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Bilateral negotiations are underway to move the historic federal commitment to a Canada-wide early learning and child-care system<\/a>\u00a0from vision to reality. Expanding access for all young children in Canada will require creating and licensing more physical spaces where children learn and are cared for. But what kinds of spaces will these be?<\/p>\n In the face of the growing body of research that reveals how outdoor early learning has significant\u00a0developmental benefits for children<\/a>, early childhood educators across the country are reimagining early learning and care in the outdoors.<\/p>\n Governments need to take note of\u00a0this burgeoning grassroots movement<\/a>\u00a0because there are implications for capital infrastructure, regulations and early childhood educator training.<\/p>\n In the outdoors children can\u00a0move freely, follow their interests, take risks and test their limits<\/a>. This translates into children who are happier, more active, curious, confident and collaborative. High-quality outdoor environments create\u00a0optimal conditions for learning<\/a>.<\/p>\n My doctoral research is about the philosophy, practice and policy of outdoor early learning in Ontario. I have become convinced that high-quality outdoor learning should be a significant part of every early learning and child-care program.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what governments should be contemplating as we begin to build a Canada-wide system that embraces and enables outdoor learning.<\/p>\n When we think of capital infrastructure costs for early learning and care, we tend to think about buildings, but we need to think carefully about outdoor spaces and reframe them as outdoor learning environments. Regulations across\u00a0the country currently do not require more than seven sq. m per child of outdoor space<\/a>. That is just\u00a0half the size of a parking space!<\/a><\/p>\n Fortunately\u00a0evidence-based design guidelines<\/a>\u00a0already exist for planning high-quality outdoor learning environments. Criteria for early learning and care infrastructure funds to create new spaces should require high-quality outdoor learning environments as part of any new construction or renovation.<\/p>\n Of course, access to outdoor space is a challenge in many urban centres. However, accommodations can be made.<\/p>\n First, early childhood education programs can be delivered through schools, which tend to have outdoor space. This would maximize existing assets and benefit all children in a school. The Nova Scotia government has done so with its\u00a0pre-primary program for four-year-olds<\/a>. The government recently announced\u00a0a new fund for outdoor learning environments<\/a>\u00a0in partnership with the federal government.<\/p>\n Second, partnerships with municipalities and parks agencies can support access to local green spaces. Partnerships can help ensure access to infrastructure such as bathrooms and running water.<\/p>\n Investing in high-quality natural play spaces\u00a0in school yards<\/a>\u00a0and local parks would also leverage benefits for everyone in the local community. This is especially important given that\u00a0access to green space is not equitable in Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n We also need to enable early learning programs in which children spend the majority of their day outdoors, such as\u00a0forest and nature schools<\/a>.<\/p>\n Currently government regulations for early learning and care in every jurisdiction require an indoor facility in order to obtain a licence to operate. However, such buildings are a poor and unnecessary use of money when programs plan to be mostly outside. Community buildings, cabins and shelters can provide sufficient protective space during inclement weather.<\/p>\n In the U.S.,\u00a0Washington state recently licensed outdoor preschools<\/a>.\u00a0Pilot program budgets<\/a>\u00a0demonstrated that outdoor programs require around\u00a030 per cent less in operating funds than traditional early learning and care programs<\/a>.<\/p>\n In St. John\u2019s, N.L.,\u00a0Cloudberry Forest School<\/a>\u00a0has just started a three-year pilot project\u00a0to explore the licensing of outdoor early learning and care programs<\/a>. Other jurisdictions will soon be able to benefit from their learning.<\/p>\n Quality in early learning and care\u00a0is influenced by the educational attainment of the staff who work with children<\/a>. Currently, the majority of post-secondary early childhood education programs across the country\u00a0do not explicitly prepare educators for outdoor teaching and learning<\/a>. However, this is changing rapidly.<\/p>\n There are new post-secondary transformations taking place in\u00a0Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick<\/a>. In Ontario, Humber College is embracing a \u201cTwo-Eyed Seeing\u201d approach,\u00a0whereby both Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspectives influence early land-based play and learning<\/a>. Their work is\u00a0guided partly by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada\u2019s Calls to Action<\/a>.<\/p>\n Existing evidence-based\u00a0professional learning resources<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0training programs<\/a>\u00a0could be scaled and paired with apprenticeship approaches to educator training to help meet the urgent need for qualified educators.<\/p>\n Existing evidence-based\u00a0professional learning resources<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0training programs<\/a>\u00a0could be scaled and paired with apprenticeship approaches to educator training to help meet the urgent need for qualified educators.<\/p>\nOptimal conditions for learning<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n\nIn addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the\u00a0outdoors as a health-promoting environment that mitigates the risk of spreading airborne viruses<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 something we can continue to benefit from in the future.<\/div>\n\nInfrastructure must include outdoor spaces<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Schools, local green spaces<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Forest and nature schools<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Educator training<\/strong><\/h4>\n