“Childhood is beautiful, youth is vibrant—let children get to know every piece of land they inhabit, as well as the people, things, and stories within it.” The Ministry of Education today released the “Outdoor Education Declaration 2.0,” which has established an “Outdoor Education Resource Platform” and allocates approximately NT$50 million annually to support students stepping out of the classroom and utilizing the rich learning resources available outdoors.
Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung stated that traditional outdoor education involved school outings or trips, but in 2014, the Ministry issued the “Outdoor Education Declaration,” recognizing outdoor education as a vital learning activity that encourages students to explore beyond the classroom and develop resilience.
The 108 Curriculum Guidelines have been implemented since August 1, with outdoor education included as part of the framework. Pan Wen-chung said that outdoor education not only implements the 108 Curriculum Guidelines but is also inseparable from environmental sustainability. He hopes schools will expand their learning environments, allowing students to deepen their understanding of various academic subjects in real-world contexts, while also enhancing their problem-solving and planning adaptability skills, fostering well-rounded development.
The Ministry of Education has established the “Outdoor Education Resource Platform,” which collects and recommends a variety of high-quality venues and courses to make it easier for parents, teachers, and students to engage in outdoor learning. Currently, the platform includes 368 outdoor education venue resources and has selected 113 high-quality routes to guide the enhancement of outdoor education curricula.
The Ministry of Education today released the “Outdoor Education Declaration 2.0,” stating that curiosity is a child’s nature and exploration is a human instinct; outdoor education provides experiential learning in real-life settings, awakening the desire and joy of learning. The 108 Curriculum Guidelines align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, integrating outdoor education that combines historical culture, academic knowledge, and natural ecology, bringing learning into the real world—this is the ultimate goal of outdoor education aligned with the new curriculum.
In promoting outdoor education, Hushan Elementary School in Yilan County and Guangwu Junior High School in Hsinchu City use ecological exploration courses and mountain field activities to reflect on the close relationship between humans and nature; Micang Elementary School in New Taipei City, Guangfu Experimental Elementary School in Tainan, and Glory Elementary School in Kaohsiung take estuaries, lagoons, and marine ecosystems as starting points to guide students in understanding local ecology and learning problem-solving.
Peng Fu-yuan, Director-General of the Ministry of Education’s Department of Elementary Education, said that in the future, more support and funding will be provided to encourage schools to plan more diverse and educationally meaningful outdoor courses. In addition to implementing the core values of the 12-Year Basic Education—“initiative, interaction, and mutual growth”—this also responds to global sustainable development trends, equipping children with abilities in abstract thinking, adaptability, and problem-solving.
(China Times)