Monthly Archives: April 2020

Dare to Dream: Envisioning How Nature-based Playgrounds Might Look

April 29, 2020

Last week, we took time to pause and reflect on how vital playgrounds and green spaces are to our lives, and how much we miss them as they continue to be closed during this pandemic.
While we are home-bound, we can think about the future of school playgrounds and how we can make them greener. This week, we look at how the elements of the natural playground can be used in both large and small scale projects.

Large-Scale Municipal Example: Marge and Charles Schott Natural Playscape, Cincinnati
In Cincinnati, a converted public park demonstrates how green playgrounds work. In lieu of a static, plastic playground, the city installed a nature playground, with a variety of materials: rock, wood, water, trees & underplantings. Parents noticed that this playground facilitated creative play, habitat education, and respectful behaviour while offering a variety of forest and field habitats to explore.


To maintain this nature-based playground, a full-time gardener and maintenance staff were required. As well, families must take on more personal responsibility for assessing risk with this type of nature-based playground.

Large-Scale School Example: Brent Elementary School, Washington, D.C.

This asphalt yard was transformed into an outdoor education space, and more than tripled in size. The new nature yard is improving student health with more physical activity, clean air, and shade. Typical summer air temperatures have decreased by 5°C by removal of the asphalt!1 The school has seen an improvement in parental engagement, as well as student attendance and reading scores.22 

By replacing asphalt with small plantings & permeable surfaces, the school ground now has improved stormwater management, important in any city with flooding and sewer issues. The new rain garden can hold huge amounts of stormwater, and the new surfaces don’t need mowing, reducing carbon emissions.

Nature gardens also allow for educational opportunities. At Brent PS, there are green roofs unlike any other. Typically, children don’t have access to roofs and do not see planted rooftops. Brent School pioneered the use of child-scale green roofs, built on small structures accessible to children, who can learn about the process of greening our urban world.

This large-scale nature-based playground also included interpretive rain gardens and interactive butterfly gardens. Staff training in environmental education was required to ensure maximum benefits were derived from this playground, as was signage to guide students and visitors. As well, staff was required to maintain the grounds. 

Features of these nature-based playgrounds above can be applied to local, small-scale community examples, such as public parks, childcare centres, and health centres as well. This is also a possible model for aging infrastructures (such as Ontario’s schools) that are already candidates for renovation. 

Nature playgrounds are also solutions for city parks that have only trees & close-cropped lawns, with no other groundcover or understory plantings. Toronto’s High Park has installed a nature playground called Our Space that features education, loose pieces, and opportunities for creative play while featuring native plantings that recreate the original ecosystem. 

Installing nature gardens in floodplain areas, or grounds with poor drainage makes sense as impervious surfaces are replaced with permeable ones that absorb stormwater. And areas with high traffic, such as school drop-off zones, are the perfect location to educate the public about water issues in their community!

During this time when we are missing our parks, consider asking your children for their opinions on what would make an ideal outdoor play space at their school. While we can’t go to the park at the moment, we might as well take the opportunity to imagine and dream! 

 

 

Is it Time to Green Our Playgrounds?

April 22, 2020

We all have different ways of interacting with the great outdoors. Some of us hike in forests, others jog in urban playgrounds, and still others enjoy leisurely walks. Self-distancing & isolating have sadly restricted trips outside. A few weeks in, and we no longer take for granted access to fresh air, green spaces and playgrounds. 

While we take this difficult break from our public green spaces, Fix Our Schools has been thinking about the importance of school playgrounds and how they impact the health of our communities. This is a great time for communities to discuss what we want our future playgrounds to look like and how we can make a better future for our children.

The research below is from Rethinking Playgrounds: A Design Investigation of Playscape Theory1 by Jonathan Gemmell, who is a landscape architect in Maryland, USA.

Difference between Nature-Based Playgrounds and Traditional (Structure-Based) Playgrounds:

In the early 2000’s, playgrounds that integrate natural elements into the design became more widespread in Europe and North America. Inspired by the “Forest Schools” in Denmark & Sweden, Canadian educators have supported outdoor educational curriculum development, and, in conjunction with the broader school community, have worked to integrate it into the yards surrounding the schools. Natural playgrounds tend to be greener, offer more loose parts for play, may provide specific educational opportunities about nature, provide more shade, and often help with stormwater runoff.

Jonathan Gemmell suggests that Nature-Based Playgrounds harness the malleability of the natural landscape and provide clear developmental advantages that surpass traditional structure-based playground design. It makes sense that Nature-Based Playgrounds also provide opportunities for building environmental literacy, such as knowledge of water systems or invasive species. 

On the other hand, according to Gemmell, Traditional Playgrounds have many shortcomings, which impact child development. Paved sports areas have the highest percentage of sedentary activity on a playground, therefore traditional playgrounds can limit active play.2 Traditional playgrounds also tend to have less green space and therefore, less of the benefits that green space provides such as an increased ability to concentrate on tasks after spending time in nature3, and an alleviation of stress and the symptoms of ADHD4.

 

Goals of Nature-Based Playgrounds

When designing with a natural plan in mind, it is fascinating to see how the goals of the project change. Instead of planning for asphalt painting, prescribed activities or chain link fencing, Natural Landscaping goals include:

  1. Spaces that foster a full range of physical activities, allowing children to explore & expand their territorial range as they age. 
  2. Opportunities for development through changeable environments, encouraging creative expression, and group play. 
  3. Educational components that promote Environmental Literacy.
  4. Integration with stormwater management retrofits. (Stormwater control integrated into the playground itself or yard planned adjacent to a constructed wetland.) 
  5. Imaginative or artistic components that create a sense of place and nurture community pride. 

Role of the Community in Greening our Playgrounds

Toronto District School Board is one of the school boards that has worked to incorporate more nature-based elements into new or renovated playgrounds. At one of our local schools, Fix Our Schools has seen first-hand both the nature-based design benefits to students and also the open-eyed interest from other countries. In fact, educators from all over the world visit our TDSB Nature-Based model to consider the educational benefits and implementation challenges and opportunities. 

Nature-Based Yards are different from what we expect from Traditional Yards. They do provide many opportunities for students. These yards could also reduce flooding and improve the greening of our cities, something we’ve all been thinking about as pollution levels are at an unprecedented low right now. Because of the need for maintenance and the role of education in the Nature-Based yards, they need planning and support from us all. It is important that the wider community stakeholders support the features and benefits of greening our playgrounds. Let’s have a conversation!

1.file:///Users/Armstrong/Downloads/Gemmell_umd_0117N_16253.pdf+

2 (Dyment, Bell, and Lucas’ 2009)

3 (Kaplan, 1989)

4 (van den Berg, 2011)

 

At-Home Learning – Thank You!

April 15, 2020

In Ontario’s publicly funded education system, students, teachers and families began “at-home learning” on Monday, April 6th. Behind the scenes, School Boards, the Ministry of Education, Principals, Vice-Principals, and Teachers had been preparing for this model of learning for several weeks prior to the launch on April 6th.

A lot of people in many different roles within the publicly funded education system have come together to make at-home learning possible. This commitment, creativity, and collaboration is ensuring that Ontario students can continue with their learning and, perhaps even more importantly, can continue with some regular rhythm and routine in their days – even while actual school buildings are closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

To everyone who has been a part of the massive effort to transition our public education system to “at-home learning” for now, Fix Our Schools extends a sincere thank you! To the parents who are supporting their at-home learners – be kind to yourselves! If everything isn’t quite going perfectly each day, you may take solace in some of the points raised in a recent Globe & Mail article entitled, “How much should parents be sweating homeschooling?“.  And some of you may be keen to see how each province in Canada is addressing education during this unusual time in history, in which case you may like to review the latest People for Education’s hot-off-the-press Canada-wide Education during COVID-19 Tracker.

To the caretakers who continue to work in our schools to deep clean and conduct routine maintenance while students are not present – thanks to all of you as well! We know that all students, parents, teachers, and education workers are missing those school buildings right now and the sense of community that they bring. Absence does, indeed, make the heart grow fonder! We know that people are optimistically looking forward to a day in the not-too-distant future when they can once again congregate in schools – so thank you to everyone who is working to take care of these critical public buildings while they are closed to students and teachers at the moment.

Comprehensive List of Resources From School Magazine

April 8, 2020

Fix Our Schools follows School Magazine regularly as one of many resources on our publicly funded education system. On April 5, 2020, School Magazine published a comprehensive list of resources and supports for students and families to help them throughout the Covid-19 pandemic at a Federal, Provincial and Municipal level (specific to Toronto). We’d love to hear from anyone in other municipalities about resources in your area and we would be pleased to share them so please get in touch with us!

Fix Our Schools felt this information was very worthwhile and wanted to share these resources with our community. Again, if you have resources you think would be helpful for parents, students, or teachers at this time, please get in touch with us at info@fixourschools.ca. We would welcome the opportunity to share any resources with our Fix Our Schools community.

We hope you all are staying healthy and doing well.

 

Ontario Schools to Remain Closed Until At Least May

April 1, 2020

Premier Ford announced on March 31st that Ontario schools would remain closed until at least early May and assured families that the Ministry is “working closely with the school boards to find ways to help students complete the school year, so they can advance to the next year and earn credits and graduate.”

In conjunction with the extended school closures, Education Minister Lecce announced a new teacher-led online learning program for students that will include graded work and report cards for all students.  Lecce said, “We’re embracing all forms of student-teacher connectivity based on the student’s access to technology, meaning one way or another, by printed materials or tablet, every child should and will be able to continue learning through the curriculum supported by their teacher.”

As school boards and teachers work with the Ministry to prepare for this new teacher-led online learning reality, Fix Our Schools found the following thoughtful insights from researcher Brené Brown about “distance learning”:

“After 20 years, every online class I teach is still a new experience for me. You can take all the classes on distance learning and get a Ph.D. in distributed pedagogy, but here’s what I know: Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. And, it mostly works if you can be nimble and change course.

My three big key insights for distance learning are:

  1. Use the first few days to build a container. NO content teaching. Just set up the ground rules together in a way that lets students experience some of the functionality of the classroom. Practice raising hands, keeping yourself on mute, changing how you see each other. “Let’s work together to create a space that feels brave, safe, and connected. This is new and awkward for all of us – including me. We can start with a list of what’s ok in here and what’s not.” Maybe you can even start with a check-in: Give us one word that describes how you’re feeling about school being online? Great practice of speaking and muting and following along.
    Anxiety shows up in weird ways when you’re teaching online. And, people don’t understand the norms. Set the norms so no one takes their computer to the bathroom. (It happened. Twice.) We want everyone to be seen and belong, and that means setting norms and expectations that are co-created with the class. 
  2. Do not assume every student has the same attention span, the same level of wi-fi, access to private space, and the same number of supportive people in their homes. We have to check our expectations and privilege. We want everyone to be seen and belong.
  3. Small chunks. No more than 30 minutes online. You can meet up several times a day, but the best teachers in the world can’t hold attention longer than that. Think about the research that went into TED setting an 18-minute limit for their talks. That’s all we can take sometimes. You can break kids into small groups for a lengthy assignment, but for the big classroom, they will start to drift after 20 minutes. After 30, they’re gone. Heck, I’m gone.

TEACHERS – we love you! In-person. Online. Thank you.”

Brown also includes a note for parents:

“I get how hard this is. It’s overwhelming. Some of us are very ready for virtual school to start up and some of us are scared. However weird the experience may be, we need to partner with teachers to try to make this work. LOTS and lots of grace.”

 

We hope that the Ministry, School Boards, teachers, and parents can glean something useful from these insights as we all work together to do what is best for Ontario’s students in the weeks ahead.

Grace. Lots and lots of grace. Indeed.