Module: EDU7108-30 Perspectives of Outdoor Play

Level: 7

Credit Value: 30

Module Tutor: Dr Lone Hattingh

Module Tutor Contact Details: l.hattingh@bathspa.ac.uk

1.Brief description and aims of module

Teaching and learning strategies will include seminars, workshops and practical activities. These will be designed to develop skills of reflective practice as well as study skills and aspects of wider professional development. Directed tasks, seminar content and further reading will be available in the student handbook and on Minerva. You will also be encouraged to develop dialogue about your learning on the Minerva discussion forums.

This module aims:

• To provide a theoretical foundation for outdoor pedagogy and play in global and local contexts.
• To interrogate and challenge assumptions about outdoor pedagogy.
• To foreground principles of sustainable development and engagement with nature
• To examine issues of risk, safety and power relationships, and to develop an understanding of the child as a competent citizen within the context of outdoor play

Directed tasks, seminar content and further reading will be available in the student handbook and on Minerva. You will also be encouraged to develop a dialogue about your learning on the Minerva discussion forums as well as with your peers during seminars. Teaching will be responsive to your needs and will be planned to enable you to reflect on your practice and on your theoretical understanding.

2.Outline syllabus

Theoretical perspectives relevant to outdoor play, experience and learning; sustainable development; engagement with nature; children’s perspectives, rights and politics; socio-cultural theory; forest/outdoor experience; children as active meaning makers; safety and risk; spaces and places for play.

3.Teaching and learning activities

The taught component of the module takes place over 10 weeks in the second trimester: 10 three hour seminars are made up of lecture content, group discussion focusing on set reading and reflections on practice and theoretical insights. The presentation, case study and essay assessments are preceded by formative assessment tasks providing guidance and discussion.

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: Course Work
• Description: Presentation (1,800 words equivalent)
• % Weighting: 25%

Assessment Item 2:

• Assessment Type: Course Work
• Description: Case Study on outdoor learning with literature critique (5,700 words)

Or An essay which analyses an aspect of outdoor play and learning (5,700 words)

• % Weighting: 75%