Review: Schoolyard-Enhanced Learning
March 2008
What happens when test-stressed teachers and video-game addicted children take a trip down to the schoolyard?
Reviewing Herbert Broda's recent book, Schoolyard-Enhanced Learning, Emmet Rosenfeld, a 15-year veteran English teacher and blogger on the Teacher Magazine website, says that what happens is a "meaningful natural encounter within the framework of school."
Rosenfeld says that it is increasingly rare these days to see schoolyards with kids "clustered around a butterfly bush identifying local species." Today's schoolyards are more like "a forlorn soccer field near a brick building that displays a banner proclaiming, 'This school is fully accredited.'"
He praises Schoolyard-Enhanced Learning for its real-life advice on getting administrators on board for trips outside of the classroom, for providing the "nuts and bolts" of actually leaving the classroom, and for providing clear linkages between outdoor activities and curriculum standards.
The full review appears on the Teacher Magazine website.
Read more about Herbert W. Broda.
