Freinet school 'De Vlindertuin' - Lille
Pupils who calculate the surface area of the bike parking place or who determine insects in our own pond. In Freinet school ‘De Vlindertuin’, the world is the classroom. ‘We work based on experiences, with the countless learning opportunities outside the four walls of a classroom’, says principal Pieter Cnaepkens. ‘In our school every classroom has a door that leads outside.’
‘Suddenly, it’s clear why you learn geometry, mental arithmetic or another language’, Pieter explains. ‘In the classroom, this often stays very abstract’. De principal is inspired by outdoor teaching, teaching outside, ‘but always with a pedagogical added value’, he adds. A nice example is the little market with homegrown vegetables that the pupils organize themselves. ‘The pupils can reinvest their earnings that way, for example in sowing seed for next year’, says Pieter. ‘You can imagine: the process of determining the price, managing the cash register ... no schoolbook exercise can compete with that.’
Jobs that don't exist yet
Where learning all there is to know about nature is concerned, outdoor teaching is the next logical step. Still, there are countless other learning opportunities outside the school. ‘We go and visit local businesses to learn about the economy’, says Pieter, ‘or we calculate our speed in meters per second from the results of the school cross-country run.’
On the playground, there is a climbing tree and by the side of it, there is a piece of woodland, full of sticks and pallets that can be used to build camps. ‘Where others see danger, we see opportunities: while playing, the kids learn how to assess risks.’ As an added bonus, there are of course the motor skills and the technical insight they develop while building camps.
The purpose of the school is pedagogical enrichment, and it also spreads a vision of learning together and living together. It’s about competences like social skills, creativity, teamwork and self-regulatory work. ‘We have to prepare some of our kids for jobs that don’t even exist yet’, says Pieter. ‘But that outside world where you achieve success will still be there, if we can assume it will still be in good condition’, he explains with careful consideration regarding climate change. ‘And the best way to learn that, is in real life, outside the classroom.’
Rainwater donations and a kids parliament
‘The word together gets an entirely different dimension here’, says Pieter. Parents, teachers and pupils share responsibility and make the school together. ‘There is a dad of one of our pupils for example, who drives his rainwater reservoir to school during dry summers, to add it to ours. But there are countless parents like that who help and we are incredibly grateful to them.’
Since the outdoor classes started to take shape more, there was a shift in the (intellectual) ownership of the outside domain. ‘First it was mainly the parents who drew the domain with us’, says the principal. ‘Now, the teachers themselves indicate where they need outdoor classes - of course the parents’ dedication is still important here.’
The school extends that participation to the pupils. Every 14 days, there is a class kids council. ‘They are specifically about the class operation’, says Pieter. ‘All questions, ideas or even just compliments are shared with the group’. Every month, there is also the kids parliament with representatives from every class. ‘There, propositions are made about the school operation, like the proposition to organize a poll to map out the amount of waste per class’, Pieter explains. ‘They are then also supposed to execute those things themselves. Sometimes the process takes a little longer that way, but it’s also a learning opportunity around decision-making and organization.’
Many watering cans make light work
‘As the teacher with the greenest thumb, Mr. Jo dedicates himself to motivate all pupils about everything nature and outdoor classes’. That driving force is also necessary according to Pieter. ‘It’s remarkable how pupils are motivated by his story of the vegetable garden’, he adds. ‘You can see a growing enthusiasm and consciousness around nature.’
‘The coaching and follow-ups by our MOS coach have been incredibly useful the last 15 years’, he says. During the summer vacation, the property is open to youth movements and playground activities. Volunteers from the neighborhood help with the maintenance of the vegetable garden. ‘Tomatoes are ripe during the summer, that’s just the way it is’, Pieter laughs. Recently, the organization ‘Regionaal Landschap Kleine en Grote Nete’ has also started offering help to the school. ‘Depending on the project, we get experts on board, who help us with increasing biodiversity on our playground, for example.’
The teacher as a coach
When pupils can’t properly concentrate in an ‘indoor class’, from a certain age, they can ask to get some air outside or to go for a short walk. ‘They do this in a very disciplined way and after a minute outside they often feel reborn.’
‘The teacher leads where necessary and guides where possible. That is our conviction’, concludes Pieter. ‘Kids learn best based on real experiences, in the real world’. And that’s possible outside the classroom. ‘So, as a teacher, you challenge the kids to take learning into their own hands’, concludes the principal.
So are there no disadvantages to teaching outside? ‘Oh no, there are, my own son had his first school day here on September 1st’, he grins, ‘and he came home with sand in places I didn’t know you could have sand.’
A report by Always Hungry (2020)
The school's information
Freinetschool De Vlindertuin
Berg 10
2275 Lille
