International School Parent Magazine - Autumn 2023

ADVERTORIAL
In fact, robust experiences in the outdoors test students in aspects
of the IB Learner Profile, central to our approach to teaching and
learning as an IB World School. Our learners might find balance
on a bike, take smart risks on a multi-day hike, reflect on their
technique in the snow park, or simply be open-minded in trying
something new.
As an outdoor educator myself trained in wilderness first aid,
guiding backpacking and camping excursions, and teaching
whitewater kayaking, I see a variety of ways to add value to
the school learning experience through contact with natural
environments.
Learning Through Play
For young people, play is serious business, and for adolescents and
adults, seriousness can compete with play, squeezing out time that
should be used for fun, for messing about, for trying and failing,
and for entering flow states. From the earliest ages, we partake in
outdoor learning and throughout all seasons and weather as part
of our Waldkinder program. Weekly visits to the nearby forest are
an integral part of our curriculum in the Junior School. Off-site
‘expeditions’ and ‘adventures’ offer both children and adults a
catalyst for play, conversations, and a variety of transdisciplinary
learning experiences. Likewise, Middle and Senior School students
seize the opportunity to throw acorns, get reasonably lost, seek out
chainsaw sculptures, and try nibbling on wild ramps. Students can
play around, make connections, and enjoy time outside, exploring
their world in ways that make sense to them.
Building Skills, Connecting with Culture
Like our Swiss counterparts, our school sets aside one week of
precious time to go to the Alps for Winter Camps. We take students
of more than 60 nationalities into an immersive experience of
Swiss and alpine culture, spending days on the slopes learning a
sport for their lifetime, spending mealtimes learning local customs,
and spending evenings engaging in a wide range of activities.
Our Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award programme
similarly works toward ever greater student independence in natural
environments, spiralling skills of navigation and survival over
several years. The numerous students who join each year
develop real confidence to be on the slopes or on trails with a group
of friends, not relying on adults, deeply absorbed in the experience.
Deeper Learning Beyond the Classroom
Outdoor learning of rigorous classroom content can extend
and deepen inquiry. During field trips, students ask meaningful
questions, collect data, and consider not only answers to questions,
but potential actions and the implications of those actions on the
greater human and physical systems at play.
Outdoor learning also encourages interdisciplinary thinking.
Walking trenches from World War 1 makes the abstract concrete,
building empathy for what might otherwise be historical
“characters” of history and poetry. Making art from found
materials in nature or learning to identify edible plants, crafting
recipes to feature foraged foods from the woods around school,
enables teachers to link disciplines naturally. Global issues become
local, and familiar contexts make learning both sticky and
meaningful when we go outside with a purpose.
Not every school has direct access to rural or wild natural
environments - we are truly privileged to have a low barrier for
entry into outdoor learning and education. For some schools,
outdoor education happens on “Week Without Walls” trips or the
like. It can also happen outside of school in urban settings, as well,
sampling runoff water or doing impact surveys of foot vs vehicle
traffic to a market, for example. It’s not always easy, but intentional
outdoor learning is worth the effort!
With our outdoor education programme, we are helping
hundreds of students every year find what educator John Dewey
termed “a worthy leisure” for their lifetime while becoming ever
more familiar with Swiss culture.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ian Hoke is an international educator with an MAT
in Secondary Teaching and an MEd in Organisational
Leadership and Development, working as Senior
School Principal at the International School Basel.
Ian is passionate about collaborating to continually improve
teaching and learning, and when he isn’t at school, he’s probably
in the woods or on a river with his family.
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL PARENT AUTUMN 2023 | 23