One project of the Associate Professorship of Didactics in Sport and Health headed by Prof. Dr. Filip Mess is attracting a lot of attention, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic: outdoor education. In cooperation with the Anna-Essinger-Gymnasium in Ulm, Dr. Christoph Mall and Jan Ellinger, Research Associates working with Prof. Mess, have been researching the implementation and effects of an outdoor teaching concept on various student parameters since mid-2019. The magazine “DER SPIEGEL” and the internet portal “FOCUS Online” have recently reported on the project, which is entitled “Learning in Nature - Aspects of Physical and Mental Health, Learning Motivation, Learning Achievement and the Relationship towards Nature in Regular Outdoor Education”.
Class 5g at the Ulm grammar school is an outdoor class that is taught in the forest every Thursday under the supervision of two teachers. German and biology were on the timetable in the first half of the year and mathematics and geography in the second half as double-length lessons. This model has the potential to set a precedent, especially in the context of a pandemic. According to scientific studies, the risk of contracting a coronavirus infection is considerably lower outdoors than indoors. Particularly in nordic countries such as Norway or Denmark, the Ministry of Education has already recommended that school lessons should be held outdoors wherever possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a pilot project conducted in cooperation with a Heidelberg grammar school, the Associate Professorship of Didactics in Sport and Health has already determined that the distribution of the stress hormone cortisol follows a more natural rhythm when pupils are outdoors. “We know from various other studies that school is the number one stress factor for young people”, Jan Ellinger explained to “FOCUS Online”. Furthermore, there have also been indications that the intrinsic motivation to learn increases in the woods.
“During our research on outdoor teaching at schools in Ulm and Heidelberg, we discovered that, at the very least, selected content can be taught just as well outdoors as indoors”, reports Dr. Christoph Mall in an interview with “DER SPIEGEL”. “The fifth graders built real forest classrooms with their teachers. And, as we were able to prove with pedometers, they also move around a lot more than they would during a conventional school day. This effect alone is of great benefit in times when more and more children are struggling with obesity and deficits in motor skills”.
Are these outdoor classes possibly also the solution to prevent repeated school closures in the event of a possible second wave of coronavirus? “It's certainly not the only solution”, says Mall, who did his PhD in Sports Science. “However, we have discovered in a survey that the subjective feeling of safety with regard to the risk of infection is actually higher among teachers who are currently involved in outdoor teaching. As far as they are organisationally able to go outside at present, the schools that have already had experience with outdoor education are now continuing with the programme during the current situation leading up to the holidays. With appropriate adjustments such as distancing rules, of course.”
To the Interview at SPIEGEL+
To the article at FOCUS Online
To the homepage of the Associate Professorshop of Didactics in Sport and Health
Contact:
Dr. Christoph Mall
Associate Professorship of Didactics in Sport and Health
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24970
e-mail: Christoph.Mall(at)tum.de
Jan Ellinger
Associate Professorship of Didactics in Sport and Health
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24794
e-mail: Jan.Ellinger(at)tum.de
Text: Romy Schwaiger
Photos: Christian Rettich/private