Training course in environmental education

Recently, I had the opportunity to experience a Comenius in-service training course entitled "Outdoor and Environmental Education", held in Straz, in the south of the Czech Republic. All the necessary arrangements required for this Comenius 2.2 course were set up through the local Socrates office.

The course was held between September 20-27 and over 30 teachers from Sweden, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy and Malta attended. The aim was to broaden our knowledge of outdoor environmental education and to share experiences with each other in a European perspective.

The organiser of the course was Margrit Hensler from Sweden. The course was conducted by Jan Neuman and Dusan Bartunek, both lecturers in outdoor education at Charles University in Prague.

Britta Brugge, a lecturer, and Anders Szczepanski, assistant professor and director at the centre for Outdoor Environmental Education, both from Linkoping University, Sweden, gave us very interesting lectures about the subject.

Different teaching methods and techniques which inspire the daily school were demonstrated, together with how to use outdoor education as a synthesis to indoor learning. The in-service course included a mixture of practical modules, workshops and lectures. We also had the opportunity to visit a Czech school in Jindrichuv Hradec. As teachers from the participating countries we gave an overview of the educational system and the importance given to outdoor education within our respective countries.

Most of the participants exhibited material and students' work related to outdoor education. I presented charts with photos and samples of students' work regarding different educational visits I had organised at my school, Maria Assumpta Girls' Secondary. Some of the photographs showed the students at historical sites such as Mdina, Valletta and Gozo.

Although the course in Straz came to an end, the collaboration and the team spirit between the participants is continuing. Some of us are planning to take part in other Comenius projects together. I want to thank the local Socrates office and the Department of Education for their support in this in-service training abroad.