How does a primary school organize outdoor swimming and water safety lessons?

Hege Randi Eriksen,Torbjørn Lundhaug

doi:10.23865/jased.v6.3050

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to explore how a primary school organized a week with outdoor education, and especially what characterized the outdoor swimming and water safety (SWS)-lessons. The SWS-lessons were part of the physical education (PE) program. Two teachers and one headmaster from a primary school participated in the study. Four days of video observation of SWS-lessons were used in photo-elicitation interviews with teachers and the headmaster. The findings revealed that the headmaster highly prioritized the outdoor education practice in this school and that the teachers’ colleagues showed great eagerness to cooperate and prioritize these lessons. The week’s organization was characterized by collaborating management, and the outdoor SWS-lessons were characterized by experiential learning, challenge by choice, and risk awareness. The outdoor education practice corresponded well with the Norwegian curriculum goals about learning to be safe in, on, and around water.

Highlights

Drowning is the third leading cause of death for children aged 5–14 years worldwide (World Health Organization, 2006)
The results are presented as four main themes; collaborating management, experiential learning, challenge by choice, and risk awareness
The teachers stated in the interview that they had the necessary competence and equipment to conduct the outdoor SWS-lessons and claimed that it was realistic for many more teachers to implement a similar swimming and water safety practice in their primary schools

Summary

Introduction

Drowning is the third leading cause of death for children aged 5–14 years worldwide (World Health Organization, 2006). For every child who dies from drowning in the US, another eight receive emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021).The learning arena outside in lakes, rivers, and the sea is authentic and where most drowning accidents happen in Norway (Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue, 2020) and the UK (National Water Safety Forum, 2019). In low- and middle-income countries, children are more likely to drown in nearby water bodies during daily activities (Linnan et al, 2007). In the US, more children aged 0–4 years drowned in residential pools than

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion