2021

Teachers are Encouraged to Get Acquainted with the New Methodological Tool "Forest Education Backpack" in Nature

With the beginning of the new school year, teachers have an opportunity to apply (by 3 September) for a further education course, which will take place in forest on 1 October. As part of practical work and field research, the course participants will get acquainted with the new methodological tool “Forest Education Backpack” (Meža izziņas mugursoma), which this year has been developed by experts of JSC “Latvia’s State Forests” (LVM) together with specialists of the Interdisciplinary Education Innovation Centre of the University of Latvia (SIIC). 

“Learning in nature promotes competence education and the connection of school with real life. This is proved by the “Forest Education Backpack”, which helps classes to make educational trips in nature in accordance with the “School 2030” science curriculum,” says Uldis Dzērve, a natural science expert at the Interdisciplinary Education Innovation Centre of the University of Latvia. Ģirts Burgmanis, an expert in the subject of geography at the Interdisciplinary Education Innovation Centre of the University of Latvia, adds: “Forest can become a learning environment that encourages schools to implement an interdisciplinary research process. The “Forest Education Backpack” supports teachers and school students to conduct field research and achieve complex results in science, mathematics, and more.”

LVM Forest Expeditions have also been created according to the new teaching tool, and already in September, several thousand 6th-grade students from all over Latvia will head for a trip to study in forest. Moreover, the “Forest Education Backpack” will allow everyone to organize their own forest expedition independently, using the hiking worksheets for students and methodological instructions for teachers included in the set of educational materials.

The tasks of the backpack on a sustainable forest management cycle will be most useful for 5th-6th grade students, but they can also be adapted to other age groups. Līga Abizāre, LVM Communication Project Manager: “Latvia's forests are a place for schools and everyone interested to learn to grow. Thus, the “Forest Education Backpack” will be a useful tool for exploratory recreation in nature to discover a sustainable cycle of forest regeneration with one’s own eyes.”

Science teachers with an interoperable Covid-19 certificate are invited to attend face-to-face courses on the new tool.

LVM offers continuing education courses for teachers who are involved in the integration of the forest in the learning process. A single-day 12-hour (A) course “Development of Professional Competence of Teachers in Environmental Education on Sustainable Forest Management” has been endorsed by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia and is organised by JSC “Latvia’s State Forests” in cooperation with the Interdisciplinary Centre for Educational Innovation of the University of Latvia and the Forest and Wood Products Research and Development Institute. The course is offered free of charge, but teachers will need to approbate the material to obtain a 12-hour course certificate.

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