Learning outside the classroom (LOtC) allows the teaching and learning to be taken in settings other than the classroom. It is a tool for learning, which widens attainment and achievement. This tool has been found to have an impact on behaviour and involvement by the students. Their behaviour has been shown to improve due to socialising and learning about others values and norms that are in society today, which has impacted upon their emotional and personal development that according to recent research by National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) found in 2005 that it improved confidence, independence, locus of control, self-esteem, self-efficacy and coping strategies, which all have an impact on positive mental health.
The importance of LOtC is that is tackles educational inequality and social mobility, whereby children and young people can experience outside visits, such as going to museums and art galleries and then continuing the work back in the classroom, which enables them to have aspirations, learn new skills that will enable children and young people to become responsible citizens and reach their true potential. An Ofsted (2008) report realised that there are positive benefits of LOtC such as, “learning outside the classroom was most successful when it was an integral element of long-term curriculum planning and closely linked to classroom activities.”
The significance of 21st century education with regards to LOtC is that it covers difficult topics and the King College London (2011), through their research have realised that the benefits of learning in the natural environment is also seen as an advantage for teachers so that they can become more enthusiastic and therefore use different styles of learning such as kinaesthetic and reflective learning, instead of using other learning styles that are used more, such as the seven learning styles.
Drawing on a personal experience, whereby the LOtC approach was used during a class visit to the National Waterfront Museum Swansea. At the beginning of the visit, the class was taken into a separate room, where we were shown a presentation about the history of the museum itself and their other museums, such as St Fagan's National Museum of History, the Big Pit National Coal Museum, National Wool Museum and so on. After the presentation finished, the woman who gave the presentation then went onto showing the class a few original historical objects, that everyone then chose one each and had to attempt to guess what the object was and what it would have been used for. The object that I chose turned out to be a top hat box. I was able to use kinaesthetic learning to choose my own historical object and examine it myself, which made me have more of an interest in the learning that took place in the museum.
Another experience I had for LOtC is during another visit to Plantasia Swansea. During this visit, I had the ability to walk around freely to different exhibits. Each exhibit replicated the temperatures and climate of different parts of the world that host different animals, insects, bugs and even plants, an example is that in one area there are Meerkats, whereas in another area, there are Arachnids. This visit had an all rounded approach to LOtC; therefore, the learner's experience has them using all their senses to fully take in the what is happening around them.