Outdoor learning: curriculum imperatives and community relevance in a rural setting

This paper presents a review of practice in the use of the outdoors, and its
potential in the teaching of environmental education at Muenzaniso, a
Zimbabwean primary school. The school uses permaculture and Integrated
Land Use Design as tools for sustainable environmental management. Evidence
suggests that pressing community and curriculum imperatives motivate the
school, and increasingly, the community, to participate in this voluntary
programme, and that perceived important benefits fuel their continued engagement. The school prides itself in being able to incorporate environmental
education into the teaching of all school subjects. Potential benefits include
environmental citizenship, social and community development, personal as well
as school development.