The Outsideplay speaker series is a companion tool for educators interested in dialogue around known benefits and the importance of outdoor play and learning (OPAL) in Canadian elementary schools. OPAL promotes resilience, self-confidence, social connectedness, physical activity, risk management and overall wellbeing in children. Extensive research has been conducted in preparation for this project. Specifically, 36 Canadian teachers were engaged across five focus groups as part of a broader project seeking to identify systemic support factors and barriers for outdoor learning in elementary schools. Further consultation with 17 educators across British Columbia through participatory action research, largely centered in rural and remote areas in British Columbia, enabled us to hear their challenges with OPAL, as well as lean into their expertise in overcoming challenges.
The Outsideplay for teachers speaker series intends to create a dynamic, supplementary, and companion resource which will expand on modules (soon to be available) within the Outsideplay online tool. The speaker series will support specific challenges and opportunities teachers have identified when locating their curriculum outdoors, and each session will link to an existing short module within the digital tool housed at outsideplay.org. The speaker series ultimately aims to build an online community of educators curious about OPAL, who can come together to share resources, ask questions, and address emerging concerns with experienced and new-to-the-field educators. Each month, a new zoom session will be recorded with a live audience and made available for viewing in perpetuity.
This project was completed in April 2024. Learn more about the project outcomes:
The speaker series, which is part of a larger project creating an online Outsideplay teaching tool, included the expertise of 22 elementary school teachers from across Canada. All guest speakers were vetted for their expertise in teaching outdoors. A total of 16, one hour modules were recorded with Megan Zeni as the host of each one. Individual speaker series videos were recorded using Zoom between December 2023 and April 2024. Recordings can now be accessed through the teaching tool.
