Raising the roof on traditional lessons by taking kids outside

A Swedish native is giving Australian kids in Melbourne a taste of Scandinavian education, taking the classroom to another level.

If Kindergarten students had the opportunity to speak up about how they’d want their classroom to be run, they’d surely down their crayons, step away from their desks and just play outside – and they would have an ally in early childhood educator Linda Wilson.

The Swedish native has made it her mission to give Australian children a taste of Scandinavian education, which mostly happens alfresco in the early school years.

It was only one of the stark differences Ms Wilson encountered when she relocated to Melbourne six years ago.

“Sweden has come far in terms of outdoor play based learning, but the regulations are also very different in Sweden,” she said.

“It’s much easier to take children out for excursions. If it’s a sunny day, we would say, ‘let’s go to the park’. We’d put a note on the door to say where we were and the parents would come to the park at the end of the day to pick their children up. We can’t do anything so spontaneous here, I thought, ‘well, this is different’.”

Kindergarten teacher Linda Wilson has been nominated in the Best Teacher News Corp initiative. Linda hails from Sweden and places huge importance in taking kids out of the 'four walls' in a traditional classroom and giving them an opportunity to connect with nature. Picture: Ian Currie

Undeterred, Ms Wilson, who works at Sentia Early Learning in Melbourne, quickly adapted to local protocol and engaged with the staff and families to implement an outdoors program that eventuated in over 25 excursions last year.

“I would have to say that one of my main passions when it comes to teaching is to do it through play based learning or taking a community approach. I believe children learn better this way – they don’t need to read about an experience, they should live it. The children are excited to learn about the community around them,” she said.

“You see how much they absorb and how engaged they are. They feel like citizens of the community.”

Kindergarten teacher Linda Wilson said it’s important for the children to feel like they are part of the community. Picture: Ian Currie

Ash Sachdev, CEO of Care for Kids and online childcare centre comparison site Toddle.com.au, said it was important to highlight the great work our early learning educators like Ms Wilson.

“My wife is an ex-teacher and I use to poke fun at the fact that she got 10 weeks leave a year, but the facts are that she put in numerous extra hours in weekly, looking at lesson plans, assisting students who needed extra help and researching ideas to make learning fun,” he said.

“These days, more than ever, teachers from our early learning centres through to high school are having to not only teach but also play the role of counsellor, helping children of all ages adjust back after two years of Covid interruptions. This is not easy – balancing the socialisation requirements that society demand along with the rigours of ensuring children catch up on the last two years of ad hoc learning.”

And it’s not just the children enjoying Ms Wilson’s outdoors approach. Their parents have been equally inspired by their incidental learning.

“All our learning is linked to Indigenous aspects of learning and how to take care of the land,” she said.

“The parents have been very inspired, the children are going home and teaching them everything they have been learning out in the community.”

NOMINATE AUSTRALIA’S BEST TEACHERS BELOW

Originally published as Raising the roof on traditional lessons by taking kids outside