| Title | Learning to teach in an outdoor classroom |
|---|---|
| Faculty/College/Unit | Education |
| Status | Completed |
| Duration | 3 Years |
| Initiation | 04/01/2011 |
| Completion | 02/23/2014 |
| Funding Details | |
| Year 1: Project Year | Year 1 |
| Year 1: Funding Year | 2011/2012 |
| Year 1: Project Type | Small TLEF |
| Year 1: Principal Investigator | Susan Gerofsky |
| Year 1: Funded Amount | 40,000 |
| Year 1: Team Members | Susan Gerofsky, Assistant Professor, Curriculum and Pedagogy, Faculty of Education |
| Year 1: Summary | Our society now recognizes the importance of getting children outside to experience and connect with the natural world, and yet, student teachers have few opportunities to practice this. What is needed is an outdoor classroom for UBC student teachers to explore teaching and learning across the curriculum in an outdoor setting — something they will be encountering increasingly in schools. This space will become a ‘living laboratory’ where faculty and students can develop exemplary learning experiences, which can be translated to schools. Learning to Teach in an Outdoor Classroom is an initiative by students, faculty, and staff in the Faculty of Education in cooperation with LFS and SALA. Building on established guiding principles and an initial participatory design process, we intend to build the outdoor classroom and integrate the space into teacher education curriculum and pedagogy. This requires funding several positions to foster students as agents of change and sustain beyond-the-classroom learning to nurture connections between land, food, and healthy comrnunities. |
| Year 2: Project Year | Year 2 |
| Year 2: Funding Year | 2012/2013 |
| Year 2: Project Type | Small TLEF |
| Year 2: Principal Investigator | Susan Gerofsky |
| Year 2: Funded Amount | 50,120 |
| Year 2: Team Members | Susan Gerofsky, Assistant Professor, Curriculum and Pedagogy, Faculty of Education |
| Year 2: Summary | Our first year implementing "Learning to Teach in an Outdoor Classroom” project at The Orchard Garden through collaboration between the Faculty of Education, Land and Food Systems, and the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture has been amazingly fruitful. As encapsulated in our mission statement, The Orchard Garden aims to cultivate a living outdoor classroom that invites learners across disciplines to explore and connect theory to practice through the relationships between teaching, learning, and growing. The project continues to be student-led, and has engaged over 500 undergraduate students, graduate students, and community members in hands-on learning and research. While our focus remains student teacher education, TLEF funding also enriches the learning experience for students beyond the Faculty of Education, and contributes to the University’s Sustainability Academic Strategy and Community Engagement missions. As we transition into our second year, continued TLEF support will ensure that this valuable initiative is sustained in the long-term. |
| Year 3: Project Year | Year 3 |
| Year 3: Funding Year | 2013/2014 |
| Year 3: Project Type | Small TLEF |
| Year 3: Principal Investigator | Susan Gerofsky |
| Year 3: Funded Amount | 62,551 |
| Year 3: Team Members | Susan Gerofsky, Assistant Professor, Curriculum and Pedagogy, Faculty of Education |
| Year 3: Summary | Since our 2011 start, The Orchard Garden Outdoor Classroom has integrated cross curricular, in-depth garden-based education initiatives grounded in our principles, collaboratively developed by our student-led team (see mission statement: http://theorchardgarden.blogspot.ca). The Outdoor Classroom is now recognized locally and internationally as an important educational space that directly advances UBC’s commitments in Place and Promise. We work with student teachers, instructors, and administrators in the Teacher Education Program, via enhanced practica, formal workshops, and a wide range of teacher education courses. Overall, approximately 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and community members have participated in the project to date. This past year, we have strengthened our partnerships with complementary initiatives in garden-based education and sustainability an campus. In the coming year, we will launch a new, UBC-based centre for garden-based education, the Cultivating Learning Network. |
| Project Report | 13-036-Gerofsky-Final-WEB.pdf |
| Project Outcomes | Videos on community impact of Orchard Garden alumni and programs |