That morning, the children of L'École buissonnière melted beeswax over a fire and dipped leaves in it to keep their fall color. In a few days, they will be chopping wood and cooking their meal on the coals. "We don't take any risks, everything is prepared and supervised", specifies to BFMTV.com Ruth Joiner, leader of this association which offers nature activities in the forest in the Drôme.
Trained in the United Kingdom in pedagogy by nature, Ruth Joiner welcomes some 1,200 children throughout the year in her woods - from schools to nurseries, through leisure centers and medico-educational institutes. For only amenities, it has a forest sofa, a tarpaulin and a parachute. As equipment, some tools. "We have everything you need on site," adds Ruth Joiner. Chestnuts, pieces of wood and insects do the rest.
The objective: to reconnect children to nature but also to let them experiment on their own to develop their creativity. "What matters is consistency," says Ruth Joiner. "That they return regularly to the same ground, that they witness the changes of nature and that they help each other in their projects". Like moving logs to make a castle or identifying the species of insects present on site.
40 "forest schools" in France
In Denmark, a pioneering country in the field, the "skovbornehaver" - i.e. "forest kindergartens" - were created in the 1950s and are today almost institutionalized. Some 20% of kindergarten classes do school in the middle of nature, summer and winter alike. In Germany, the "waldkindergartens" are already well established, the country has 2000 of them. And in the United Kingdom, there are just over 700 "forest schools".
In France, these "forest schools" are much less developed and cover various realities, from outdoor school, which is quite rare, to extracurricular outdoor activities, which are more common. Thibaut Pinsard, founder of Décliques - which offers 100% outdoor activities in the Paris region for 6-11 year olds - has thus counted around forty "forest schools" throughout France.
In France, they still suffer from certain prejudices, according to their promoters. "There are preconceived ideas", regrets Thibaut Pinsard for BFMTV.com. "Children won't get sick if they go outside when it's 0°C outside, you just have to equip them well."
"There's no bad weather, just bad clothes."Thibaut Pinsard still observes growing interest: at the start of the school year in September, his registrations quadrupled - the Décliques welcomes a total of 200 children in 25 different groups. "There are little things happening everywhere," she told BFMTV.com. “Mentalities are changing, things are moving, especially since confinement.”
A school between sea and forest
An outdoor school, made up of a class of kindergarten children aged 2 to 5, even opened at the start of the school year in September on the Island of Re. The "dream" of Caroline Cartalas, a Franco-German educator of young children, which took five years to become a reality. With a teacher, they welcome eight children, "soon to be nine", from 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. on land between sea and forest.
As a private school without contract, it is not compulsory to respect the timetables of public education or the programs but it must allow children to acquire knowledge of the common core of skills, recalls the Public service website. What Caroline Cartalas guarantees. She has permission to take in up to 14 children and her school will be inspected during the year.
The "forest schools" have the obligation to have premises, which can offer a fallback solution in the event of bad weather. Caroline Cartalas' school has an Algeco which will soon be replaced by a wooden trailer. It will allow them to warm up this winter. But not to spend hours there either. For now, school takes place outside, whatever the weather.
Among its furniture, a forest sofa, a tarp, hammocks, logs, a slackline and dry toilets. "We also have a small kitchen in the woods", continues Caroline Cartalas for BFMTV.com. But the idea is to "wild" the land, lent by a campsite. "We are going to install swings, develop a permaculture vegetable garden. What interests us is to open up children's creativity." For her, who has "worked in a garden of awakening in the past", the change is radical:
"I really see the difference with children who remain enclosed between four walls. There is less frustration, less conflict, everything is a source of play."An educational "revolution"
L education by nature offers another relationship to teaching and learning, agrees Sylvain Wagnon, professor of education sciences at the University of Montpellier. "It goes much further than just teaching outside," he analyzes for BFMTV.com.
"It's not about having the children run around in the forest for three hours, but about going out to feel, to experiment rather than discovering things in a book."He even believes that nothing requires exclusively seated learning , in a classroom. Everything could be taught outside. Laura Nicolas, lecturer in education sciences at Paris-Est Créteil University, thus evokes a pedagogical "revolution".
“We no longer start from the program towards learning objects but from external elements and what is on site, it is a reverse movement”, she develops for BFMTV.com.Other specificity of this teaching: outside, it is not a question of class by subject but in a transversal way. Mathematics applied to the construction of a cabin or the letters of the alphabet drawn in the sand. "It's a real transformation of our practices", observes Laura Nicolas.
Sylvain Wagnon, also author of I awaken my child to nature, discusses cultural obstacles to the practice in France. "However, in Northern Europe, the weather could seem paradoxically less favorable," he quips. But in Denmark, Germany or the United Kingdom, this alternative pedagogy developed at the beginning of the 20th century with the desire to associate nature with education.
Contrary to the tradition of the French school, according to this academic. "In France, school is based on the idea of academic and intellectual knowledge that is taught with a textbook. Learning is in the classroom. There have been attempts to open-air schools or walking classes, but they remained on the sidelines."
Cécile Thueux, from the Pédagogie par la nature network, which has 400 members, is convinced of the benefits of "forest schools". For this host of Trees and Tipis, who occasionally welcomes children in the forest in the Yvelines for activities in the great outdoors, the children find "freedom of movement".
"They are not forced to remain immobile, locked up," she explains. "They go outside in all weathers.""They frequent the same places during the four seasons, in different weather conditions. They bond with the place, become aware of their impacts and learn by sedimentation from all these experiences. "
Well-being, motivation and self-confidence?
Outdoor education has been studied and evaluated by Erik Mygind, a Danish academic, on a cohort of 1000 students in 18 "forest schools" public. According to this researcher, interviewed by Liberation, outdoor education improves the well-being of students, increases the motivation to come to class and their attention. The children would also be more sociable, help each other and develop more empathy. “With even more marked effects for hyperactive children or children with attention difficulties, and those coming from disadvantaged backgrounds”, assures Erik Mygind.
Finally last argument: their academic results would be better. Danish researcher Erik Mygind has noted better results in reading and sports in outdoor classes.
"All the teachers interviewed say they manage to transmit more skills to their students," he adds.For researcher Laura Nicolas, a supporter of "forest schools" who also provides training and offers free resources, the Improved academic results are just one of the many benefits of learning in the great outdoors.
"In addition to the benefits for physical and mental health, this practice reduces stress and anxiety and helps children better manage their emotions. They are also more independent and have more self-confidence, which is fundamental for the adult they will become."
The ministry also boasts of "outdoor classes"
As for traditional schools, we are not yet at the point of teaching all day in the great outdoors, but a movement has begun . Development of vegetable gardens in playgrounds, "school-park" (as in Bagneux, in the Hauts-de-Seine) or even "outdoor school", especially in Strasbourg... Last April, the Ministry of National Education even invited teachers to teach outside:
"Outdoor classes are beneficial in terms of health and they are also beneficial in terms of education."A recommendation obviously made due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but Canopé - the official website for teachers - now offers resources to teach outside. Educscol, another ministry site for education professionals, also has a section for teaching outdoors. Perhaps the beginning of a French "forest school".
https://twitter.com/chussonnois Céline Hussonnois-Alaya Journalist BFMTV
