When spaces provide education. Learning environments and settings for outdoor teaching

Abstract

It is well-known today that educational settings are an essential component of teaching and learning processes; they constitute actual training systems that contribute to forming teaching methodology. The aim of this essay is to examine some of the possible variations in outdoor training and learning settings as dynamic, symbolic spaces that foster both individuality and social interaction, experimentation, and the manipulation of knowledge in a wide-ranging ecological direction.
In particular, the essay aims to identify the advantages of outdoor settings as learning environments. The learning activities carried out there are endowed with a set of particular characteristics that create ideal conditions for learning: the activation of communicative and cognitive channels related to the body; the social dimension of learning; the use of authentic contexts; and the possibility of shaping teaching strategies and evaluating direct and situated training experiences.