ERIC Number: EJ1233621
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2331-0464
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL): Activating "Loose Parts" in Undisciplined Childhood Environments
Rotas, Nikki
International Journal of Early Childhood Environmental Education, v7 n1 p73-85 Fall 2019
OPAL -- Outdoor Play and Learning, in collaboration with Earth Day Canada, is a national program that encourages outdoor play in public schools across Canada. This paper focuses on the implementation of OPAL in an elementary school in Toronto. The initial implementation strategies of the program are discussed, which include efforts to create a play policy framework that centres childhood relations with the outdoors or 'environment'. Employing posthuman and/or more-than-human frameworks, I examine the potential of OPAL to become a practice of learning with environments as opposed to learning about the environment. This is a significant shift in childhood thought and practice that requires serious consideration and pedagogical attention to how environmental education can move toward transdisciplinary practices in more-than-human worlds.
Descriptors: Outdoor Education, Play, Foreign Countries, Public Schools, National Programs, Program Implementation, Elementary School Students, Environmental Education, Interdisciplinary Approach, Children, Caring, School Policy, Ecology, Manipulative Materials, Attention, Student Welfare
North American Association for Environmnental Education. 1725 DeSales Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 202-419-0412; Web site: https://naturalstart.org/research
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A