Students in the Early Childhood Education program at the Chatham campus have moved into an outdoor classroom for a new course that focuses on promoting physical activity and connection to nature.
Brenda Huff, the ECE Program Coordinator at the Chatham Campus, said the unique ECE outdoor lab began as a response to a newly introduced Outdoor Education course taught in the fourth semester of the two-year Early Childhood Education Diploma program.
"I was looking for opportunities for the ECE students to experience outdoor education in an environment that could be used in an early learning setting," Huff said. "In early learning, we want to promote children having physical activity and having a connection to nature. These outdoor labs are an opportunity for students to make that reconnection themselves if they have lost it."
Mark Benoit, Chair of Academic Studies at Chatham Campus, reviewed spaces with input from the ECE program, and it was determined the outdoor space located outside the Mary Uniac building on campus was the optimal space for the ECE program.
Huff said this outdoor lab area has a significant green space with mature trees, some elevated areas, flat areas, and cement areas under the building’s overhang. Since this is the initial phase of this potential long-term project, the outdoor labs are utilizing natural stump seating for the students to learn theory and gain hands-on experience.
"They are learning some of the best practices for outdoor education in early learning and care," Huff said. "They are learning about the Indigenous perspective on the outdoors, forest and nature schools, and how we can connect better to nature."
The outdoor lab space also has fencing around the perimeter which Huff believes creates a developmentally rich area for students to practice the principles they are learning while also making connections to the land using an Indigenous perspective.
"We believe this experiential lab will enhance our student’s knowledge and skills for outdoor education," Huff said. "Our graduates work in a licensed childcare or EarlyON's or full-day kindergarten programs and in any of those roles as registered ECEs, part of their day will be spent outdoors so there is a requirement for them to understand best practices for outdoor education."
Huff is hoping future phases of this outdoor lab could include opportunities for community early learning partners such as the YMCA Indian Creek Childcare program and Winston Churchill Public School in Chatham to utilize this area as a demonstration space for professional learning.
"I hope this becomes an integral part of our program and we can set up this area so it can really become a community resource for early learning," Huff said. "It would be nice to invite some of our community partners to use that space for training opportunities. They provide us with placement opportunities, and it would be nice to reciprocate and give them a space that they can use for their pedagogy as well."
For more information about the Early Childhood Education program at St. Clair College offered in Windsor and Chatham - Early Childhood Education | St. Clair College (stclaircollege.ca)
