This methodological handbook aims to provide a complete training to the primary school teachers to better face the didactic activity in the Wild Garden. With this tool we want to support the teacher in the use not only of formal teaching, but also and above all of the non-formal and informal one, inventing new spaces for learning, which take the pupils out of the school walls to experience first-hand the natural sciences applied to the creation of the wild garden. The material, freely downloadable, will be available not only to teachers who want to undertake a path for the creation of the wild garden but also to all those teachers who want to deepen their knowledge in natural sciences with particular reference to biological aspects.
The volume is divided into two sections:
- Natural sciences in teaching
- Pedagogy of nature
The first part of the book addresses scientific topics, to increase the teacher's skills in biology, ecology, botany and zoology for a good realization of the Wild Garden. It is, therefore, characterized by a few general natural sciences notions but explained in depth especially thanks to the use of practical applications of the stated scientific assumptions.
The second part of the handbook focuses on the pedagogical aspects of teaching in the Wild Garden and use of appropriate didactic methods. In outdoor natural science activities, as an object of educational action, the student is placed in a different context. The classroom where teaching activities normally take place is replaced by a part of a natural or artificial ecosystem, such as the wild garden. In this case, the student will no longer look out the classroom window to observe a living organism, but will have the opportunity to observe it directly in nature. We have selected concepts that are actually useful to the teacher in managing the pupils, even those with special needs, in an outdoor education context. We also exemplified possible reactions of learners in the application of these teaching tools trying to offer the teacher replies on how to manage particular situations and allow teachers to set a correct relationship, both between the pupils and with the space in which they find themselves interacting. Particular insights are those made on their applications in the Wild Garden, considering the age and individual peculiarities of the students, their desires, interests and needs, we appreciate that the following educational goals can be achieved during the formal and non-formal activities carried out outdoors.
