UMaine helps local teachers create outdoor learning opportunities

It was a sun-soaked, blue-sky day in late August, and a group of eight University of Maine students paddled on western Maine’s Bryant Pond in green Old Town canoes.

They were practicing a classic T-rescue, a maneuver that offers a quick way to get a capsized paddler back into a boat. Working in teams, the students from one canoe dunked themselves into the pond. The students from another canoe then grabbed the overturned boat by the bow and lifted it across their vessel to drain before sliding it back into the water upright and helping their classmates clamber back inside.

This exercise was part of “Bringing the Classroom Outdoors,” a summer course offered as part of a UMaine Outdoor Leadership and Education Graduate Certificate. Launched in 2023, the certificate equips students with knowledge and skills to lead trips and outdoor education activities for participants of all ages. Most of the students who took the class this year were practicing teachers in Maine seeking to incorporate more outdoor learning experiences into their schools.

“When you consider the different opportunities and projects, there are so many ways to integrate outdoor learning into the curriculum,” said Sarah Timm, an adjunct instructor at UMaine who taught the course. “Whether you’re talking about physical education, math and science, reading and writing, getting kids outside and moving around is an incredible learning opportunity.”

“Bringing the Classroom Outdoors,” one of many courses offered through the Outdoor Leadership and Education certificate program, included two weeks of asynchronous, online reading and reflection leading up to a week of in-person classes at UMaine Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Camp and Learning Center at Bryant Pond. The students visited schools in the Oxford Hills School District to see how outdoor spaces are used. They also developed their own outdoor lesson plans and practiced teaching them to their classmates, receiving valuable feedback in the process.

The 15-credit certificate includes other courses that are accessible for professional educators. Some courses are entirely online, others are mostly online with intensive in-person components during summers or on weekends, allowing instructors like Timm to lead field experiences that are critical in outdoor education.

Timm is a K-12 educator herself. She was a fifth grade teacher in the Oxford Hills School District for almost 20 years before transitioning five years ago to a new role as an outdoor learning coach, helping other teachers in the district develop outdoor lessons, activities and programming. The position was created with support from a Maine Department of Education grant and is now funded by the district.

“I’m grateful for the chance to teach this course and to do this work in my community,” Timm said. “The outdoors is such an incredible natural resource in Maine, and it was great to share ideas and be inspired by the incredible educators who took part in the class this year.”

Susan Donohoe, who teaches reading at Amanda C. Rowe Elementary School in Portland, took “Bringing the Classroom Outdoors” after finding out about it from a list of professional development opportunities shared by Portland Public Schools. Although she’s not planning to take students on canoeing or back country adventures, Donohoe says the course offered plenty of inspiration for little ways to promote outdoor learning.

“One of the ideas I’m hoping to bring back to my school is a word garden, where you have rocks with sight words on them, so students can develop those literacy skills. I’m also lucky that my school borders some conservation land with a trail system, so we can do activities like poetry walks and story walks,” said Donohoe, who’s also thinking about establishing an after-school outdoor club. 

Before moving to Portland, Donohoe taught in Oregon and Colorado. She says Maine rivals those states in opportunities for outdoor learning.

“We’re really fortunate that there are a lot of educators in the state who are interested in the outdoors, and who are willing to collaborate and share ideas with each other in a course like this one,” she said.

Public and private organizations, including UMaine, have been working to boost outdoor education in the state for years. That includes the Maine Outdoor School for All initiative administered by University of Maine Cooperative Extension, which aims to offer immersive overnight outdoor educational experiences for all public school students statewide.

UMaine senior lecturer of outdoor leadership Lauren Jacobs coordinates the graduate certificate in outdoor leadership and education, as well as a concentration and minor in outdoor leadership that are part of the undergraduate kinesiology and physical education program in the UMaine College of Education and Human Development.

In 2020, the Maine Legislature established the Educational Trip Leader Permit, which allows teachers and other educators to lead trips that would otherwise require a registered Maine Guide, including back country, overnight and paddling outings. Jacobs served on a legislative task force that helped come up with the criteria and application procedures for the program before overseeing implementation as the advisory committee’s first-ever chair. The students in “Bringing the Classroom Outdoors” received two days of intensive training with Jacobs that met the Educational Trip Leader requirements, including the T-rescue and other paddling safety instruction.   

“The outdoors is an integral part of Maine’s past, present and future, and a growing part of our economy, particularly in rural communities,” Jacobs said. “Part of our goal with the graduate certificate and courses like ‘Bringing the Classroom Outdoors’ is to train teachers to safely and ethically inspire the next generation of skilled outdoor stewards and leaders in the state.”

Contact: Casey Kelly, casey.kelly@maine.edu