Stewards: Taking the Classroom Outdoors with Christina Bagatavicius
PHOTO: Christopher Green (Toronto Star)
With the reinforcement of a province wide lockdown, concerns about the reopening of schools is once again top of mind for students, teachers and parents alike. Although much has changed since early September, the lasting implications of the pandemic have changed what it means to have access to a safe and supportive learning environment. For many, this has presented an opportunity to think critically about the intersection of health, safety and education, and has encouraged parents and teachers to work collaboratively to pursue alternative approaches to learning. One such approach, takes the classroom outside and uses public space and the natural environment as a space for learning. In this week’s Stewards piece we connected with Christina Bagatavicius, Principal of Bespoke Collective to learn more about Toronto’s growing outdoor education movement, #SaferOutsideTO.
About Christina
During her day job, Christina is the Co-Founder and Principal of Bespoke Collective, a consultancy that works across cultural programming, public engagement and communications with public sector and culture clients who are looking to make a lasting and positive change. Christina is also a mother of two young children, Teddy and Oscar, and is an active community volunteer. Working alongside other parents and teachers over the summer months, she supported the push for more outdoor learning opportunities within public education.
Christina’s Thoughts on Safety
In order to reimagine the institutions and systems that have been deeply shaken by the impact of the pandemic, it is important to proactively think about what can be done now to support more equitable system-wide changes. For Christina, the COVID-19 lockdown only emphasised why this is especially true within the context of public education. The social networks and emotional support systems developed within school communities for example, are essential to supporting a child’s sense of belonging and growth. In addition to this, she expressed that the stress of the lockdowns reinforced the importance and value of having access to open outdoor space to improve overall mental health. Supporting emotional wellbeing, belonging and positivity are all key elements for establishing a sense of safety, and remaking students physical learning environment can directly support this.
“Even before COVID-19, the typical classroom was not designed to optimize health or comfort. In most cases, we have outdated spaces that were designed to meet bare minimum standards. Based on what epidemiologists now know about COVID-19, taking things outside is a highly effective strategy for keeping our community safe. ”
Toronto was in fact one of the first cities in North America to introduce open-air schools in response to the tuberculosis public health crisis more than 100 years ago. For Christina, advancing the idea of outdoor education today, requires collaboration among parents, teachers and administration to navigate through complex logistical and institutional barriers. In pursuit of this, advocates including Christina, created the SaferOutsideTO Facebook group in the beginning of the school year to serve as an active space for members to share outdoor education resources, troubleshoot barriers, and support cross-school advocacy. Many of the key learnings shared on this platform have also been demonstrated. For example, The Grove Community School where Christina’s children attend, successfully enabled teacher-led outdoor learning from September to December 2020. With the support of administration, teachers and parents, students spent class time outside at varying levels.
In addition to this, groups of parents have also put pressure on the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) to initiate a Pilot Outdoor Learning Program. As a result of the strategic organizing work, a motion was passed on December 9 2020 by TDSB Trustees that directs staff to explore how to encourage and support outdoor spaces for learning at elementary and secondary schools. Christina hopes this will strengthen the case of outdoor learning for more schools in Spring of 2021. However, she also highlights that equity remains a major concern in outdoor education. Although the movement continues to grow, the implementation of these ideas relies on developing resilient community support networks.
“We need to think about how we can rally together to make outdoor learning more accessible for as many schools as possible, especially those that are under resourced and with less volunteer capacity.”
You can learn more and follow Toronto’s outdoor education movement on Facebook at SaferOutsideTO.
