OUTDOOR LEARNING AND INITIAL TEACHER TRAINING

That this House notes with regret that fieldwork provision in science in British schools is declining; believes that this is partly due to a lack of confidence and ability amongst teachers to take children out of the classroom; notes the varying level of time committed to out-of-classroom learning across Initial Teacher Training (ITT) provision; welcomes the recent report Initial Teacher Education and the Outdoor Classroom produced jointly by the Field Studies Council and the Association for Science Education and its recommendations, commonly known as the Malham Protocol, which seek to reverse this trend; notes the Protocol's recommendation to set a minimum time commitment and common approach across ITT providers; and agrees with the report's recommendation that the Office for Standards in Education should report on the degree and quality of fieldwork training and development in ITT providers and schools.