Forest School is all about the outdoor environment and the belief that the positive experience helps to build self confidence and self esteem. Children are given relative freedom to explore and experience the natural world in a relaxed atmosphere gently aided by suitably qualified staff who encourage the children to take part in fun activities which are tailored to each individuals interests and needs. There are no demands or expectations and the child is the driver both imaginatively and creatively. Consequently each child develops valuable life skills, working both individually and as a team.
The child with low self esteem and lack of confidence will not develop to his/her potential because they will not believe in themselves and will not feel they are worthwhile or capable. This may result in them being negative and believing that they will fail. They may become demotivated or discouraged because of lack of confidence. They will have little resilience if things do not go as anticipated and may withdraw and not participate or try new activities.
Theorists
Piaget, Bruner and another theorist, Vygotsky, all believe that children learn from their own actions and from exploring their own environment. They see the child as an active learner and stress the importance of first hand experience. Vygotsky and Bruner laid more emphasis on the part played by language and other people in enabling the child to learn and are known as ‘social constructivists’.
Piaget and Schemas
Memory takes the form of schema which provide a mental framework for understanding and remembering information. These are early ideas or concepts based on linked patterns of behaviour and are part of a child’s powerful drive to understand his or her experience. Schema’s develop from active exploration of the environment. Piaget believed that for the first 18 months to 2 years the schemas are sensori-motor which is based on the senses and movement. After this the schemas begin to be represented symbolically, in alignment with the development of causes and effect relationship (known as functionally dependency) One of the most frequent schema’s for children between 2 and 5 is what Piaget calls ‘enclosure’ For example a child may use wooden blocks to build an enclosure and then use it to represent a car, boat, taxi or ambulance. Some of the most frequently observed schemas are enclosure, rotation, trajectory and grid.
Bruner
Bruner suggests that practitioners should consider whether something contains possibilities for future learning in some simple form and emphasises the need to be sure that they are preparing children for later learning and knowledge. He has also increasingly emphasized the role of the adult and the socio-cultural aspects of learning. He asserts that the adult needs to act as ‘scaffolding’ which supports children in moving from where they are now to where adults want to take them (the adults learning intention). This is different from a situation where the adult goes with the child and helps them to learn more about what interests and fascinates them as advocated by Anna Freud.
Vgotsky
He supported the view that children learn by interacting with their environment, but believed that an adult or more able child could take the learning much further than when they are learning in isolation. He called this person the more knowledgeable other (MKO).
He called the difference between what a child could learn on their own and that which they could learn with the help of others the zone of proximal development (ZPD). According to Vygotsly learning occurs in this zone.
Speech/Language and Communication Needs
If a child or young person has problems developing speech, language and/or their communication it follows that they will need to find a way to express themselves and this may be through their behaviour. It is therefore evident that there are strong links between speech, communication and language with behaviour, learning, social skills and self esteem.
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