Authentic context as educational object and green spaces as pedagogical environment: the approach to outdoor learning in the practice of Sreten Adžić (1856–1933)

ABSTRACT

The study deals with the outdoor learning approach developed by Sreten Adžić (1856–1933), who is considered the founder of the outdoor learning movement in Serbia. He greatly influenced pedagogical practice as a primary-school teacher, professor, and teacher-training school manager. According to this approach, the term outdoor learning had two meanings: learning through exploring the local environment and staying outside the school building in green spaces during regular classes. This paper deals with the questions related to the theoretical and political foundations of that approach, its didactic characteristics, possible pedagogical, social, political and economic scope, and its position and role in the circulation of knowledge about the international context. The first part of the paper deals with the Pestalozzianism and socialism foundations of Adžić’s practice at the beginning of his professional career. The second and third parts thematise outdoor learning as student-centred learning in an authentic context based on sense perception and students’ self-activity. The local environment is interpreted as an educational object. This approach aimed to develop students’ critical thinking and civic education. The fourth part presents the realisation of Adžić’s project of outdoor classrooms as green spaces for learning and explains their pedagogical meaning. Key findings presented in the final part are those encouraging teachers to come outdoors contributed to rethinking the traditional teaching model and school education in giving a background for the new school movement, which was widely accepted in Yugoslavia between the two world wars.

KEYWORDS:

• Outdoor learning
• outdoor classroom
• local environment
• educational objects
• nature
• New School Movement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ Рад у школи (Методика) за ученике учитељске школе и учитеље основних школа по Карлу Керу [Work at School (Methodology) for Studеnts of Teachers Training Schools and Teachers at Elementary School by Karl Kehr], by Karl Kehr, trans. Stevan D. Popović (Београд: Државна штампарија, 1870).

² Теорија педагогије или Основи науке о васпитању и настави [Theory of Pedagogy or Basics of the Science of Education and Teaching], by Friedrich Dittes, trans. Milorad Šapčanin (Београд: Државна штампарија, 1872).

³ Војислав Бакић, Наука о васпитању [Science of Education] (Београд: Државна штампарија, 1878).

⁴ Latinka Perović, “Socijalistička misao u Srbiji u drugoj polovini 19. veka [Socialist Thought in Serbia in the Second Half of the 19th Century]”, Zgodovinski časopis 3 (1990): 427–35.

⁵ Васа Пелагић, Како треба да се школујемо па да дођемо до опште среће и братске солидарности [How Should We Educate Ourselves to Achieve General Happiness and Brotherly Solidarity] (Београд: Штампарија Задруге штампарских радника, 1881).

⁶ Оливер Ђорђевић, Сретен Аџић и његова породица [Sreten Adžić and His Family] (Горњи Милановац: Манастир Враћевшница, 2001), 47.

⁷ Светомир Милосављевић, “Преписка Сретена Аџића о ручном раду [Sreten Adžić’s Correspondence about Handworking]”, in Округли сто Живот и дело Сретена М. Аџића (Јагодина: Историјски архив, 2006), 96.

⁸ Adžić is the initiator of the movement for the introduction of manual work in schools in Serbia; he established and maintained corespondence with the main representatives of this movement in Europe. See: Александра Илић Рајковић, “Радна школа у Србији (1880-1940)” [Activity school in Serbia (1880-1940)]” (PhD diss., Филозофски факултет Универзитета у Београду, 2013); Светомир Милосављевић, “Преписка Сретена Аџића о ручном раду [Sreten Adžić’s Correspondence about Handworking]”, in Округли сто Живот и дело Сретена М. Аџића (Јагодина: Историјски архив, 2006).

⁹ Сретен Аџић, “Из методике рачунања [From the Methodology of Arithmetic]”, Просветни гласник 11 (1900): 550–3.

¹⁰ Сретен Аџић, Учитељеве забелешке: низ примера из васпитачког рада [Teacher’s Notes…] (Београд: Г. Кон, 1894).

¹¹ Peter Bentsen and Frank S. Jensen, “The nature of udeskole: outdoor learning theory and practice in Danish schools”, Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning 12, no. 3 (2012): 199–219.

¹² Сретен Аџић, Пољска учионица: хигијенско педагошка установа [Outdoor Classroom: Hygienic-Pedagogical Institution] (Београд: Минстарство народног здравља, 1924), 3.

¹³ A story “New School”. See: Сретен Аџић, Учитељеве забелешке: низ примера из васпитачког рада [Teacher’s Notes…] (Београд: Г. Кон, 1924), 41.

¹⁴ Similar to: Andrew S. Gibbons, Jon Nelson and Robert Richards, “The Nature and Origin of Instructional Objects”, in The Instructional Use of Learning Objects (Bloomington: Agency for Instructional Technology and Association for Educational Communications & Technology, 2002), 27.

¹⁵ Сретен Аџић, Учитељеве забелешке: низ примера из васпитачког рада [Teacher’s Notes…] (Београд: Г. Кон, 1894), 17.

¹⁶ Сретен Аџић, “О очигледној настави [About Teaching through Sense-Perception]”, Учитељски календар (1904): 16–52.

¹⁷ Сретен Аџић, Учитељеве забелешке: низ примера из васпитачког рада [Teacher’s Notes…] (Београд: Г. Кон, 1894), 119.

¹⁸ Peter Bentsen and Frank S. Jensen, “The nature of udeskole: outdoor learning theory and practice in Danish schools”, Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning 12, no. 3 (2012): 205.

¹⁹ Сретен Аџић, Учитељеве забелешке: низ примера из васпитачког рада [Teacher’s Notes…] (Београд: Г. Кон, 1894), 104.

²⁰ Peter Bentsen and Frank S. Jensen, “The nature of udeskole”, 205.

²¹ Ibid., 206.

²² Ibid., 205.

²³ Сретен Аџић, “Ручни рад у мушкој школи [Handiwork at the Boys’ School]”, Отаџбина 68, no. 6 (1887): 621.

²⁴ Слободанка Антић Јанковић and others, eds., Култура критичког мишљења: теоријско заснивање и импликације за наставу [The Culture of Critical Thinking: Theoretical Foundation and Implications for Teaching] (Београд: Институт за психологију Филозофског факултета, 2007), 18.

²⁵ Ibid., 18.

²⁶ Ibid., 19.

²⁷ Ibid., 19.

²⁸ Сретен Аџић, Учитељеве забелешке: низ примера из васпитачког рада [Teacher’s Notes…] (Београд: Г. Кон, 1894), 114.

²⁹ Сретен Аџић, “Ручни рад у мушкој школи [Handiwork at the Boys’ School]”, Отаџбина 68, no. 6 (1887): 622.

³⁰ Љубинка Трговчевић, Планирана елита: о студентима из Србије на европским универзитетима у 19. веку [Planned Elite: On Serbian Students at European Universities in the 19th Century] (Београд: Историјски институт, 2003).

³¹ Александра Илић Рајковић, “Школска обавеза у Краљевини Србији између прописа и праксе [Compulsory education in the Kingdom of Serbia: between regulations and practice] ”in Без школе шта би ми?! Огледи из историје образовања у Србији и Југославији од 19. века до данас (Београд: Институт за новију историју Србије и Институт за педагогију и андрагогију Филозофског факултета Универзитета у Београду, 2021), 23–57.

³² “Закон о надзирању школа [Law on School Supervision]”, Просветни гласник 7 (1881): 235–6; The report of Mr. Janićije Popović, professor of Kruševac lower gymnasium about elementary schools in Kruševac district. See: “Извештаји школских надзорника о испитима у основним школама за 1880-81. школску годину [Reports of the Superintendents of Schools on Examinations in Primary Schools for 1880-81 school year]”, Просветни гласник 17 (1881): 612–17.

³³ Packages of copies were ordered, for example: 30 copies from Dalmatia, 25 from Herzegovina, 60 from Sarajevo, 30 from Novi Sad, etc. See: Сретен Аџић, Учитељеве забелешке: низ примера из васпитачког рада [Teacher’s Notes…] (Београд: Г. Кон, 1924), 6.

³⁴ Душко Топаловић, “Студијски боравак Сретена Аџића и Јована Милијевића у Шведској и Норвешкој 1898-1899. године [Study Visit of Sreten Adžić and Jovan Milijević in Sweden and Norway in Years 1898-1899]”, Узданица 19, no. 1 (2022): 7–17.

³⁵ Сретен Аџић, Радна бележница Сретена Аџића са пута из Шведске [Sreten Adžić’s Work Notebook from the Trip from Sweden, unpublished] (заоставштина Сретена Аџића, Архив манастира Враћевшница, 1898); and Hans Gelter, “Friluftsliv: The Scandinavian Philosophy of Outdoor Life”, Canadian Journal of Environmental Education 5 (2000): 77–92.

³⁶ The following link contains an electronic edition with the illustrations of the outdoor classrooms in Jagodina: https://jabooka.org.rs/product/poljska-ucionica-higijensko-pedagoska-ustanova-salles-d-etude-en-plein-air-institition-hygienique-pedagogoque-sa-66-slika-izradio-prof-sreten-m-adzic-upravitelj-uciteljske-skole/.

³⁷ Годишњи извештаји за 1902-1905. годину [Annual Reports for 1902-1905] (Јагодина: Учитељска школа, 1905), 54.

³⁸ Ibid.

³⁹ Сретен Аџић, Пољска учионица: хигијенско педагошка установа [Outdoor Classroom: Hygienic-Pedagogical Institution] (Београд: Минстарство народног здравља, 1924), 22.

⁴⁰ Ibid., 38.

⁴¹ Franjo Higy-Mandić, “Pokret uzgajanja na slobodnom zraku u Jugoslaviji [Movement for Open-Air Uprbringing in Yugoslavia]”, Učitelj 3-4 (1936): 209–13.

⁴² In the school’s work report, it was noted that “Dr. Ferrier from Switzerland” visited the school. See: Годишњи извештаји за 1910-1913 годину [Annual Reports for 1910-1913] (Јагодина: Учитељска школа, 1913), 54.

⁴³ Franjo Higy-Mandić, Škole na slobodnom zraku [Open-air Schools] (Beograd: Rajković, 1937).

⁴⁴ Franjo Higy-Mandić, “Pokret uzgajanja na slobodnom zraku”, 209–13; and Сретен Аџић, Пољска учионица: хигијенско педагошка установа [Outdoor Classroom: Hygienic-Pedagogical Institution] (Београд: Минстарство народног здравља, 1924).

⁴⁵ Сретен Аџић, Пољска учионица: хигијенско педагошка установа [Outdoor Classroom: Hygienic-Pedagogical Institution] (Београд: Минстарство народног здравља, 1924).

⁴⁶ Ibid.

⁴⁷ Sherman C. Kingsley and Fletcher B. Dressla, Open-air Schools (Washington: Department of Interior, Bureau of Education, 1916); Marion Frances Quinn, “The Origin and Development of the Open Air School” (PhD diss., University of Maine, 1946); and Geert Thyssen, “The ‘Trotter’ open-air school, Milan (1922-1977): a city of youth or risky business?”, Paedagogica Historica45, no. 1 (2009): 160.

⁴⁸ The Forest School in Tuškanac (Croatia) was a private school that operated from 1929 to 1941. It was founded by Franjo Higy-Mandić (1877–1940) with the Ministry of Education’s approval. Initially starting with eight students in a summerhouse, it later moved to a barrack on the playground. In 1933, a dedicated wooden building was constructed. The school leased 610 hectares of meadows and forests for ten years. It had two classrooms for use during bad weather, while classes took place outdoors on sunny days or in the forest to escape the heat. Rain or snow resulted in indoor classes with open windows. Portable benches facilitated outdoor education, and students engaged in gardening and workshops. Franjo Higy-Mandić, Uzgojni domovi i nastava u prirodi [Boarding Schools and Teaching in Nature] (Zagreb: Minerva, 1934).

⁴⁹ Agustín Escolano Benito, “The School in the City: School Architecture as Discourse and as Text”, Paedagogica Historica 39, no. 1 (2003): 53.

⁵⁰ Detailed list of literature in Liz O’Brien, “Outdoor education, life long learning and skills development in woodlands and green spaces: The potential links to health and well-being”, in Forests, Trees and Human Health (Dordrecht: Springer, 2011), 343–72.

⁵¹ Franjo Higy-Mandić, “Pokret uzgajanja na slobodnom zraku”, 209–13.

⁵² Сретен Аџић, Пољска учионица: хигијенско педагошка установа [Outdoor Classroom: Hygienic-Pedagogical Institution] (Београд: Минстарство народног здравља, 1924).

⁵³ Enrico Bordogna, “The Open-Air School Typology in the Milanese Experience: The Trotter and the Rinnovata Pizzigoni”, in Buildings for Education. Research for Development (New York: Springer, 2020), 5; and Tonia Gray, “Outdoor learning: not new, just newly important”, Curriculum Perspectives 38, no. 2 (2018): 145–9.

⁵⁴ Сретен Аџић, Пољска учионица: хигијенско педагошка установа [Outdoor Classroom: Hygienic-Pedagogical Institution] (Београд: Минстарство народног здравља, 1924).

⁵⁵ Franjo Higy-Mandić, “Pokret uzgajanja na slobodnom zraku”,: 209–13.

⁵⁶ Marc Depaepe and Brekt Henkens, “The History of Education and the Challenge of the Visual”, Paedagogica Historica 36, no. 1 (2000): 10–17.

⁵⁷ Сретен Аџић, Пољска учионица: хигијенско педагошка установа [Outdoor Classroom: Hygienic-Pedagogical Institution] (Београд: Минстарство народног здравља, 1924).

⁵⁸ Franjo Higy-Mandić, “Pokret uzgajanja na slobodnom zraku”, 209–13.

⁵⁹ A collection of Dewey’s lectures, entitled School and Society, was first translated into Serbian in 1924, and by 1937 at least 21 titles related to the pedagogical conception of John Dewey were published in the Serbian language. Furthermore, the works of Maria Montessori, Adolphe Ferrier, Ellen Kay and other authors important for the new school movement were translated.

⁶⁰ Štefka Batinić and Igor Radeka, “Od reformne do alternativne pedagogije: Pokušaji drugačije škole u Hrvatskoj u 20. stoljieću [From Reform to Alternative Pedagogy: Attempts at a Different School in Croatia in the 20th Century]”, Acta Iardetina 1 (2017): 41–60; Edvard Protner, “Razvoj i aktualno stanje alternativnih pedagoških koncepata u Sloveniji [Development and Current State of Alternative Pedagogical Concepts in Slovenia]”, Acta Iardetina 1 (2017): 115–30. Vučina Zorić, Alternativni pedagoški koncepti i obrazovna politika u Crnoj Gori [Alternative Pedagogical Concepts and Educational Policy in Montenegro]”, Acta Iardetina 1 (2017): 27–40; and Александра Илић Рајковић, “Радна школа у Србији (1880-1940)” [Activity school in Serbia (1880-1940)]” (PhD diss., Филозофски факултет Универзитета у Београду, 2013).

⁶¹ Душан Јовановић, Идејни развитак педагогике у Срба од 1918. до 1938. године с освртом на претходно доба [The conceptual development of pedagogy among Serbs from 1918 to 1938 with reference to the previous period]”, Učitelj 2 (1938): 75.

⁶² Александра Илић Рајковић, “Радна школа у Србији (1880-1940)” [Activity school in Serbia (1880-1940)]” (PhD diss., Филозофски факултет Универзитета у Београду, 2013).

⁶³ Никола Поткоњак, “Педагогија у Срба [Pedagogy among Serbs]” (Београд: Едука, 2012); and Велизар Недовић, “Педагошки огледи Сретена Аџића [Pedagogical Experiments by Sreten Adžić]” (Јагодина: Учитељски факултет у Јагодини, 1998).

⁶⁴ Весна С. Трифуновић, “Школство у Србији почетком 20. века и модернизација: пољска учионица Сретена Аџића као претеча еколошке парадигме у образовању [Schooling in Serbia at the Beginning of the 20th Century and Modernisation: Sreten Adžić’s Outdoor Classroom as a Forerunner of the Ecological Paradigm in Education]”, Узданица 15, no. 2 (2018): 49–60.

Additional information

Funding

The article is a result of research done at the University of Belgrade - Faculty of Philosophy, financially supported by the Ministry of science, technological development, and innovations of the Republic of Serbia [451-03-47/2023-01/ 200163].

Notes on contributors

Aleksandra Ilić Rajković

Aleksandra Ilić Rajković, PhD, is an associate professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade (Serbia) – Department for Pedagogy and Andragogy. Her research topics are the New School movement, history of textbooks, history of pedagogical ideas, history of educational policies.

Nataša Nikolić

Nataša Nikolić, PhD, is a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade (Serbia) – Department for Pedagogy and Andragogy. Her research topics are general pedagogy, intellectual education, education of the gifted and out-of-school education.