Course overview

Outdoor activities are fundamental for the physical and psychological development of a child. They not only help them be more in tune with their surroundings and gain an appreciation and respect for the natural world, but also play an important part in bringing what they learn inside the classroom into real life through application and observation, highly contributing to their personal and social development.
Outside the classroom there is much more than just nature to explore, and many activities and games can be implemented together with the little ones, in a non-formal way.
Participating in this training course, preschool teachers will be provided with the basic skills and tools to lead a range of group games, challenges and experiential activities outside the classroom.


​Learning outcomes

This course aims to provide participants with tools, ideas and best practices on how to design, plan and deliver experiential learning activities in outdoor settings while promoting children’ personal, social and relational development and environmental awareness.
The general aim of this course is to foster excellence and innovation in education by equipping preschool teachers and education staff with the basic knowledge and skills to plan and integrate outdoor and      environmental education activities in their education programs.
Thanks to this course the participants will:
  • Get acquainted with the key elements and growing trends related to outdoor education and teaching outside the classroom;
  • Learn and discuss the principles and values of outdoor education;
  • Learn how to design, plan and deliver inspirational outdoor education activities for preschoolers;
  • Get to know and experiment practical activities and group games that could be used with preschoolers;
  • Gain inspiration on how to introduce sustainability themes to children and develop environmental-friendly attitudes;
  • Learn the value and applicability of outdoor education to personal, social and relational development and environmental skills;
  • Exchange best practices and share experiences about outdoor education with preschool teachers and education staff coming throughout Europe

Courses planned

2023
26/03/2023 - 01/04/2023 (Bologna)
​16/04/2023 - 22/04/2023 (Palermo)
04/06/2023 - 10/06/2023 (Tenerife)
24/09/2023 - 30/09/2023 (Palermo)
08/10/2023 - 14/10/2023 (Bologna)
26/11/2023 - 02/12/2023  (Tenerife)

2024
14/04/2024 - 20/04/2024 (Bologna)
14/04/2024 - 20/04/2024 (Palermo)
14/04/2024 - 20/04/2024 (Tenerife)
15/09/2024 - 21/09/2024 (Palermo)
29/09/2024 - 05/10/2024 (Bologna)
10/11/2024 - 16/11/2024 (Tenerife)

​If none of these dates suits you please mind that if there are at least 8 participants interested we may organize an additional session ad-hoc for your school.

Target audience

This course is open to: teachers, directors, managers, educators and other staff of preschool and childhood institutions with pupils aged 0 - 6 years old.

Language

The course is held in English. For groups with at least 8 participants, we can organize an ad-hoc session in a different language. 
Please write an email to info@erasmuslearningacademy.eu to get more information about it.

Past participants say...

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"It has been a great week, we've developed our communicative skills, got in contact with colleagues all over Europe and had the opportunity to share common projects. A panoramic view of the most representative approaches in preschool education." 

- ​María Desamparados Tamarit Valero, Spain

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Company

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"The course was really good organized, the organizers have thought about everything. The excursions to the educational centers were matching with the course topics. The educators of the schools answered all our questions. It was a very nice experience!"
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- Madara Osite, Latvia

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"Great organization. Wonderful friendship and sharing experiences. We are certainly returning home richer for a new experience."
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- Ingrid Baxa, Croatia

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Standard daily programme

Please find below the standard indicative daily programme that will be personalized on participants needs and professional profiles. Our standard programme comprises 7 days, of which the first one is dedicated to networking, preparation and cultural immersion and the last one to follow up, specific needs and cultural activities. Please note that we always do our best to accommodate the specific needs of our participants in a flexible way, including but not limited to budget restrictions and travel arrangements. Participants can choose to arrive 1 day before the start of the course and/or leave one day after the end of it in order to enjoy a deeper cultural immersion. Upon specific request we may organize longer versions of this course. 
Sunday
-  Participants arrival
 - Orientation and information about the venue and the city 
 - Networking activities
 - Walking tour in the venue’s city
Monday
-  Course introduction
-  Teambuilding activities
-  Needs and expectations evaluation
-  Brainstorming and definition of outdoor education
-  Key principles and benefits about outdoor education and outdoor learning
-  Sharing experiences, teaching practices and reflection on preschool education in different countries
Tuesday
-  Out in the nature: experience at a local park
-  Experimenting journey wilderness-based experiences, team building activities and orienteering exercises in the nature
-  The value of outdoor education for personal, social and relational development
-  Cultural activities in the venue’s city
Wednesday
-  How to design, plan and deliver outdoor education activities for children
-  Site & risk assessment and health & safety issues of taking children into nature
-  Practical work: outdoor space planning
-  Optional cultural visit outside the venue’s city (Florence, Cefalù, El Teide…)
Thursday
-  Talking about sustainability and climate change with children
-  Promoting self-awareness and responsiveness towards the environment to the little ones
-  Practical activities, simulations and games to promote a green mindset from a young age
Friday
-  Basic concepts and principles about non-formal education
-  Practicing, designing and delivering non-formal activities and tools
-  How to foster children’ motivation and creativity through non-formal, informal and experiential learning activities
-  Debriefing, feedback and best practice sharing about environmental education
-  Farewell dinner
Saturday
- Space for discussion of future cooperation and planning follow up activities
- Course roundup and final evaluation
- Validation of learning outcomes and certification ceremony
- Additional training session tailored to specific needs (optional)
- Optional cultural activities in another major city (not included)
- Participants departure
    Pre-registration
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Other relevant facts

  • Methodology
  • Costs and Erasmus+ Funding
  • Certification and Validation of learning outcomes
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We tailor the working methods based upon participants’ needs, attitudes and professional profiles in order to ensure high productivity, effectiveness and transferability into practice.
The standard methodology is highly practical and participative with hands-on approach that comprises real-job examples, case studies examination and simulations. We embrace collaboratively working methods that foster mutual learning and cooperation among participants. Our focus is on learning in an interactive and international environment knowledge applicable to the real contexts and/or in the classroom. The pedagogical methods that we use are based upon experiential training, group and peer activities, learning-by-doing and best practices’ exchange. They include visits with local schools and institutions allowing the participants to better understand the local education system as well as exchange ideas and contacts.
Morning Wrap-up and brief daily evaluations are foreseen to ensure quality of education and to adapt the learning programme to participants' needs better tailoring the education.
We organize optional social, networking and cultural activities in order to give participants the opportunity to know Italy as well as to exchange best-practice and establish professional cooperation and links.
The training and staff team is multinational thus giving a full European dimension to the course.
​Teachers, trainers, headmasters and any other staff of education organizations are eligible to receive an Erasmus+ grant covering all the costs to attend our training courses including travel, board and lodging, cultural activities and all fees. Our training courses are tailored to be fully funded by Erasmus+ and we offer different options to ensure the best comfort and quality at a price that is within the Erasmus+ grant.
We are proud to tailor our training courses to both participants' learning and practical needs and to ease your participation at our training courses, we will gladly take care of all the practical arrangements. If you prefer, you can take care of some of the practical arrangements by yourself (e.g. meals, local transport...), though we will manage the organization of your accommodation in order to ensure optimal logistic organization, safety and time-efficiency. We always provide board and lodging in the same hotel in which we organize the course  thus ensuring optimal comfort and potential of networking with the fellow participants. Read more about  how we take care of your subsistence and practical arrangements. 
The most common option that we offer to schools and organisations in 2023 costs 1280 EUR in Bologna, 1220 EUR in Tenerife and 1130 EUR in Palermo and includes course fee, certification and support fee, accommodation in single room, 2 coffee breaks per day, walking tour in the venue’s city, a sum-up dissemination video. This standard option in Bologna and Tenerife includes all meals from Sunday lunch to Saturday lunch, while in Palermo includes ​all breakfasts and three networking meals in local restaurants. For schools sending 2 or more participants we can offer accommodation in double rooms and we can provide as well accommodation for people or relatives accompanying the participants.
When attending our courses, we recommend you to request 9 days of individual support for your subsistence costs, 7 days for the course plus 2 additional days for the travel. In this way you can have more flexibility in planning your stay and you can enjoy all the cultural activities planned from the first to the last day of course. You can read here more about the Erasmus+ funding. Shall you have need any help with filling the budget during the application stage or have any problem with your grant please let us know and we will see how to support you.
At the end of the course, each participant will be awarded a certificate of attendance, together - if requested - with the Europass Mobility Certificate. The certificate are in line with the Erasmus Quality Standards and include a short description of the course and its learning outcomes, dates, venues, the name of the course provider and the course instructor(s).
We support the participants in every step of certification and validation of learning outcomes with specific focus on European instruments and Erasmus plus requirements such as staff mobility/learning agreement, quality commitment and Europass mobility certificate.
We experienced that schools and education organizations may require additional documents to certify the competences learned or the presence in the training course. Upon request we can provide additional certification and reporting documents as well as we provide photos of the training course and a sum-up video that can be used for visibility and dissemination purposes.

Videos and photos of previous training courses

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