Outdoor Education and the LAI project: A conceptual framework for an educational experience

Abstract

For several years, pedagogical research is reflecting on innovative epistemological and methodological questions, and experimented with new forms and opportunities to enhance the quality of educational experiences with special attention to the role played by the environment. The current contribution seeks to provide a conceptual framework so as to justify the pedagogical premises supporting the holistic LAI (Laboratorio Ambientale Interattivo) project – IEL (Interactive Environmental Laboratory). Developed out of a web of initiatives contingent upon the educational needs of learners, LAI/IEL promotes observable learning activities that can be designed in combination with the training of kinesthetic and relaxation (body awareness) skills in a vertical arboreal space built in the playground of schools with or without a natural environment. The article focuses on two significant conceptual dimensions: Embodied Cognition and Outdoor Education. An articulated and contextualized description of the LAI is approached as a holistic educational commitment within the programmatic framework of a sustainable didactics.

Keywords

• ecological perspective
• embodied education
• outdoor education
• learning activities
• educational sustainability