| The importance of education cannot be | | | | classroom and take it into the great outdoors, |
| overemphasised. Shaping the minds of young | | | | where a multitude of lessons can be learned. The |
| people is a tremendous responsibility, and today's | | | | role of the educator in this context is not to |
| educators perhaps have a more difficult job than | | | | explicitly teach the students, but rather to let the |
| ever before with the myriad of distractions that | | | | learning experience evolve naturally from the |
| surround today's youth. | | | | students themselves. |
| While classroom teaching is likely to always form | | | | The educator should closely observe the |
| the backbone of the educational system, the | | | | interactions between the young people and look |
| formality of traditional teaching does not suit | | | | to see how they work together to complete the |
| every pupil. Although many students do flourish in | | | | task they have been given, stepping in only |
| the classroom environment, other pupils can feel | | | | occasionally to accentuate or praise aspects of |
| smothered by it and never seem to reach their | | | | the group's behaviour when they exhibit positive |
| full potential. | | | | teamwork or communication skills. |
| It should be remembered that education is not | | | | Many students who are uncomfortable in the |
| just limited to academic subjects. A fully | | | | classroom can really come into their own through |
| comprehensive education should also seek to | | | | this type of group outdoor activity. Finally freed |
| introduce young people to the kinds of life skills | | | | from the constraints of traditional learning |
| that will stand them in good stead when they | | | | exercises, these individuals suddenly find |
| leave school and enter the wider world. | | | | themselves in an environment that demands very |
| Teaching skills like leadership, teamwork, | | | | different skills from those needed in the |
| self-belief, communication and responsibility can be | | | | classroom. |
| difficult in a classroom setting. This is where | | | | Conversely, pupils who are completely at home in |
| outdoor activities for schools can really come into | | | | the classroom may find themselves utterly out of |
| their own. | | | | their depth in this kind of practical learning |
| Throughout the UK, there are many outdoor | | | | scenario. This, too, can be a useful learning |
| activity centres where children and young people | | | | experience for them, teaching them that in |
| can engage in valuable and exciting activities such | | | | different situations, different skill sets are required, |
| as rock climbing, gorge jumping, orienteering, | | | | and that individuals who excel in one arena may |
| abseiling and canoeing. | | | | struggle in another. |
| Activities such as these bring teaching out of the | | | | |