Pre October 2015
I work with three people who have completed their level three Forest School Practitioner, They all seemed to focus on one particular aspect of Forest School learning. One is heavily into 'bushcraft' skills, another 'folklore', and the other using the experience to explore 'working together'. At this point there was no coherence bringing these three perspectives together and I wondered what part would I focus on. I enjoyed working with these three practitioners and experienced with them the outcomes that this part of outdoor learning could bring.
Because these three practitioners worked independently from each other we had three pockets of resources, again each with a different focus. At this point in time I was also hearing from my grandchildren that they had enjoyed Forest School and in one case Beach School which given the area we live in is an obvious thing to explore.
So needing to know more I read online the numerous reports emphasising the value of this type of activity, but with my skeptical hat on felt there was no real justification for the claims being made. However with such a 'groundswell' my opinion was there must be something in it.
October 2015
I was really pleased that I could undertake training near my home, I began wondering what type of people there would be on my course, a colleague told me that they would all be primary teachers or teaching assistants who had no idea of working in the outdoors or even what to wear. I felt happy from my background I could do all that bit and had confidence that I would be good at the practical skills side. My perception was that I would have real problems in recognising trees and plants, birds would be ok. I would walk my family dog and ask my wife to tell me what trees we were passing, it was a mass of green and brown blur. So my year of consolidation was going to be one of recognition and learning lots of names.
It took some time to find the venue, my satnav didn't really like all those trees (but at least it wasn't required to know there names). I arrived early met the trainer (don't like that expression, I'm not a dog or race horse) and was quickly put to task laying out the room and making the coffee. Slowly my colleagues arrived, and we set about finding out about each other; whilst there was very much a primary school nature to the majority we did come from very different walks of life. Each one of us had a different reason for wanting to complete the qualification I was interested in how Paul the trainer would sustain those different interests.
Despite the relaxed format, theory and practice sessions, reflections and evaluations the week flew by, we got to know each other quickly and fell into a daily routine. On the second day I realised I was creatively inept! During the reflection sessions those who were used to working with young learners were able to generate ideas that I could not begin to comprehend, they would make and draw things that left me in ore. So clearly this was something I needed to develop, but could it be developed or was it some innate thing that you've either got or not!
Coming from my University background and having a PHD in Adventure Psychology I was more than happy to think about things from an applied academic context. Initially I was a little concerned when Paul (the trainer) began to draw on theory but not in the form I knew it in. We talked about 'competence' and 'risk' but not in the context of the 'Adventure Paradigm' as I knew it, so did this mean that i would have to relabel things in my mind? I talked this through with the trainer and was happy that knowledge was knowledge and labels were just labels. Not only that Paul asked me to contribute in the self-esteem session.
I left the training very upbeat and enthusiastic, my perception of Forest School had changed now that I had a deeper understanding of the philosophy sitting behind it, it had become a way of life for me and I could separate Forest School from Forest School activities. I was motivated to complete Level Three Practitioner in the allowed time.
November-December
I set to work on the portfolio work, it was difficult (and I still am vague about it) ascertain what the purpose was; was it to add to the knowledge introduced during training, introduce new knowledge or habit of both? In the end I decided to just answer the question, learning as I went. There were stories about the volume of work people had submitted, tales of three volumes, and a crate full were common. I finally settled on the amount I would submit by talking to a colleague, who commented that it was teachers like us who generally did too much given the level of the qualification on the qualification spine. I also met a portfolio marker and moderator on my first aid training who again reiterated the level and requirements. Given the moderate level I was intending it did seem like a mountain!
I spent November trying to find a school where I could work with pupils and in the end settled on one of the University's academy school that potentially had its own piece of woodland. The deputy headteacher and I agreed on the class I would take and the vague learning outcomes that I would work to. Luckily there was a past student working at the school and they were enthusiastic about assisting me. We planned to start in March with two year six groups, one either side of lunch on a Friday.
I was still enthusiastic with Christmas coming up and it was time to treat myself to a really good knife and a Kelly Kettle, I spent the end of December amusing the grandchildren with my new skills; whittling wood and making fires. All was good in my Forest School World.
January-February
I was in a bit of a cleft stick; I have a FAW qualification but also needed to do the FSFA, neither subsumed the other so in the end I decided to be a holder of both awards and you can't have too much first aid knowledge. I booked the March course back at Bentley Copse and hoped to meet some of the people I had met during training. During this period I also spent department money gathering further resources both volume and diversity, it would be necessary for us to hold equipment for primary, secondary and higher education levels. I continued to work alongside Level Three Practitioner colleagues gathering idea. Late on Friday just before signing off for the weekend I came across 'Learning with Nature' by Robb, Mew and Richardson, brilliant just what I needed, full of ideas, it became my bible, why does everybody not know about this book? Work on the portfolio continued, slow progress amidst planning for my semester two modules.
March-April
This was a real preparation month for me, I was pleased to meet up again with Dave and Sophie on the Outdoor First Aid Course, I've been on lots of this type of course over the years and had prepared myself for something static and laborious. In reality it was fun and informative and really did the job, it was good to swop stories about how we were going and reassuring to note that basically everyone was in portfolio mode. I met a few new people (who were to appear again during week two) the gathering of like minded people rekindled (sorry) my enthusiasm to get everything complete before the year was out.
I had completed my planning for the school sessions and it was just now about putting theory to practice.
I really enjoyed working with the pupils, the limitations of the school site were overcome and the partner staff really good to work with. Until that point stories of children wanting to 'climb trees' all day! Had no significance to me, but I soon adopted the forest School philosophy. I learnt lots about resources and how long it took to prepare for sessions, just simple things like getting enough water to the site took so long.
The quality of the pupil work was of course varied but some showed some real imaginative flare, my own creative ability was being surpassed by year six. The pupils really enjoyed running around activities and we fell into the routine of cathartic activity at the beginning of each session. They were really good with tool work, pointed sticks seem to be the new trend. These sessions along with some ad hoc Forest School activities I was doing with visiting schools made me think again about how I was facilitating, I began to feel more relaxed. I enjoyed their enthusiasm and was really taken back by one learner who wrote on her 'woodland medallion' - 'Forest School is the Best'.
May-June
With week two looming I took time to consolidate my practical skills; practicing 'tool talks', sharpening knives and building lots of 'stuff' (grand children talk). My wife says that i need to let them do more for themselves rather than aiming for a perfect build, good point it is all about them and not me! This comment lead me to reflect a little more on the activities I was presenting during the learning experience, was it ok to present tasks that for some there would be a need for adult help. Part of my philosophy would say that learning to ask for help is an important social skill and something that should be encourage. But so is independence and self-esteem enhancement which comes from task completion with an internal locus of control. It is important that learners are able to attribute their success to themselves not the intervention of others. So a difficult one that I am still mulling over; my solution is to present options where learners can direct their experience themselves. So not just a star that is technically difficult and perhaps beyond some without help, but also a stick man that is far less technically demanding and more likely to be independently completed.
Early in June and I was at Bentley Copse again, with some familiar and some unfamiliar faces. Steve the provider was excellent, very comforting and he had a great balance of 'consultant and assessor'. We reminded each other of many thing during the first two days. Unlike some of my University colleagues who said it could have all been done in two days I really welcomed the chance to go overhangs and convince myself that I really did know what I was doing. One thing that become very apparent was that training courses are vastly different. We had never used an 'Auger' but we had looked at 'apps' that could map the site you were working in. There was an element of discontent amongst some members of the group, but hey its all a learning experience.
With my other had on I was mulling over the possibility of bring a student residential group to Bentley Copse and the range of things that we undertook that week convinced me it was the right thing to do. So I quickly bored a date in September and we will bring the PGCE Physical Education students to experience a broad range of outdoor learning experiences.
Because these three practitioners worked independently from each other we had three pockets of resources, again each with a different focus. At this point in time I was also hearing from my grandchildren that they had enjoyed Forest School and in one case Beach School which given the area we live in is an obvious thing to explore. So needing to know more I read online the numerous reports emphasising the value of this type of activity, but with my skeptical hat on felt there was no real justification for the claims being made. However with such a 'groundswell' my opinion was there must be something in it.
October 2015
I was really pleased that I could undertake training near my home, I began wondering what type of people there would be on my course, a colleague told me that they would all be primary teachers or teaching assistants who had no idea of working in the outdoors or even what to wear. I felt happy from my background I could do all that bit and had confidence that I would be good at the practical skills side. My perception was that I would have real problems in recognising trees and plants, birds would be ok. I would walk my family dog and ask my wife to tell me what trees we were passing, it was a mass of green and brown blur. So my year of consolidation was going to be one of recognition and learning lots of names.
It took some time to find the venue, my satnav didn't really like all those trees (but at least it wasn't required to know there names). I arrived early met the trainer (don't like that expression, I'm not a dog or race horse) and was quickly put to task laying out the room and making the coffee. Slowly my colleagues arrived, and we set about finding out about each other; whilst there was very much a primary school nature to the majority we did come from very different walks of life. Each one of us had a different reason for wanting to complete the qualification I was interested in how Paul the trainer would sustain those different interests.
Despite the relaxed format, theory and practice sessions, reflections and evaluations the week flew by, we got to know each other quickly and fell into a daily routine. On the second day I realised I was creatively inept! During the reflection sessions those who were used to working with young learners were able to generate ideas that I could not begin to comprehend, they would make and draw things that left me in ore. So clearly this was something I needed to develop, but could it be developed or was it some innate thing that you've either got or not!
Coming from my University background and having a PHD in Adventure Psychology I was more than happy to think about things from an applied academic context. Initially I was a little concerned when Paul (the trainer) began to draw on theory but not in the form I knew it in. We talked about 'competence' and 'risk' but not in the context of the 'Adventure Paradigm' as I knew it, so did this mean that i would have to relabel things in my mind? I talked this through with the trainer and was happy that knowledge was knowledge and labels were just labels. Not only that Paul asked me to contribute in the self-esteem session.
I left the training very upbeat and enthusiastic, my perception of Forest School had changed now that I had a deeper understanding of the philosophy sitting behind it, it had become a way of life for me and I could separate Forest School from Forest School activities. I was motivated to complete Level Three Practitioner in the allowed time.
November-December
I set to work on the portfolio work, it was difficult (and I still am vague about it) ascertain what the purpose was; was it to add to the knowledge introduced during training, introduce new knowledge or habit of both? In the end I decided to just answer the question, learning as I went. There were stories about the volume of work people had submitted, tales of three volumes, and a crate full were common. I finally settled on the amount I would submit by talking to a colleague, who commented that it was teachers like us who generally did too much given the level of the qualification on the qualification spine. I also met a portfolio marker and moderator on my first aid training who again reiterated the level and requirements. Given the moderate level I was intending it did seem like a mountain!
I spent November trying to find a school where I could work with pupils and in the end settled on one of the University's academy school that potentially had its own piece of woodland. The deputy headteacher and I agreed on the class I would take and the vague learning outcomes that I would work to. Luckily there was a past student working at the school and they were enthusiastic about assisting me. We planned to start in March with two year six groups, one either side of lunch on a Friday.
I was still enthusiastic with Christmas coming up and it was time to treat myself to a really good knife and a Kelly Kettle, I spent the end of December amusing the grandchildren with my new skills; whittling wood and making fires. All was good in my Forest School World.
January-February
I was in a bit of a cleft stick; I have a FAW qualification but also needed to do the FSFA, neither subsumed the other so in the end I decided to be a holder of both awards and you can't have too much first aid knowledge. I booked the March course back at Bentley Copse and hoped to meet some of the people I had met during training. During this period I also spent department money gathering further resources both volume and diversity, it would be necessary for us to hold equipment for primary, secondary and higher education levels. I continued to work alongside Level Three Practitioner colleagues gathering idea. Late on Friday just before signing off for the weekend I came across 'Learning with Nature' by Robb, Mew and Richardson, brilliant just what I needed, full of ideas, it became my bible, why does everybody not know about this book? Work on the portfolio continued, slow progress amidst planning for my semester two modules.
March-April
This was a real preparation month for me, I was pleased to meet up again with Dave and Sophie on the Outdoor First Aid Course, I've been on lots of this type of course over the years and had prepared myself for something static and laborious. In reality it was fun and informative and really did the job, it was good to swop stories about how we were going and reassuring to note that basically everyone was in portfolio mode. I met a few new people (who were to appear again during week two) the gathering of like minded people rekindled (sorry) my enthusiasm to get everything complete before the year was out.
I had completed my planning for the school sessions and it was just now about putting theory to practice.
I really enjoyed working with the pupils, the limitations of the school site were overcome and the partner staff really good to work with. Until that point stories of children wanting to 'climb trees' all day! Had no significance to me, but I soon adopted the forest School philosophy. I learnt lots about resources and how long it took to prepare for sessions, just simple things like getting enough water to the site took so long.
The quality of the pupil work was of course varied but some showed some real imaginative flare, my own creative ability was being surpassed by year six. The pupils really enjoyed running around activities and we fell into the routine of cathartic activity at the beginning of each session. They were really good with tool work, pointed sticks seem to be the new trend. These sessions along with some ad hoc Forest School activities I was doing with visiting schools made me think again about how I was facilitating, I began to feel more relaxed. I enjoyed their enthusiasm and was really taken back by one learner who wrote on her 'woodland medallion' - 'Forest School is the Best'.
May-June
Early in June and I was at Bentley Copse again, with some familiar and some unfamiliar faces. Steve the provider was excellent, very comforting and he had a great balance of 'consultant and assessor'. We reminded each other of many thing during the first two days. Unlike some of my University colleagues who said it could have all been done in two days I really welcomed the chance to go overhangs and convince myself that I really did know what I was doing. One thing that become very apparent was that training courses are vastly different. We had never used an 'Auger' but we had looked at 'apps' that could map the site you were working in. There was an element of discontent amongst some members of the group, but hey its all a learning experience.
| Some of the Best Food Ever! |
Week two went well for me, but it was very clear that some were ahead of the game portfolio wise!
July
So here I am making many decisions on route to completion. I am continuing to use the electronic template; I've given up hope that it will be a good presentation of my work. The template has been poorly put together, it has many imbedded tables and breaks that cannot be changed. Some of the landscape tables have texts going in completely wrong direction. So a hardcopy print out in 'best I can' format is now what its all about.
What will the future bring? Hopefully our own University site with lots of visiting groups, greater coherence amongst the Level Three Practitioners, an increase in resources, and a sharing of our accumulated knowledge/experience. Bring it on.
