Last November, shortly after dismissing my class, I grabbed a couple of coffees, threw on a fresh hoodie, fixed my hair and went straight into presenting my seminar on developing and facilitating an outdoor learning programme for my primary school organisation.

I aimed to speak from the heart, sharing the ups, downs, special moments, and invaluable lessons learned from teaching outdoor learning lessons across four different school locations, including the experience of being a teacher with ADHD.

Challenging Realities

Some of the challenges I shared included:

The logistics of running excursions to local forests, which involved walking the routes the night before.

Keeping children’s attention when giving instructions.

Adapting my lessons daily to the specific children I was teaching to be inclusive.

My realisation that in order to keep going, I needed to pace myself, simplify, and compromise on my original vision (I found this the most difficult).

Replacing the forest excursions with a focus on using the playgrounds and local land, and focusing on storytelling to engage the children in the learning activities.

It felt incredibly good to be honest and give a human story – a true representation of the realities of implementing and sustaining an educational initiative for three years.

The Human Connection

I believe that when sharing ideas, we connect better on a human level when we show the challenges that need to be overcome and the discomfort that comes with doing anything new.

Presenting the session brought me back to my “why” and an essential role of being a teacher: to create learning that inspires and positively impacts our students.

Thanks to the Institute for Outdoor Learning for allowing me to be part of such a positive event.