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School Outdoors: The Pursuit of Happiness as an Educational Goal
Author(s) -
SOBEL DAVID
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of philosophy of education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.501
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1467-9752
pISSN - 0309-8249
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9752.12458
Subject(s) - happiness , class (philosophy) , psychology , pedagogy , mathematics education , sobel operator , authentic learning , sociology , social psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence , edge detection , image (mathematics) , image processing
Well known for his pioneering work on place‐based education, Sobel discusses the benefits of engaging adolescents in meaningful learning experiences through outdoor education. His case study focuses on a ‘Forest Fridays’ nature‐based education program developed by Eliza Minnucci, an elementary teacher in Vermont, USA. Sobel's wife, Jennifer Kramer, adapted this pedagogy for her ‘challenging’ sixth‐grade class, also in Vermont, and reports on her success in improving their writing skills and performance on math tests. The key here was to make the learning practical, through real‐life applications in places more stimulating than ordinary classrooms. Drawing inspiration from youth testimony and anecdotal evidence from parents, Sobel argues that outdoor education of this kind addresses a fundamental goal of education in promoting happiness: a sense of well‐being that really ought to matter more than instrumental aims of education like improved math tests or preparation for higher education and careers.