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Yesterday was a day out for the PGDE biologists and geographers to the SNH offices up at Batteleby just north of Perth. The topic of the day was a blend of biodiversity and learning in the outdoors.  Presentations were given from teachers delivering cross-curricular projects that embraced biodeiveristy,  an update from  Patrick Carson of LTS/ACfE on outdoor/biodiversity outcomes and Laura Welford of HMIe on an inspectors view of teaching that is constructed specifically within the context of ACfE.  Following this we also had the opportunity to attend smaller seminars with more chance to discuss.

So what were my main impressions that I took away …

• On ACfE… I really think now is an exciting time to be entering teaching – for two  reasons. Firstly I’m optimistic that ACfE looks like it will provide teachers with a framework in which to deliver lessons that are more cross-curricular, more about teaching kids how to learn (rather than just teaching them facts) and looks to include more emphasis on learning in the outdoor/environment.  Secondly, unlike experienced teachers, I’m naive enough and have no preconceptions!  So I’m spared the explicit or implicit reaction I see in some teachers to ACfE – these range across …  ‘God, not again!’ , to ‘ACfE, what a good idea, guess – we’ll need to bin The Curriculum for Mediocrity we current use” and of course the ”No time!  No time!’. I don’t mean this in any way to denigrate those with these views – if you have been delivering excellent teaching it’s only human to  have a slight niggle … but then ACfE is about proliferating existing best practice not saying it doesn’t happen ?  (I guess my main concern regarding ACfe from a geographers point is that although we present geography as ’the cross curricular glue’ - I have a fear that geography has been diluted and carved up (and some big bits seem completely lost) amid the subject outcomes.)
• On education in the outdoors … One of the reason I want to teach is because of my interest in the outdoors. There was some excellent examples presented here … from taking kids on field-trips to a local beach to immersing them (not explicitly) in week long sailing adventure through the Western Isles.  Despite these types of activites,  in terms of the total amount of out of classroom teaching they are still very much the exception.  The ever cited barriers of cost,  disruption of other subjects and the H&s/paperwork issue meant that there was more emphasis on the value of the outdoors in the imediate vicinity, school grounds – eco-schools etc. 
• On just get on an do it …One of the best presentations that emphasised this was from Sinclair Dyer of Hamilton.  His presentation what I believe was I bleieve entitled ‘from little acorns’ – or should have been. He talked about how his school’s projects had grown from planting up a small patch of playground as an alternative to ‘pots on the window sill’ to where they are today – international links to mango plantations and Aids projects in Ghana! Truly inspirational. See www.hamiltonscience.org , but this doesnt really mention the eco-projects in detail.

And the best bit of advice was given by a teacher from Monifield.    Get inviolved, do something - BUT dont go in all guns blazing.  Keep your head down in your first job, for the first couple of months. Observe the politics,  take it slowly – then come up with ideas.  You can’t do everything yourself, you need to understand your workload, you need the support of your colleagues. Then go for it …