In the last two decades, Professors Tully and Rillo of Indiana University were leaders in the outward education movement in North America. This article attempts to crystallize some of their concepts and teaching strategies in this field and which it is hoped would provide, the structure to teachers who are interested in adopting this mode of presenting the curriculum.

A simple but precise definition of OE quoted by Phi Delta Kappa reads as follows: "Outdoor Education means all of that learning included in the curriculum in any subject matter area at any grade level which can best be learned outside the classroom." It is a commonsense method of learning - being natural, plain and direct. It is not a separate subject by itself, but rather includes content from several areas of the curriculum - in short content that is best experienced and learned outside the classroom. The basic methods of effective outdoor learning are observation, research and reflection. Direct observation arouses interest, curiosity and further investigation. Research involves the use of references to learn more about the phenomena experienced in the outdoors. Reflection provides a time for the assimilation of what has been learned in terms of understanding and appreciation. Many schools in Sri Lanka have known and practiced this mode of education. It was not an uncommon sight to see young children from Kandy schools situated in the perimeter area of Udawattekelle (UK) begin their day with a nature walk in the reserve. Hayman of Gurutalawa encouraged the OE concept many steps farther and students of Dharmaraja took it to a higher plain when they recently hiked around the Himalayas.

Students from a small school in Kurunegala show their responsibility for preserving the environment by spending a week of their holidays, each year, in cleaning up the litter found on the Horton Plains. Officer cadets at the Diyatalawa Military Academy traced and followed the steps of Captain Johnson on his epic march from Batticaloa to Kandy (1805), learning the importance of the element of surprise in warfare. Others plotted the marching route of King Dutugemunu from Magama, to Anuradhapura on a map, aided by a close study of the Mahawamsa. This was followed by a series of excursions to specific sites and amongst the many lessons learned, they found that the course of the Mahaweli had changed over the years.

There is an erroneous idea that for OE, a school or teacher must have an extensive nature environment to make student OE experiences operational. OE begins as soon as teachers and students step outside the classroom.

Teachers could begin with areas around the community. Using their entrepreneurial skills, teachers in a school district in Thailand have put together lesson plans with a specific English language vocabulary focus under the title, ‘Yellow Pages of OE’. These exciting new experiences are eagerly looked forward to by students, as teachers take them out on learning adventures such as - What can you learn from a bakery (process) City hall (organization) super-market (product selection, fixed costs, unit price, mark - ups) etc. To systematize the learning - pre teaching and listing of questions are resorted to on the rationale that "If you ask intelligent questions you will get intelligent answers."

Returning to the classroom, teachers find that with the data obtained, written reports and verbal presentations by students are of a high standard.

OE can be co-related to many subjects in the curriculum. The opportunities for studying science are unlimited but it should not dominate the OE program. A flavour derived from examples of activities under different subject areas are given:

Mathematics - Estimating the degree of slope

Estimating volume of water flowing in a stream at different times of the year. Estimating distance using triangulation. Measuring a hectare of land. Estimating heights of trees and buildings using clinometers.

Science - Science teachers have been using the outdoor laboratory to extend their classroom teaching. The scientific method taught in the classroom is directly applicable to investigation and problem solving in the outdoors. Natural science, with an emphasis on ecology, provides the academic content for most OE programs. Suggested activities include - Studying the degree of pollution at different points of a flowing stream. Identifying trees by physical characteristics. Conducting microclimate studies. Predicting weather using meteorological data.

Language Arts - Writing nature poetry in such forms as haiku, cinquain diamante and tanka. Using similes and metaphors to describe natural phenomena. Writing diaries or logs. Relating folk stories in story- telling circles or around campfires.

Health and Physical Education - Living and playing in an outdoor setting calls for special attention to health and safety practices. Much of the OE programme involves physical activity. There is less need for a structured physical education program. Rather, the emphasis should be on such activities as hiking, backpacking and cycling, which are activities that lead to lifetime leisure pursuits. Menu planning and food preparation in the outdoors are good experiences for teaching nutrition and proper sanitary practices. Other activities include learning First-aid techniques. Rappelling, or descending by rope. Planning and participating in a backpack trip, learning skills associated with hobbies such as outdoor survival and outdoor photography.

The creative teacher opens an entirely new world of realistic teaching-learning situations beyond the classroom door and in the outdoors. The myriad of educational opportunities provides opportunities for exciting activities to students at all grade levels. The significant factor is that the teacher extends the learning experiences of the curriculum to the outdoors.

If an OE programme is worth implementing it deserves to be evaluated.

The OE programme should be evaluated with a focus on the specific objectives of the nature of experiences and the time involved. This takes into account the personal meaning of the outdoor experience had for the individual students, including appreciation of sensitivity to the natural world, discovery of new interests, acquisition of new skills, learning to live in a group situation, accepting personal responsibility for the environment as well as cognitive growth in understanding new concepts. Instruments or procedures to evaluate these outcomes include: Student narrative logs, Subjective reports, Anecdotal records, Student opinion surveys, Community opinion surveys, Attitude scales, Presentations, Skill competence scales.

Outdoor education is vital to our times. As society becomes more leisure oriented, more time is available to extend, enrich and enhance the regular curriculum through purposeful recreative outdoor experiences. The outdoors beckons teachers and students to make use of the living space about us a quality environment. Co-relating OE with the basic curriculum is a challenge to teachers as the OE programme can be conducted at a variety of learning sites. Geographical differences, socio-cultural differences and community differences help craft programmes that are quite different from one another.