Unit 3 2.5 Assignment: Explain ways in which Forest School fosters resilient, confident, independent and creative learners.
- Naomi Harvey
- Aug 11, 2024
- 6 min read
With Forest school being a child-led holistic approach to learning this allows a child to be independent and to create their own challenges but also learn how to overcome them independently or as a community.
Forest schools can build and foster resilience - how?
Resilience is the capacity to adapt, recover, and grow stronger in the face of adversity, stress, or challenges. It involves the ability to bounce back from difficult situations, maintain emotional stability, and continue moving forward despite obstacles. Resilience is not just about surviving tough times, but also about learning from experiences, developing coping strategies, and becoming more robust and resourceful over time.
At Trent we expose the children to different challenges that they need to overcome, either independently or as a group activity, thus adding a different layer of challenge for the children to also work together proactively.
We ask the children to build shelters, small stools or small bridges to cross a small stream. All of these experiences difficult for anyone, but without the learnt skill, very difficult, meaning that they are most likely not to succeed first time, and this is the aim, for the fact that they do not succeed the first time means they must step back, analyse why it didn’t work, discuss with their peers and work out a solution. This will push their resilience as they need to keep going to complete the task, some children will inevitably struggle with this, which is where as a leader this is where we can step in, talk about the struggles, the emotions that they may be going through at this point and what we could maybe do to overcome this. This would also allow an opportunity for other children around to show compassion and bring the team together and boost their peers to help achieve the activity they are completing together. Having felt the small feeling of ‘failure’ and needing reassurance, the final outcome where they may have been able to accomplish the task on any level deserves praise and will help them reflect on their next task. This will also help us as leaders to understand the challenges that arose for each individual and what we can plan for the next sessions to push those boundaries a little more and help them overcome any personal challenges.
Forest schools can build and foster confidence - how?
Confidence in a child refers to a child's belief in their own abilities, skills, and potential. It is the sense of self-assurance and trust in their capacity to handle challenges, succeed in tasks, and interact socially. Confidence enables children to approach new experiences with enthusiasm, take risks, and persist in the face of setbacks.
During our sessions we allow children to learn new skills, such as making woodland frames, this is done by collecting 4 twigs, tying wool on each corner to hold them together, placing them on the floor and making artwork inside their frames. This can enhance their confidence as they are mastering new skills in a supportive environment. They have the freedom to choose the twigs they wish to use, they could be small to large, it is up to them, but then they have the challenge to work out how easy it will be to tie these together. We as a group will show the best way to wrap the wool around the corners and the best way we tie them up.
As well as setting a challenge as it can be a bit fiddly and needs patience, this will also enhance their resilience. When a child is able to successfully choose their twigs and then tie them together, it is a huge sense of accomplishment for them and with some praise, a sense of confidence will overcome them. Additionally, what we found is that although this was an independent activity, a few children started to work together and got their friends to hold the twigs together while they wrapped them up and tied them, showing a sense of community and confidence in asking for help.
Another way you may be able to boost confidence to those children you may have identified as lacking is to make them a ‘team leader’ for a group task, such as planning a route for a bug hunt, or organising who does what during an activity, this can empower them to make decisions for the group and develop self-confidence.
Forest schools can build and foster independence - how?
Independence in a child refers to the ability and confidence to think, act, and make decisions on their own. It involves a child's capacity to take care of themselves, solve problems, and manage tasks without relying heavily on others. Developing independence is crucial for a child's growth, as it fosters self-reliance, responsibility, and resilience.
As mentioned previously, our holistic approach to forest school is very child-led and the majority of activities they carry out are independent or chosen independently then carried out with another group member.
By allowing children to take the lead and choose what activity they wish to take part in for those sessions promotes a sense of freedom and independence. They are able to explore different parts of the forest that others may not have discovered yet, giving them a sense of accomplishment that they know something that someone else didn’t and then a happiness that they can then share during reflective time.
We encourage a certain amount of risk taking during our sessions, for example if they would like to give tree climbing a go, we encourage this, we have a tree that we have surveyed as safe, however we allow the children to assess the tree themselves and make a judgement whether they feel safe to be climbing and if they have the ability. Allowing the child to climb within safe limits and under supervision helps them to learn risk and to build confidence with their physical capabilities.
By selecting a project that gives basic direction and allowing the children to plan, organise and execute the project can foster independence and self resilience. An example of how we did this during one of our sessions is the hoop pictures, we gave each child a hula hoop and their task was to fill it, however they wanted to, they could make a picture from it, they could just fill it with anything to cover it, however they chose to do it. It was interesting to see the different concepts the child carried out, but it gave them all a sense of independence as they all had their own hoop and could do what they wished to. As you can see with the picture below, a child had decided that they wanted to incorporate some flowers in their design, however, knew the rule to not pick, therefore had placed his hoop over the flowers to incorporate but not damage the environment, reaffirming that they understood the impact it would have if he would of picked the flowers.
Forest schools builds and fosters creativity - how?
Creativity in children refers to their ability to generate new ideas, think outside the box, and approach problems and tasks in innovative ways. It involves using imagination, experimenting with different possibilities, and expressing oneself in unique and original ways. Creativity is not limited to the arts; it can be demonstrated in a wide range of activities, including problem-solving, storytelling, and even how children interact with others.
Being surrounded by nature opens up so many opportunities to children and provides endless creative exploration and expression. The option for them to use leaves, twigs, stones and mud to create something natural allows children to engage in imaginative and creative play.
Our children are capable of creating remarkable pieces of art, even if they initially feel uncertain. Years of structured learning and coloring books with predefined pictures may have limited their creativity. However, through meaningful conversations where we explore their interests, they can unleash their unique creativity. It's fascinating to witness the diverse perspectives they bring to their creations. In a recent session, we asked the children to write their names using elements from the forest, and the results were truly inspiring. From twigs and leaves to carving on the ground or molding mud into 3D letters, each approach was inventive. What stood out was not just the materials they used but also the creative ways in which they presented their names - horizontally, vertically, or even in a circular fashion!
Conclusion
Overall Forest school is able to foster resilience, confidence and creativity in so many ways by creating a safe and nurturing environment where children are able to feel free, explore, take risks and create their own narrative. As a leader it is our job to expose the children to the possibilities within nature, but not control where that takes the child, it is up to the child where they choose to go.
We can reinforce positivity, communication, allow for opportunities to expose certain emotional intelligence so that the children are able to develop qualities and skills necessary for lifelong learning and personal growth.
References:
Wildly Educated
Comentarios