning a language.

When a 2012 European Commission report on "Language competences for employability, mobility and growth" notes that "the share of pupils reaching the level of 'independent user' in the first foreign language varies from 9% in England to 82% in Sweden" there seems to be only one conclusion: when it comes to modern foreign languages, the UK "must do better".

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Looking for your next role? Take a look at Guardian jobs for schools for thousands of the latest teaching, leadership and support jobs.
Topics

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Languages in UK schools: where we are vs where we need to be

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Learning a foreign language is difficult, right? Well, yes it is if you start at 11, only do it for three years, get the bare minimum of curriculum time, have your classes so spaced out that you forget what you learned last Wednesday when it comes to the next lesson on Tuesday, and never get to apply your skills, so it's all theory and no practice (let alone pleasure).

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baby brain development

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Bulletin #4356, Children and Brain Development: What We Know About How Children Learn - Cooperative Extension Publications - University of Maine Cooperative Extension

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Prepared by Judith Graham, Extension human development specialist, University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Revised by Leslie A. Forstadt, Ph.D. Child and Family Development Specialist, University of Maine Cooperative Extension. For information about UMaine Extension programs and resources, visit…

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baby brain development

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The development of the brain is influenced by many factors, including a child's relationships, experiences and environment. Learn more about the crucial role you play in building your baby's brain, get your questions answered, and find some fun "brain-building" activities to share with your little one.

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The development of the brain is influenced by many factors, including a child's relationships, experiences and environment. Learn more about the crucial role you play in building your baby's brain, get your questions answered, and find some fun "brain-building" activities to share with your little one.

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green is good for you

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Psychologists' research explains the mental and physical restoration we get from nature--and has important implications for how we build our homes, work environments and cities.

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outdoor education in London

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Field Studies council (FSC) is a registered charity committed to helping people of all ages understand and be inspired by the natural world.

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cant learn outside because of air pollution, urbanisation, less green space

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China's education system is the envy of many Western governments, who are keen to replicate the nation's high test scores and levels of discipline in their own schools.

However, the realities of schooling in China, looking beyond the exam results of pupils, often prompt Western critics to say that they promote a narrow and limiting education for the country's children.

In a discussion on British and Chinese education on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores that rank global education, and have placed Chinese students (specifically those from Shanghai) at the top in recent years, were called into question.

"The only people who believe the PISA league tables are the BBC and the Department for Education," said journalist Simon Jenkins, in the discussion with Chinese journalist and author Xinran Xue.

"They're just rubbish," he continued. "You can do anything with 15-year-olds if you treat them like baby Communists. This isn't about education, it's about scoring."

The PISA tables seemingly tell us everything about the relative skills of teenagers around the world in reading, maths and sciences, and are commonly used to name the nations with the 'best' education systems.

However, they routinely face criticism, including claims that the tests ignore cultural backdrops to students' learning (such as the heavy pressure to perform placed on many Chinese pupils), neglect to take into account civic, artistic and moral development, and encourage short-term fixes such as rote learning that help nations and schools climb league tables, but don't necessarily provide education to students.

Xue pointed out the cultural differences at play in British and Chinese schools.

She said: "In China, when the students come to the classroom, you have to tell them you must learn something - it is your duty to the country, to the nation, to your family."

She said that in Britain, priorities are much different, with students being told to ask, "what's your future, what do you want for yourself?"

"That's a very different philosophy," she said.

She also explained that strong Chinese beliefs in family values and hierarchy also made their way into the classroom - saying that students are expected to respect their older peers, and that teachers are never to be questioned.

Underlining the essential cultural differences, Simon Jenkins said: "We tend to teach rebellion, disruption, invention," and have less emphasis on rote learning.

"If you line up 100 15-year-olds and drill maths into them for 12 hours a day, they'll come out with great results" - but not necessarily a good education, he said.

The short discussion came ahead of a new BBC 2 documentary, Are our kids tough enough? Chinese School, which begins on 4 August.

In the programme, five teachers from China take over the education of fifty teenagers at a Hampshire comprehensive school - in an effort to see whether the Chinese system of collective thinking, duty and strict learning can benefit English teenagers.

Past Education Secretaries like Michael Gove have encouraged schools to try and emulate the Chinese system - but with around a third of China's growing well-off middle class reportedly aspiring to send their children to the West for their education, it seems that good grades may not be the be-all and end-all of education.

Reuse content

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Is China's world-beating school system really the best for students?

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China's education system is the envy of many Western governments, who are keen to replicate the nation's high test scores and levels of discipline in their own schools. However, the realities of schooling in China, looking beyond the exam results of pupils, often prompt Western critics to say that they promote a narrow and limiting education for the country's children.

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The biggest ever global school rankings have been published, with Asian countries in the top five places and African countries at the bottom.

Singapore heads the table, followed by Hong Kong, with Ghana at the bottom.

The UK is in 20th place, among higher achieving European countries, with the US in 28th.

The OECD economic think tank says the comparisons - based on test scores in 76 countries - show the link between education and economic growth.

"This is the first time we have a truly global scale of the quality of education," said the OECD's education director, Andreas Schleicher.

"The idea is to give more countries, rich and poor, access to comparing themselves against the world's education leaders, to discover their relative strengths and weaknesses, and to see what the long-term economic gains from improved quality in schooling could be for them," he said.

The top performer, Singapore, had high levels of illiteracy into the 1960s, said Mr Schleicher, showing how much progress could be made.

In the UK, the study shows about one in five youngsters leave school without reaching a basic level of education - and the OECD says that reducing this number and improving skills could add trillions of dollars to the UK economy.

"I think it's partly a mindset, an expectation. There are plenty of examples of schools that have raised the bar dramatically," said education minister Lord Nash.

But a leading UK head teacher, Sir Anthony Seldon, criticised such league tables as "arguably doing more harm than good".

"They are skewing schools and national education systems away from real learning towards repetitive rote learning," said Sir Anthony, head of Wellington College in Berkshire.

The analysis, based on test scores in maths and science, is a much wider global map of education standards than the OECD's Pisa tests, which focus on more affluent industrialised countries.

This latest league table, ranking more than a third of the world's nations, shows how countries such as Iran, South Africa, Peru and Thailand would appear on an international scale.

It shows once again the poor performance of the United States, slipping behind successful European countries and being overtaken by Vietnam. It also highlights the decline of Sweden, with the OECD warning last week that it had serious problems in its education system.

Figures mapped above show estimated growth in GDP over the lifetime of pupils. The figures assume that all pupils are enrolled in schools and that they achieve at least basic skills.

More stories from the BBC's Knowledge economy series looking at education from a global perspective and how to get in touch

The rankings are based on an amalgamation of international assessments, including the OECD's Pisa tests, the TIMSS tests run by US-based academics and TERCE tests in Latin America, putting developed and developing countries on a single scale.

The findings will be formally presented at the World Education Forum in South Korea next week, where the United Nations is to convene a conference on targets for raising global education by 2030.

'Every student to succeed'

The top five places are all taken by Asian countries - Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

The five lowest-ranked countries are Oman in 72nd, Morocco, Honduras, South Africa and Ghana in last spot.

"If you go to an Asian classroom you'll find teachers who expect every student to succeed. There's a lot of rigour, a lot of focus and coherence," says Mr Schleicher.

"These countries are also very good at attracting the most talented teachers in the most challenging classrooms, so that every student has access to excellent teachers."

The report, published by the OECD and written by Eric Hanushek from Stanford University and Ludger Woessmann from Munich University, argues that the standard of education is a "powerful predictor of the wealth that countries will produce in the long run".
Take the test: How would your maths skills compare with the world's teenagers?
"Poor education policies and practices leave many countries in what amounts to a permanent state of economic recession," says the report.

Millennium targets

Improving education would produce "long-term economic gains that are going to be phenomenal", says Mr Schleicher.

If Ghana, the lowest ranked country, achieved basic skills for all its 15-year-olds, the report says that it would expand its current GDP by 38 times, over the lifetime of today's youngsters.

Only a minority of countries in Africa had sufficient test data to be included in these rankings - and it could be that countries such as Ghana are among the higher achievers in the continent, performing better than the majority for which there are no comparable figures.

The report will provide evidence for next week's World Education Forum of how achieving education targets can deliver economic gains.

The milestone conference, under the auspices of the United Nations, will mark 15 years since the setting of education targets by world leaders.

These millennium targets for education, such as providing all children with a primary education, have not been fully achieved.

But the World Education Forum will set another round of global targets for the next 15 years.

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The biggest ever global school rankings have been published, with Asian countries in the top five places and African countries at the bottom. Singapore heads the table, followed by Hong Kong, with Ghana at the bottom. The UK is in 20th place, among higher achieving European countries, with the US in 28th.

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overview of book

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Children are spending less time outside than ever before. In this groundbreaking book, child advocate Richard Louv examines the implications of nature-free childhoods and what they mean for the future of our children and humanity.

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder
By Richard Louv
Published by Algonquin Books

"Today's kids are increasingly disconnected from the natural world, says child advocacy expert Louv (Childhood's Future; Fatherlove; etc.), even as research shows that "thoughtful exposure of youngsters to nature can... be a powerful form of therapy for attention-deficit disorder and other maladies."

Instead of passing summer months hiking, swimming and telling stories around the campfire, children these days are more likely to attend computer camps or weight-loss camps: as a result, Louv says, they've come to think of nature as more of an abstraction than a reality. Indeed, a 2002 British study reported that eight-year-olds could identify Pokémon characters far more easily than they could name 'otter, beetle, and oak tree.'

Gathering thoughts from parents, teachers, researchers, environmentalists and other concerned parties, Louv argues for a return to an awareness of and appreciation for the natural world. Not only can nature teach kids science and nurture their creativity, he says, nature needs its children: where else will its future stewards come from? Louv's book is a call to action, full of warnings-but also full of ideas for change."

Excerpted from Publisher's Weekly
by James Levine
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Book Description

"I like to play indoors better 'cause that's where all the electrical outlets are," reports a fourth grader. But it's not only computers, television, and video games that are keeping kids inside. It's also their parents' fears of traffic, strangers, Lyme disease, and West Nile virus; their schools' emphasis on more and more homework; their structured schedules; and their lack of access to natural areas. Local governments, neighborhood associations, and even organizations devoted to the outdoors are placing legal and regulatory constraints on many wild spaces, sometimes making natural play a crime.

As children's connections to nature diminish and the social, psychological, and spiritual implications become apparent, new research shows that nature can offer powerful therapy for such maladies as depression, obesity, and attention deficit disorder. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade-point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that childhood experiences in nature stimulate creativity.

In Last Child in the Woods, Louv talks with parents, children, teachers, scientists, religious leaders, child-development researchers, and environmentalists who recognize the threat and offer solutions. Louv shows us an alternative future, one in which parents help their kids experience the natural world more deeply-and find the joy of family connectedness in the process.

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About the Author

Greg Seaman
Originally from Long Island, NY, Greg Seaman founded Eartheasy in 2000 out of concern for the environment and a desire to help others live more sustainably. As Editor, Greg combines his upbringing in the cities of New York, Boston and San Francisco with the contrast of 31 years of living 'off-grid' to give us a balanced perspective on sustainable living. Greg spends his free time gardening, working on his home and building a wooden sailboat with hand tools.

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Children are spending less time outside than ever before. In this groundbreaking book, child advocate Richard Louv examines the implications of nature-free childhoods and what they mean for the future of our children and humanity.

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Attention deficit disorder

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"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul." ~John Muir

In my last blog on the growing numbers of kids being diagnosed with ADHD, I wondered out loud about the potential negative effects in our modern culture of things like: too much time spent indoors, too little sun and exercise, too many electronics, and not enough sleep. Rather than dwell on the causes of our problems, let's consider what we can do to reduce the impact of stress on the lives of both adults and children. Not from a medical psychiatric perspective, but from the perspective of everyday life.

Ask yourself this question: Do you or your kids suffer from Nature-Deficit Disorder?

This wonderful name was coined by journalist Richard Louv with the publication of Last Child in the Woods. His newest book, The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder, offers a new vision of the future, in which our lives are equally immersed in nature and in technology.

What do we already know about the positive effects of time spent outdoors, immersed in nature?

Rachel and Stephen Kaplan, environmental psychologists from the University of Michigan,are internationally known for their research on the effect of nature on people's relationships and health.The Kaplans got involved in studying the effects of nature back in the 1970s, and since then have done extensive research on "restorative environments" to understand the psychological benefits of time spent in nature and what types of natural environments stimulate health and reduce stress.

In order to work or study efficiently, we need to maintain focused attention on the task at hand-something that everyone struggles with-most especially those with Attention Deficit Disorder or ADHD. Too much focused attention can lead to mental fatigue and increased stress. One remedy for this fatigue is exposure to nature. The wilder the better, but even a little bit helps. Office workers with a view of nature are happier and healthier at work; kids do better academically; hospital stays are shorter with windows to nature; exercisers who walk outside in pleasant environments walk longer.

Positive Effects for Kids with ADHD

ADHD kids who participate in activities conducted in natural outdoor environments concentrate better and show less impulsivity. Published in The American Journal of Public Health, Frances Kuo conducted a national study comparing the effects of after school activities conducted in green outdoor settings versus those conducted in both built outdoor and indoor settings. Controlling for the amount of physical activity, type of activity, preference for nature, or timing of medication, they concluded that time spent in nature reduces ADHD symptoms.

The authors concluded that, "While medications are effective for most children with ADHD, they are ineffective for some, and other children cannot tolerate them...and a green dose or series of green doses might conceivably reduce the need for medication by 1 dose per day, allowing growing children to recover their appetites in time for dinner and get a good night's sleep. These studies, and hundreds of others, add to the growing body of literature that shows how exposure to nature has profound effects on the health and well being of children and adults alike.

The Benefits of More Time in Nature for Children:

1. Kids get along better. Research has found that children who play in nature have more positive feelings about each other. There is something about being in a natural environment together that stimulates social interaction. Another study showed how play in a diverse natural environment can reduce or eliminate bullying. In several studies, researchers have found that some of the kids who benefit most are those with attention and learning challenges.

2. Imaginative processes are enhanced. Early experiences with the natural world have been positively linked with a sense of wonder. Children are more likely to use their imagination outdoors.

3. Cognitive development is improved. Curiosity and wonder are strong motivators that make children more eager to learn. When children play in natural environments, their play is more diverse. Creative play, in turn, nurtures language and collaborative skills. Spending time in natural environments helps improve their awareness, reasoning and observational skills.

4. Physical health is improved. Children who play regularly in natural environments show more advanced motor fitness, including coordination, balance and agility. They get sick less often. Just getting their hands in the dirt can bring exposure to "good bugs" that stimulate the immune system.

5. Kids are less stressed out. Nature buffers the impact of life stress on children and helps them deal with adversity. The greater the amount of nature exposure, the greater the benefits. Nature helps children develop powers of observation and creativity and instills a sense of peace and connection to the planet. Haven't you noticed how kids can do whatever they need to do when they are out in the wild? They can just sit and stare at bugs or scream at the top of their lungs.

6. Kids are more psychologically mature. A boost in maturity comes from the increased independence and autonomy that free play in nature encourages. Children with more contact with nature score higher on tests of concentration and self-discipline. The more green, the better the scores. In a study of kids with ADHD, it was found that those who played in windowless indoor settings had significantly more severe symptoms than kids who played in grassy outdoor spaces. School classrooms with outdoor views even help.

7. Kids are more likely to love and protect the environment. When people like John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt spent time in places like Yosemite Valley, they realized that these wild places were "America's treasures," needing our stewardship and protection. In order to teach children how to treasure nature, kids must be allowed to explore it in their own way, and be given the time and opportunity to "dig in" and immerse themselves in its mysteries. Like a perfect mother, the earth welcomes us all with open arms.

The Healing Power of Nature

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"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul." ~John Muir In my last blog on the growing numbers of kids being diagnosed with ADHD, I wondered out loud...

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prefer prescription of drugs to proscription of a healthy lifestyle

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Two prominent researchers have sounded the alarm again about Americans' unhealthy, even lethal, sedentary lifestyles.

A new commentary, "Regular Physical Activity: Forgotten Benefits," published online ahead of print in the American Journal of Medicine, laments the lack of physical activity by Americans. In the paper, Florida Atlantic University's Steven Lewis, Ph.D., and Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr. P.H., stress how lack of physical activity in Americans poses important clinical, public health, and fiscal challenges for the nation.

"Lack of physical activity accounts for 22 percent of coronary heart disease, 22 percent of colon cancer, 18 percent of osteoporotic fractures, 12 percent of diabetes and hypertension, and five percent of breast cancer," said Hennekens.

"Furthermore, physical inactivity accounts for about 2.4 percent of U.S. health care expenditures or approximately $24 billion a year."

The statistics of physical inactivity in the U.S. are staggering. According to Healthy People 2020, approximately 36 percent of adults do not engage in any leisure-time physical activity, despite the fact that walking may be comparable to more vigorous exercise in preventing a cardiovascular event.

Even in patients who have had a heart attack and who undergo cardiac rehabilitation, it's estimated that less than 15 percent actually participate in cardiac rehabilitation following discharge.

Men and women who engage in regular physical activity experience statistically significant and clinically important reductions in the risk of dying from coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S.

The authors point out that brisk walking every day for only 20 minutes, which can be practiced even among the oldest adults, confers a 30 to 40 percent reduced risk of a heart attack.

The benefits of physical activity also include improved mental health and stronger muscles, bones, and joints in all Americans from childhood to the elderly.

"There's a lot more that we can do to address this national epidemic among people of all ages," said Lewis.

"For example, clinicians should screen and refer obese patients to programs that offer intensive counseling for weight control and physical activity. This simple, straightforward and easily achievable objective may be the first necessary step to lower rates of obesity and physical inactivity in the U.S. today."

Patients commonly ask their physicians questions such as, "What exercise should I do?" "How long should I do the exercise, how often and how hard do I need to exercise?"

These questions need to be answered better, say the authors. They emphasize the need for better defined guidelines for the types, intensities, frequencies, and durations of exercise for clinicians to provide to their patients.

"Unfortunately, most Americans prefer prescription of pills to proscription of harmful lifestyles such as physical inactivity," said Hennekens.

"In general, any pharmacologic intervention should be an adjunct, not alternative, to therapeutic lifestyle changes such as increasing levels of physical activity. Based on the current totality of evidence, when compared with most pharmacologic therapies, exercise is more readily available at a low cost and relatively free of adverse effect."

Source: Florida Atlantic University/EurekAlert

Overweight man on couch holding remote photo by shutterstock.

'Epidemic' of Inactivity Tied to Poor Health, Rising Costs

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'Epidemic' of Inactivity Tied to Poor Health, Rising Costs

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Two prominent researchers have sounded the alarm again about Americans' unhealthy, even lethal, sedentary lifestyles. A new commentary, "Regular Physical Activity: Forgotten Benefits," published online ahead of print in the American Journal of Medicine, laments the lack of physical activity by Americans. In the paper, Florida Atlantic University's Steven Lewis, Ph.D., and Charles H.

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Children are happier, healthier and more motivated to learn thanks to a new project commissioned by Natural England that has turned the outdoors into a classroom and helped schools transform ways of teaching.

Field Studies Council (FSC) have understood and promoted the benefits of outdoor learning for more than 70 years, through delivering a wide range of learning outside the classroom. FSC is now delighted to see such positive findings and strong evidence of the impact outdoor learning can make from this recent study.

The findings have been released this week by the Natural Connections Demonstration project, a four-year initiative to help school children - particularly those from disadvantaged areas - experience the benefits of the natural environment by empowering teachers to use the outdoors to support everyday learning.

The project, which is funded by Natural England, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Historic England and delivered by Plymouth University, is the largest project of its kind in England and has already helped more than 40,000 primary and secondary school pupils get out of their classrooms and into the outdoors - whether that's a maths lesson in a local park or drama out on the school field.

Environment Minister Rory Stewart said: "We learn to love nature as children, and our commitment to nature later in life - respecting it, protecting it, restoring it, or simply enjoying it - is built on that childhood foundation. That's why it's so important we give all children the chance to experience the natural world.

"What's clever about this project is it listens to teachers, it works with the grain of an individual school, and it works out how to get children into the outdoors while improving their curriculum experience."

Speaking at Wallscourt Farm Academy in Bristol at the launch of the findings, Natural England's Chairman, Andrew Sells, said: "The Natural Connections project has empowered teachers to make the most of what's right on their doorstep and helped children experience the joy of the natural environment. It's brought a real culture change into schools, making learning in the outdoors a regular part of school life - and it's inspiring to see children more engaged with learning and happier and healthier as a result."

Sue Waite, Associate Professor in Outdoor Learning at Plymouth University, said: "The model for this project was built on substantial evidence into both the benefits and challenges schools face when embedding outdoor learning into core teaching. By working directly with teachers we've helped to bring about a sustainable culture of outdoor learning across schools that will continue long after the project has ended and will leave behind a lasting legacy."

For the first time, the Natural Connections project provides strong evidence that learning outdoors has multiple benefits for school children. 92% of teachers surveyed said that pupils were more engaged with learning when outdoors and 85% saw a positive impact on their behaviour.

The majority of children also thought they learned better and achieved more when learning outside. 92% of pupils involved in the project said they enjoyed their lessons more when outdoors, with 90 per cent feeling happier and healthier as a result.

The project has found taking lessons outside can also help motivate teachers, with 79% reporting positive impacts on their teaching practice. Almost 70% of teachers said that outdoor learning has had a positive impact on their job satisfaction and 72% reported improved health and wellbeing.

The Natural Connections project focused mainly on areas of deprivation in Plymouth, Torbay, Bristol, Cornwall and Somerset, working in both urban and rural schools with varying school grounds and access to local green spaces. These areas are now developing innovative ways to continue supporting outdoor learning across the school networks they have established through the project.

Natural England is now working with partners to help share the findings from this project to support and enhance the delivery of outdoor learning in schools across England.
Find out more:
Download the full Natural Connections project report

Watch an 11-minute film produced to accompany the publication of the project report.

The same day another report was also released focusing on encouraging policy makers to recognise the value of outdoor learning and the opportunities it provides. See more at: BBC: Outdoor learning boosts development

Monday, July 18, 2016
Feedback or Questions?

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Many outdoor learning benefits found in new project - FSC

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Children are happier, healthier and more motivated to learn thanks to a new project commissioned by Natural England that has turned the outdoors into a classroom and helped schools transform ways of teaching. Field Studies Council (FSC) have understood and promoted the benefits of outdoor learning for more than 70 years, through delivering a wide range of learning outside the classroom.

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Co-founder and author Richard Louv introduced the term "Nature-Deficit Disorder" in 2005 with the publication of his best-selling book, "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder." He coined the phrase to serve as a description of the human costs of alienation from nature and it is not meant to be a medical diagnosis (although perhaps it should be).

Louv's 2011 book, "The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age," extended the conversation to include adults, and explored this key question: "What could our lives and our children's lives be like if our days and nights were as immersed in nature as they are in technology?"

Although human beings have been urbanizing, and then moving indoors, since the introduction of agriculture, social and technological changes in the past three decades have accelerated that change.

Among the reasons: the proliferation of electronic communications; poor urban planning and disappearing open space; increased street traffic; diminished importance of the natural world in public and private education; and parental fear magnified by news and entertainment media. An expanding body of scientific evidence suggests that nature-deficit disorder contributes to a diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, conditions of obesity, and higher rates of emotional and physical illnesses. Research also suggests that the nature-deficit weakens ecological literacy and stewardship of the natural world. These problems are linked more broadly to what health care experts call the "epidemic of inactivity," and to a devaluing of independent play. Nonetheless, we believe that society's nature-deficit disorder can be reversed.

Recent studies focus not so much on what is lost when nature experience fades, but on what is gained through more exposure to natural settings, including nearby nature in urban places.

Abstracts to many of these studies, often linked to the original research, can be found at our research section. T he Children & Nature Network was created to encourage and support the people and organizations working to reconnect children with nature. We believe more research is necessary to better define the influence of nature experiences on human development. But as Dr. Howard Frumkin, Dean of the School of Public Health, University of Washington, and a member of our Board of Directors says, "we know enough to act."

By taking a lead role in the international movement to connect children, families and communities to the natural world, we are striving to reinforce the critical link between researchers and individuals, educators and organizations dedicated to the health and well-being of children, families and communities.

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Co-founder and author Richard Louv introduced the term "Nature-Deficit Disorder" in 2005 with the publication of his best-selling book, "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder." He coined the phrase to serve as a description of the human costs of alienation from na

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mental health charity, using gardening to help with mental health

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outdoor learning

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Embercombe runs experiential programmes that aim to ignite a spark of courageous and active leadership for a just, peaceful, and sustainable world

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Building the Essay Draft | Online Writing Center | SUNY Empire State College

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The writing process begins even before you put pen to paper, when you think about your topic. And, once you finish actually writing, the process continues. What you have written is not the finished essay, but a first draft, and you must go over many times to improve it -- a second draft, a third draft, as many as necessary to do the job right.

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writing a good question

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lots of examples of previous research