Abstract:

Excursions into the outdoor environment are a fundamental resource for the development of competences linked to knowledge of and interaction with the physical world at all stages of education. Disciplinary approaches from areas related to the environment such as biology and geology or social sciences are therefore clearly important in the cognitive and attitudinal development of students. However, a movement currently exists that promotes interdisciplinary approaches in nature linked to the interpretation of heritage, health and physical exercise. This new perspective is determined by a greater integrative awareness in schools and in Spanish society, promoted by institutional efforts such as those of the National Centre for Environmental Education (Centro Nacional de Educación Ambiental) (CENEAM). This paper describes an interdisciplinary experiment conducted in a school in the city of Badajoz, known as “The Race for water”, as a starting point for a seminar on the subject of “Knowledge of the Natural Environment in Primary Education” as part of the Primary Level course at the University of Extremadura (Year 4, Physical Education specialisation). The race, which took place 6 times in the years 2009-2010 and 2014-2015, formed the core of the Week of Culture which was very well received by the education community where it was held. It should be noted that subsequently, in 2016, the National Network for Physical Education in Nature (Red Estatal de Educación Física en la Naturaleza) (REEFNAT) was set up, and educational curriculum projects began to appear little by little, and the work of research groups and interdisciplinary projects from this area began to be disseminated. From an analysis of the work presented, the university students carried out a review of the excursions into the outdoor environment in Spain and designed activities based on the curriculum for Primary classes in the Community of Extremadura. The students rate the interdisciplinary initiatives very highly: they are a source of motivation in view of their imminent incorporation into the education system. Among the experiments analysed by the students, those most highlighted were those that had an explicit link to physical activity and nature, such as those developed by the Community of Aragón (e.g. the project “Tree-Athlon”, in which after a long mountain bike race, a sponsored tree was planted).

Keywords:

Science education, Physical education, Training teachers in Primary Education, Seminars.