The Outdoor Classroom A closer look at EL Education
Second grade teachers Ida Beal and Kelsey Marco have no problem getting their hands dirty—today it’s in the butterfly garden where Beal explains her students’ spring expedition on pollinators and pollination. “They’re answering the question ‘How do we help support pollinators and plant interaction at West Bath School?’ and the kids had the idea to build a butterfly garden,” said Beal. The unit is part of the school’s EL Education model, formerly known as Expeditionary Learning. West Bath School is one of only seven schools in Maine and 160 nationwide that follows this type of teaching and learning style. In EL Education, students look at real-world problems and create projects to solve them. The vision behind EL Education focuses on student excellence in three core areas: mastery of knowledge and skills, character and high-quality student work. “I think the idea of change, for a lot of people, is hard. When you let your students drive instruction, that's new teaching and new planning, every time—but it's worth it,” said Beal. The curriculum Beal uses in the discover-by-doing model is all based on Maine state standards and focuses on giving students the opportunity to conduct field work, be active, challenge themselves and work collaboratively with each other and the community. 22
Maine Educator • September 2016
“Our learning is all based on being authentic. You’re asking kids to read things at a higher level and asking them to solve a problem in our community. That’s their ‘buy in,’ they’re more invested and they drive my instruction because they have their own ideas,” said Beal. The expeditions include students demonstrating their proficiency and deeper understanding in a chosen area of study, their ability to become effective learners with critical thinking skills they can use later in life,
