Hugh Reilly: We should strive to engineer more trips outside of classroom

Published on Tuesday 6 October 2009 22:23

IF MAX Clifford had been their PR man, perhaps the Vikings wouldn't have suffered those negative press reports portraying their lifestyle choice as one of rape and pillage. Norsemen were, in fact, hardy outdoor types who enjoyed no-frills cruises to Europe, North America, Russia and Largs.

Learning from nature is a key component of education in Sweden, Finland and Norway, from where Vikings originated, and a new DVD backed by the Scottish Government invites nursery schools to take a Leif out of Scandinavia's book. Nurseries are to be encouraged to take children to woodlands, ponds, nature reserves and parks. Expected educational experiences include playing with tadpoles, picking flowers and, oddly, cleaning up litter. Children's minister Adam "The Skullsplitter" Ingram, who recently visited Norway to see outdoor education in action, believes it will be great fun for the youngsters.

This initiative has my full support. As a kid, I learned more through outdoor play than at school. Constructing a raft to float on the quarry pond required a basic understanding of naval engineering, knowledge that was painstakingly acquired after several prototypes morphed into submarines shortly after launch.

The ability to build a den from scraps of wood, metal and stone was a craft passed from one child to another. This social housing programme was very popular with subprime, risk-taking kids who wished to smoke a cigarette or ogle rude magazines away from a suffocating family home environment.

Knowledge of aerodynamics was gained by sitting on a Christmas annual atop a roller skate and careering down a steep pavement. By pointing my toes and leaning to the left, I was able to take the tight corner and thus avoided the mishap of joining the dual carriageway.

Many kids don't like school because they are cooped up in classes most days. When I started teaching 30 years ago, schools had a more relaxed approach to outdoor education. On sunny days, I regularly took classes along the Forth and Clyde canal to show them boatbuilders' yards. The kids marvelled at the work of the navvies who created this masterpiece of waterway engineering.

When teaching about the Romans in Scotland, I took kids to Bar Hill in Twechar, the site of a Roman fort on the Antonine wall. There was little to see apart from the plaques that indicated where the caldarium, office and barracks once stood – but youngsters have imagination. In the photograph I took, they smiled like victorious soldiers of the ninth legion.

Back then, there was no bureaucracy and society trusted teachers. To make such outings today, a teacher would have to submit details of his planned trip to be risk-assessed by a deputy head. The teacher would have to issue consent forms and collate them, taking note of any medical conditions. A female member of staff would have to accompany the group and taking a souvenir snap would only happen with the consent of mum and dad – after all, we can't be sure who's teaching our kids these days.

Such is the attainment-at-all-costs culture that most school management frowns on the practice of taking kids out of stuffy classrooms on warm days. The very act of talking to young people outside the confines of the classroom is seen as skiving, a displacement activity to be discouraged or even banned.

The politically correct, litigious society we have created curbs teachers' enthusiasm to take kids outdoors. And, reading the runes, I fear this worthy Scandinavian-inspired initiative will be kicked into the long grass.