The benefits of outdoor learning are clear
There is substantial evidence supporting learning beyond the classroom. Research cited by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom and Natural England highlights a wide range of benefits, including improved academic attainment, greater motivation and engagement, enhanced wellbeing, and stronger social and emotional development.
Few educators would dispute the value of these experiences.
But when it comes to multilingual learners, as educators we need to think beyond a simple question of access. While a trip may be available to all students, are all students able to participate in it equally? Are some learners encountering barriers that others do not even notice?
Seeing the experience through a multilingual lens
For several years, I worked with groups of high-school-aged students who arrived early for a residential summer programme designed to support their transition into an English-medium school. Every year, I was struck by the enormous courage these young people demonstrated. They were living away from home, surrounded by unfamiliar people, navigating unfamiliar environments, and doing so in a language they were still learning.
As educators, when we organise trips, residentials, and outdoor learning experiences, our attention is often focused on practical considerations: risk assessments, logistics, supervision, transport, and safeguarding. All of these things matter. But working with these students encouraged me to look at the experience through a different lens.
What does it feel like to navigate an unfamiliar environment when you cannot fully understand what is happening around you?
What additional emotional and linguistic demands does that create?
These questions became particularly real for me when a newly arrived student turned up at school one morning unaware that a whole-school excursion was taking place. The information had not successfully reached the family, so the student arrived without appropriate clothing, sufficient food, or the necessary consent forms. The trip still went ahead, but the student began the day already feeling uncertain, excluded, and unprepared.
For me, this story illustrates an important point. The issue was not the excursion itself. The issue was the barriers surrounding participation. Long before students step onto the bus, they may already be navigating linguistic, cultural, and practical barriers that affect their ability to engage fully in the experience.
Beyond translation: understanding inclusion
Supporting multilingual learners requires much more than simply translating information.
Language is deeply connected to identity, confidence, belonging, and participation. When students move beyond the familiar routines of the classroom and into outdoor learning environments, school trips, or residential experiences, they are often navigating far more than the activity itself. They may be interpreting unfamiliar instructions, trying to understand expectations, managing social interactions, and making sense of entirely new environments — all through a language they are still developing.
Outdoor learning experiences can be incredibly rich, but they also increase both cognitive and emotional demands. Students are processing new information while simultaneously navigating unfamiliar places, people, and routines.
For multilingual learners, those demands can be amplified.
This is why I believe inclusion needs to be considered across the entire learning journey, not simply during the activity itself. It begins with communication before the experience, continues through preparation and participation, and extends to how students are supported to reflect on and make meaning from the experience afterwards.
When we think about inclusion in this broader way, we move beyond asking whether multilingual learners can attend. Instead, we begin asking whether they can fully participate, engage, and feel that they belong.
Language is deeply connected to identity, confidence, belonging, and participation. When students move beyond the familiar routines of the classroom and into outdoor learning environments, school trips, or residential experiences, they are often navigating far more than the activity itself. They may be interpreting unfamiliar instructions, trying to understand expectations, managing social interactions, and making sense of entirely new environments — all through a language they are still developing.
Outdoor learning experiences can be incredibly rich, but they also increase both cognitive and emotional demands. Students are processing new information while simultaneously navigating unfamiliar places, people, and routines.
For multilingual learners, those demands can be amplified.
This is why I believe inclusion needs to be considered across the entire learning journey, not simply during the activity itself. It begins with communication before the experience, continues through preparation and participation, and extends to how students are supported to reflect on and make meaning from the experience afterwards.
When we think about inclusion in this broader way, we move beyond asking whether multilingual learners can attend. Instead, we begin asking whether they can fully participate, engage, and feel that they belong.
Research into Practice Webinar Series
Starting with empathy
To build empathy, we can start with reflecting on our own language journeys and language profiles.
What languages do we speak? Which languages do we feel confident using? When have we experienced uncertainty, misunderstanding, or vulnerability because of language?
These reflections serve an important purpose. They help us move beyond viewing multilingualism as an abstract concept and instead understand it as a lived experience.
When educators take time to consider learning experiences from a multilingual learner's perspective, different questions begin to emerge:
These questions create opportunities for more inclusive planning.
What languages do we speak? Which languages do we feel confident using? When have we experienced uncertainty, misunderstanding, or vulnerability because of language?
These reflections serve an important purpose. They help us move beyond viewing multilingualism as an abstract concept and instead understand it as a lived experience.
When educators take time to consider learning experiences from a multilingual learner's perspective, different questions begin to emerge:
- How are we communicating with families before a trip?
- What assumptions are we making about students' understanding?
- How can we prepare learners for unfamiliar environments?
- Where might hidden barriers exist?
- How can we partner with providers to reduce these barriers?
These questions create opportunities for more inclusive planning.
Designing outdoor learning for all learners
I firmly believe that learning outside the classroom offers some of the richest opportunities we can give young people: opportunities for curiosity, connection, confidence-building, and personal growth.
What I wanted to explore was how we can ensure that multilingual learners are able to access those benefits fully. For me, this comes back to intentional design. It means thinking about communication, preparation, language support, and belonging as integral parts of planning, rather than additional considerations once the trip has already been organised.
Perhaps most importantly, it means recognising that multilingual learners do not need different experiences. They deserve equitable access to the same rich, meaningful experiences that we want for all students.
When we take the time to understand outdoor learning from the perspective of multilingual learners, we begin to notice barriers that might otherwise remain invisible. We start asking different questions, making different decisions, and creating conditions that allow more students to participate with confidence.
Ultimately, the goal is not simply getting students onto the bus. It is ensuring that every learner arrives ready to engage, participate, and feel that they belong.
What I wanted to explore was how we can ensure that multilingual learners are able to access those benefits fully. For me, this comes back to intentional design. It means thinking about communication, preparation, language support, and belonging as integral parts of planning, rather than additional considerations once the trip has already been organised.
Perhaps most importantly, it means recognising that multilingual learners do not need different experiences. They deserve equitable access to the same rich, meaningful experiences that we want for all students.
When we take the time to understand outdoor learning from the perspective of multilingual learners, we begin to notice barriers that might otherwise remain invisible. We start asking different questions, making different decisions, and creating conditions that allow more students to participate with confidence.
Ultimately, the goal is not simply getting students onto the bus. It is ensuring that every learner arrives ready to engage, participate, and feel that they belong.
EAL Outside the Classroom
Webinar recording
Designing outdoor learning for all learners
I firmly believe that learning outside the classroom offers some of the richest opportunities we can give young people: opportunities for curiosity, connection, confidence-building, and personal growth.
What I wanted to explore was how we can ensure that multilingual learners are able to access those benefits fully. For me, this comes back to intentional design. It means thinking about communication, preparation, language support, and belonging as integral parts of planning, rather than additional considerations once the trip has already been organised.
Perhaps most importantly, it means recognising that multilingual learners do not need different experiences. They deserve equitable access to the same rich, meaningful experiences that we want for all students.
When we take the time to understand outdoor learning from the perspective of multilingual learners, we begin to notice barriers that might otherwise remain invisible. We start asking different questions, making different decisions, and creating conditions that allow more students to participate with confidence.
Ultimately, the goal is not simply getting students onto the bus. It is ensuring that every learner arrives ready to engage, participate, and feel that they belong.