Professional Development

What: Professional development workshops with school staff focused on content, pedagogy, opportunities, barriers, and benefits related to taking students outside.

How: Hold professional development workshops with school staff to discuss different aspects of taking students outside. Do this as part of a regular professional development or staff meeting series, or meet as a small group for interested staff. Professional development can increase confidence, interest, and motivation among teachers, as well as provide practical strategies and ideas. Consider:

• Cover content, pedagogy, or management topics.
  • Content- outline when there are opportunities to take students outside in the curriculum used at your school. (See Outdoor Topics, Outdoor Lessons, Outdoor Kits, Social Emotional Learning, Specials, Transit, Field Trips, Free Choice Time, Lunch Outdoors, Energy and Emotional Breaks, Outdoor Free Play, Shared Experiences for details.)
  • Pedagogy- discuss teaching approaches and tips that work well outdoors – some activities can be done the same outside as in, some may go better with small changes, and some might be enhanced by time outdoors. (See Outdoor Topics, Outdoor Lessons, Outdoor Kits for details.)
  • Management- discuss outdoor class management and strategies that can help keep students focused and safe. (See Transitions, Routines, Class Contract, Involve Students in Planning, Small Group Time, Expectations Across Groups for ideas.)

• Talk about the benefits. Share the benefits outlined in the beginning of this toolkit to encourage staff to try taking students outside. Use the research studies to make a case for how time in nature can support different components of student development and success, or can address specific topics at your school.
• Talk about barriers. There are many factors that can limit or prevent teachers from taking students outside, and teachers likely experience different barriers at different times. Some barriers can be addressed individually, but others may require group or administrative actions. Discussing barriers as part of professional development can help identify things teachers might encounter at your school, and provide an opportunity to brainstorm solutions. Use the barriers outlined in this toolkit as a starting point, or ask teachers to share their experience to identify your own list.
• Review existing outdoor curricula or lessons. Have teachers that already take students outside at your school describe what they do- when, where, why, who, what resources they use, and how it goes for their classes, or go through curricula that are available online and discuss how they could be implemented at your school. See Outdoor Topics (and especially, the section on existing nature-related curricula) for ideas.
• Workshop at end of this toolkit. Use the workshop outline at the end of this toolkit to run your own workshop. Go through the whole thing, or do the pieces that make sense for your school.
• Conduct professional development outside:
  • Have a regular school staff meeting outside to look at the school yard, discuss ways to use different spaces, brainstorm ideas or potential space development options, and let staff experience the mental and emotional benefits of spending some time outside.
  • Take staff outdoors to try an activity. Some activities work equally well for adults as kids—consider taking staff outside during a staff meeting to find a ‘sit spot’ and write a reflection, or find 10 different species living in an area, or to draw a map of the school yard. These activities can be used to start a discussion of the benefits and opportunities related to taking students outside at your school.