Walking out of the Classroom: learning on the streets of Aberdeen

Theorists and policy makers have long recognised the value of learning through direct experience. In this paper I have explored the diverse ways in which knowledge is produced and reproduced throught he experience of guided walks organised by Aberdeen Environmental Education Centre. Bourdieu has suggested that, 'the book form which children learn thier vision of the world is read with the body,' and it is this idea which underpins the pedagogy of play across Europe. Walking provides opportunities for the extension of this kind of pedagogical approach beyond the early years of school. Walking, talking, looking and listening and being out of the classroom offers opportunities for active engagement with the world, and also creates the narratives which inform understadning and knowledge within curriculum-based topics such as, Victorians, Scottish homes and the living world.