Pre-Service Teacher Bachelor of Education (Primary)
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ALL THINGS EDUCATION
Australian pre-service teacher studying a Bachelor of Education (Primary).
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About:
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Learning beyond the classroom refers to the learning opportunities that extend beyond the four walls of a classroom. It is an environment that encapsulates outdoor learning and flexible learning. Furthermore, the “space” outside of the classroom is very fluid, as pretty much all spaces that are facilitated correctly can be a place where learning can take place. The key to this type of learning is how is it planned and delivered to students, in ways that utilise the “cultural, social, financial and physical” world around them (Bentley, 2012, p. 2).
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How learning beyond the classroom can enhance the learning of students with ASD:
Learning in the outdoors:
Outdoor educational programs can be daunting for both teachers and students in particular students with ASD, as it often requires additional planning and organisation (Children’s Wood, n.d.). As well for students with ASD new or uncertain environments can seem overwhelming. However, research suggests that such experiences can promote “communication, emotion cognition and interaction” for children with ASD (Chang & Chang, 2010).
Possible outdoor educational classrooms can include the schoolyards, parks, gardens and even kitchen. Possible challenges for students with ASD in the outdoor learning environment may be sudden changes in routine (e.g. weather changes, can be overwhelming), transitioning to different learning environments (again, can be overwhelming).
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Flexible Learning Spaces:
Flexible learning spaces allow teachers to transform learning from traditional transactional “front-of-the-room” teaching to collaborative, creative transferable spaces within a “common learning space” (Benade, 2019, p. 56). This is seen to assist students with ASD, as students feel more comfortable learning in smaller groups, which can be less anxiety-inducing (Benade, 2019).
Love also writes that spaces that provide inclusive services can help children to “access learning more effectively, having their voices heard and eventually improving integration with the world around them” (2018, p. 153). Within these flexible spaces there needs to be set zones such as quiet spaces (allow children to slow down) and creative zones (allow for hands-on, sensory stimulation) (Applied Behavioural Analysis Programs, 2020).
Possible challenges that may occur for students with ASD in a flexible learning space may include; not feeling comfortable working with peers in new social situations, causing social anxiety or stress (The Spectrum, 2021).
Figure 1: Learning in the Outdoors
Figure 2: Flexible leanring spaces
Figure 3: Sensory room within a school (Edutopia, 2017).
Potential challenges for educators implementing learning beyond the classroom:
For students who are non-verbal or don’t feel comfortable communicating with teachers, this is a challenge for both the student and teachers, particularly when learning in an unfamiliar environment. Teacher’s need to learn to understand how a student is feeling through observation, however, this can be challenging to understand or interpret how a student may be feeling. Furthermore, Merewether (2015), suggests that learning is most effective when it facilitates “open-ended” experiences, however, if students are reluctant to be socially engaged for particular reasons, educators will need to become more innovative to support students.
Furthermore, Waite (2014) write that in terms of the social and emotional aspects of learning outside of the classroom it can often require additional “adult intervention” which may reduce or hinder the creativity of students as teachers may either intentionally or unintentionally take more control in the learning in new environments (p. 74). Furthermore, this may be pertinent to students with ASD, because students who are cautious or anxious in new learning environments, may require more support from teachers, however, if there is too much support, this may, in fact, hinder learning.
Recommendations for approaches to resolving the challenges identified to support educators and the wider cohort:
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Create social rules and expectations within your learning space. This can help students to feel comfortable when learning outside of the classroom. This also includes noise levels in certain spaces (Biddick, 2014).
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Maintain a classroom routine as much as possible. Although diversions can sometimes be unavoidable, it is important that teachers try and stick to the routine to avoid anxiety or stress from students with ASD.
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Ensure that teachers are positioned to observe all students in the space (Biddick, 2014).