BLH3340 Play, movement, nature and outdoor education – Nordic Childhoods Emneplan

The Nordic countries have a long tradition of outdoor education. This course focuses on play and movement, and experimental work related to a variety of environments in educational contexts. The course will have a theoretical and practical approach to the topics. The students’ own experiences from acting, moving and living in nature are a key element in the course. Field trips and hiking tours are embedded in the course.

The course content is based on the two disciplines natural science and physical education. With kindergartens and schools as the target area, the course seeks to provide insight into and competency in outdoor education, play and movement and how to organise didactic courses and activities for children. Furthermore, the students will compare the knowledge they acquire with the pedagogical traditions in their own country. The pedagogical project has a problem-based focus on play, movement, nature and/or outdoor education.

Joint events with the other Nordic Childhoods courses are integrated as overnight trips and outdoor excursions. The courses focus on play, learning by doing, experience and workshops and also visits to schools, kindergartens and other institutions.

After completion of the course, the students will have acquired the following learning outcomes, defined as knowledge, skills and general competence.

Knowledge

• has in-depth knowledge of how policies impact the reform of educational systems and how they support or impede improvements in curriculum, teaching, and student achievement.
• has in-depth knowledge about analysing the social dimensions of science and digital technologies in the educational field in both curriculum, teaching, and student achievement.

Skills

• Is able to analyse the political, social, economic and legal dynamics that affect policy development and implementation in the educational field.
• Is able to analyse and critically evaluate the development and implementation of digital technologies in education.
• Is able to analyse and critically evaluate the scientific and political bases for the introduction of digital technologies in education.
• Can integrate STS methodologies into own research projects.

General competence

• Can identify how public policy decision-making related to digital technologies in education at local, state, and national levels have an impact on education institutions, students, and the public.
• Can develop nuanced readings and critiques of current STS literature
• Can integrate STS methodologies and perspectives into the candidate’s own research projects.

After completing the course, the student should have the following learning outcomes, defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student has developed knowledge of

• outdoor activities and environmental ethics in different aspects of pedagogical work

• physical literacy

• motor development and learning

• different approaches to outdoor didactics

• sustainable development

• foodliteracy

• in-depthstudy of the topics presented

Skills

The student has developed

• basic skills in outdoor life (friluftsliv)

• practical skills in (working with different approaches to) outdoor didactics

• skills in working with play and bodily movement in different environments

General competence

The student has developed

• an awareness of and reflections on education and child welfare - values and practices in

in a Nordic and comparative perspective

• competencies to analyse and communicate gender-related professional issues related

to outdoor education

• knowledge about cultural and comparative pedagogical approaches in different

educational programmes

• knowledge about writing an academic paper

Different teaching methods will be used, such as lectures, dialogue in the classroom, activities, and

hands -on training, reflective practice, self-directed work in groups, individual work, text

reading, field study, paper writing and presentations. English is the language of instruction in

lectures.

The following coursework requirements must be met before the student can sit the exam:

• Carry out a one-day hike or overnight stay in the forest and an oral presentation of experiences from the hike.
• Group work (four to six participants): A written paper based on a subject addressed in the course in agreement with the teacher (1,500- 1,900 words).
• Make a poster in groups (four to six participants) on a selected topic in agreement with the teacher. The poster will be presented at a presentation day with the class. Each group has to give a presentation of the poster to the class (approx. 10 minutes).

Coursework requirements must be met by the deadlines. Coursework requirements are evaluated as pass/fail. Valid absence documented by a medical certificate or similar is not an excuse for not meeting the coursework requirements. Students who, due to illness or other valid and documented reasons, do not meet the coursework requirements by the deadlines, may be given longer deadlines. A new deadline for meeting the coursework requirements is agreed with the relevant teacher in each case.

Coursework requirements are evaluated with a pass/fail. Students who meet the coursework requirements by the deadline, but are awarded a fail grade, shall be given another attempt to meet the coursework requirements. A new deadline for meeting the coursework requirements is agreed with the relevant teacher in each case.

The final assessment is based on two parts.

1. Individual oral exam (approx. 30 minutes). Each student has to prepare an individual presentation from one of the listed topics (maximum 12 minutes). The exam is evaluated by two internal examiners.
2. The second part consists of an individual paper on a chosen subject addressed in the course in agreement with the teacher (2,500- 3,000 words).

The individual paper should

• have an individually chosen topic from the subject areas presented in the course
• be a more in-depth study of this individually chosen subject
• focus on the target group relevant to the student’s own educational system.

The paper can

• be a purely theoretical study/analysis
• include practical studies
• test out educational ideas linked to the subject

The topic must be approved by the student’s supervisor.

Resit/rescheduled exams

Resit/rescheduled exams shall take place within reasonable time after the ordinary exam. The regulations on sitting a resit/rescheduled exam are set out in the ‘Regulations relating to studies and examinations at Oslo Metropolitan University’. The student is responsible for registering for a resit/rescheduled exam.

Part two: All examination suppert materials are permitted. However, Sources musts be stated in accordance with

applicable rules for source References.

Part 1 The grade scale will be in accordance with the ECTS grading scale, with A - E as pass grades and F as a fail grade.

Part 2 The grade scale will be pass/fail.

This PhD course focuses on the political dimension of education and digital technologies at macro level (global, national, regional) as well as the consequences for the implementation of digital technologies in the field of practice at the micro level. Theoretically the course is grounded in the field Science Technology Studies (STS). STS represents a humanistic and social science perspective where the unit of analysis is how social and cultural aspects shape the use of technologies in concrete local and social practices. An anti-essentialist understanding of technology stresses the importance of understanding concrete uses of digital technologies within broader cultural, social, political and economic discourses and negotiations in the knowledge age. This perspective represents an important contribution in understanding how scientific research and innovation of digital technologies affects today's education.

Approved by LUI's educational committee 21.03.2022