Instruction and Leadership in Environmental Education

Catalog description

Outdoor School is a residential outdoor environmental education program attended by upper elementary-aged school children from school districts throughout central Pennsylvania. While serving as Outdoor School Leaders, RPTM 240 provides students with experience in two main areas, leadership/mentorship as well as residential outdoor environmental education lesson planning and delivery. They are approached in the following manner: - Group management and leadership techniques will be examined regarding working with peers (students taking RPTM 140 who are serving as Outdoor School Counselors) and effectively guiding youth participants in an outdoor setting. Outdoor School Leaders will explore what effective mentorship looks like, working with the Counselors to help them work towards their personal developmental goals by the end of the week. Outdoor School Leaders will also explore the intricacies of teaching outdoors, using the environment to keep the group focused and engaged in the learning process. By stepping into this broader leadership role, students taking this course expand the breadth of their responsibilities compared to RPTM 140 . - Students will enhance their residential outdoor environmental education skills by designing lesson plans on natural history topics and implementing these lesson plans in an outdoor setting. Class sessions and assignments are designed to develop skills prior to the immersive field experience of applying these techniques as an Outdoor School Leader. Outdoor School lesson plans include topics such as ecosystem science, sensory experiences in the outdoors, teambuilding, and the basic biology of native Pennsylvania fauna (sometimes taught using live animals). Students build upon the initial teaching experience provided in RPTM 140 by extending the creative process, granting students flexibility in how they plan and deliver lesson content as they develop a personal teaching style. While working towards mastery in the previous two areas, Outdoor School Leaders are also expected to contribute to the daily operations and logistics of their Outdoor School week. This includes items such as understanding relevant emergency protocols, applying sound risk assessment methodologies, and helping general programming run smoothly and safely.