Poorer pupils suffer ‘nature gap’

Overall, the report finds that currently, students’ chances of benefitting from spending time in nature – including benefits to their physical health, mental wellbeing and quality of education – are a lottery, depending on school year group, size, location, and affluence of the catchment area. 

Provision

Critically, being in nature not only helps pupils, it helps teachers too. Teachers can also benefit from higher job satisfaction through outdoor learning, including positive effects on their teaching practice and professional development.

The report includes case studies on schools that have successfully integrated nature into their curriculum and offers practical advice on how more schools can introduce them. In light of the findings, WWF wants all schools to be supported to provide regular nature experiences and charities will be key to realising this vision.  

Opportunities for pupils to experience nature at school can take place more formally during lessons, as part of their free time, or through school trips, extra-curricular activities and clubs. It doesn’t need to be expensive and can be included in a wide range of subjects.

But less than a third of UK schools say that outdoor learning is embedded into their curriculum for all students. 

Embedding outdoor learning into the curriculum means that teachers are planning when, how, and what to teach outside the classroom, and is a way to ensure that nature features in students’ learning provision.  

Outcomes

Pupils having access to nature during their free time requires either a natural environment onsite, or natural elements introduced. Yet half of schools in the UK say that none of their pupils have daily opportunities to spend free time or play in a nature-rich environment at school.

Overall, the report indicates that the most common practice when it comes to access to nature is through school trips and extra-curricular activities and clubs, with a quarter of schools saying that school trips to natural environments take place annually for all, or nearly all students.

While school trips and extra-curricular nature-based activities are important, they’re also infrequent and optional. The cost-of-living crisis is causing both parents and schools to revise their engagement with school trips, and voluntary activities are likely to attract students who are already engaged with, or interested in, nature. 

Rather than addressing inequalities based on education phase and socio-economic factors, optional activities may actually reinforce and exacerbate existing disparities.

We know that spending time in nature is good for us. And there is a growing body of evidence showing that when children and young people connect with nature through learning, there are a wide range of positive outcomes for pupils, teachers, and for nature. 

Mental wellbeing: Children and young people’s mental wellbeing has worsened over recent years, according to experts. In contrast, recent reports have shown that children show greater resilience, improved self-esteem, and increased self-efficacy when engaged in outdoor learning. Overall, children who experience nature-rich, immersive learning are more likely to feel good about themselves, resulting in improved wellbeing.  

 Improved attainment: Pupils are more motivated, less stressed, and more positive when learning in a natural setting, leading to better education outcomes. Teachers also report a reduction in disruptive behaviour, allowing pupils to focus on their work, and benefits to pupils who struggle in traditional classroom-based settings.

Benefits for teachers: Survey data from the largest outdoor-based learning project commissioned in the UK reveals that 72 per cent of project schools reported positive impacts on teachers’ own health and wellbeing. The majority of teachers involved in the study said they saw positive effects on their teaching practice and professional development, accompanied by a rise in their job satisfaction. Teachers also reported feeling less stressed as a result of spending time outside the classroom and engaging with nature.

Benefits for nature: The UK is in the top 10 per cent of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, with over 40 per cent of our species in decline [9]. For the next generation to care about, and take action to protect and restore nature, they must first develop a relationship with the natural world around them. Learning in nature and about nature at school plays an essential role in fostering this relationship. 

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This article is based on a press release from WWF.