Go Out and Learn-High Quality Practises for Developing Key Competences in Primary School Education Erasmus Project

Project Title

Go Out and Learn-High Quality Practises for Developing Key Competences in Primary School Education

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills

Project Summary

Year 202019/2020 was the final year and quite different from the others due to the pandemic and constrains to cope with this situation .Go Out and Learn (GOaL), an EU-funded Erasmus+ project 2017 – 2020, was focused on developing outdoor learning (OL) activities that were directly related to the school curriculum in each of the four participating countries of Belgium, England, Italy and Norway.
All primary schools involved, Beechwood Academy,UK, Buitenschool de Bergop, Belgium, Terazino Marano Primary School Italy and Ormåsen Primary School Norway, developed and shared new practises of curricula-based outdoor learning. These practises involved all schools subjects and transversal skills of literacy and numeracy. One central aspect that was prominent at all schools was place and place-based learning outdoors. All schools cooperated with higher education institutions, Plymouth University UK, University of Bologna, Italy, UCLeuvenLimburg, Belgium and University of South-Eastern Norway, Norway.
The project objectives achieved were:
develop a common understanding of pedagogy for, and practice of ,curricular outdoor learning.
test and develop methodologies for outdoor learning that develop pupils’ basic skills (for instance maths and literacy/language) and transversal skills/competencies.
support teachers in developing a creative, inclusive approach to outdoor learning through international collaboration and increase teacher satisfaction.
enhance learners’ understanding and appreciation of outdoor environments from a sustainable perspective.
develop internationally-applicable guidelines for curricular outdoor learning.
provide recommendations for policy makers and educational administrators.
disseminate project learning to practitioners and policy makers in participating countries and beyond.

One fundament developed through the project was a common definition of what curricula-based outdoor learning is. We agreed on this definition:
Outdoor education needs to be outdoors in the fresh air, not in a building and children need to be learning curricular subjects. This means that activities should be rooted in national curricula.
The outdoor environment differs from the indoor environment in topography and gives access to green areas and a wide range of learning activities.
The interaction between the pupils and the environment is substantial as well as aspects such as sociocultural and hands on learning

This agreement on what curricula based education is frames the concept and is as well broad enough to include different national curricula and local geographical settings.
The project focused on schools’ development of their own OL projects as they drew on each others’ ideas and approaches. Each has gained a deeper understanding of the affordances of OL; of the ways in which activities interact with the environment to provide unique learning experiences for both teachers and pupils. Below we share the guidelines for OL developed over the course of this project, and that draw on the experiences of these four schools in course of their international collaboration. Outdoor learning should:

• use the affordances of the local environment, the context of place and different ecological systems.
• be integrated into schools’ everyday practices, policy and curriculum.
• be inclusive and enhance learning possibilities for all children.
• include children’s voice in the design and implementation of projects and activities
• include learning about aspects of sustainability
• enhance the implementation of UN goals for sustainable development (UN, 2015) and 21st century skills (OECD/CERI, 2008).

We hope the experiences of the GoAL project will inspire schools and teachers to create their own OL activities, offering their children experiences that, although curriculum-based, provide far more in terms of socio-cultural and ecological learning.
Dissemination took place on two one-day multiplier events, one at UCLL, and one end-webinar November 2020. These covered 78 participants Leuven and 120 online. There were 240 registrations and we assume some had several participants looking at the same PC.
We reached all pupils enrolled at the schools and disseminated to parents and families of the pupils.
The annual reports covers some of the evaluation systems we developed the process of developing plans within each country.
Instead of booklets out web page includes dissemination of ideas as well as all presentations given at multiplier events.

We do have an unpublished article summing up the project and presenting guidelines. Due to a longlasting process of getting it reviewed we uwould like to dissaminate this on the Erasmus+platform when published.

Project Website

https://gooutandlearn.weebly.com/dissemination.html

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 243179 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSITETET I SOROST-NORGE & Country: NO

Project Partners

• Øvre Eiker Kommune
• ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO SALVO D’ACQUISTO
• Beechwood Primary School
• Vrije Basisschool Buitenschool Bergop
• ALMA MATER STUDIORUM – UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNA
• UC LEUVEN
• UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH