Poljske učionice ‒ prvi realizovani projekat ekološke škole u Srbiji

Abstract

Changes in the system of contemporary education in terms of alterations introduced to the teaching environment represented by closed classrooms have focused on the following: a) new architectural solutions in classroom design; b) new design of classroom furniture and teaching aids; and c) equipping classrooms with highly sophisticated technical and technological devices. However, there is an increase in the number of ideas related to designing and teaching in the classrooms located in the field, outside school buildings. Field teaching has not been a new idea in education so far, from Greek philosophical schools in which wisdom was acquired through Socrates’ dialogues in the exercise grounds, Plato’s Academy education in the shade of plane trees, Epicurus school located in a flower garden, classrooms under painted balconies of the followers of Stoicism, through “schools in the field” in Germany, England and the Netherlands at the beginning of the 20th century, to current schools and summer camps in the open. The paper aims to provide a descriptive-analytical view on teaching in the field and to promote the idea of classrooms in nature, not only as a temporary practice, but as a permanent teaching environment. Moreover, in the context of previous experiences, both traditional and modern, the paper aims to emphasize a) authenticity; b) applicability; and c) multiple values (like health, pedagogical, creative, and environment-friendly) of the project of “well-managed classrooms in the field” by Sreten Adžić.