In the early 20th century, open-air schools became fairly common in Northern Europe, originally designed to prevent and combat the widespread rise of tuberculosis that occurred during the period leading up to World War II. Schools were built on the concept that exposure to fresh air, good ventilation, and exposure to the outside were paramount. The idea quickly became popular and an open-air school movement was introduced for healthy children, encouraging all students to be outdoors as much as possible. It all started with the creation of the Waldeschule — literally, “forest school” — built in Charlottenburg, Germany, in 1904 and designed to provide its students with the most exposure to the sun. Classes were taught in the surrounding forest, which was believed to help build independence and self-esteem in urban youths. Inspired by the forest schools, open-air classroom education caught on in other European countries, and by 1937 there were 96 open-air schools in operation throughout Britain. America was eager to adopt them, too, and established its first open-air school in 1908 in Providence, Rhode Island. Open-air schools in the United States closed in the mid 1940s with improved health and sanitation standards. Europe soon followed, after determining that the problems associated with open-air schools outweighed the advantages.
Classrooms Without Walls: A Forgotten Age of Open-Air Schools
In the early 20th century, open-air schools became fairly common in Northern Europe, originally designed to prevent and combat the widespread rise of tuberculosis that occurred during the period leading up to World War II. Schools were built on the concept that exposure to fresh air, good ventilation, and exposure to the outside were paramount. The idea quickly became popular and an open-air school movement was introduced for healthy children, encouraging all students to be outdoors as much as possible. It all started with the creation of the Waldeschule — literally, “forest school” — built in Charlottenburg, Germany, in 1904 and designed to provide its students with the most exposure to the sun. Classes were taught in the surrounding forest, which was believed to help build independence and self-esteem in urban youths. Inspired by the forest schools, open-air classroom education caught on in other European countries, and by 1937 there were 96 open-air schools in operation throughout Britain. America was eager to adopt them, too, and established its first open-air school in 1908 in Providence, Rhode Island. Open-air schools in the United States closed in the mid 1940s with improved health and sanitation standards. Europe soon followed, after determining that the problems associated with open-air schools outweighed the advantages.