Stewart Atkinson
Stewart loves sharing the outdoors with others and has been working professionally in the outdoor sector for almost 15 years. As the director, he brings to Outdoor Classrooms.scot a wealth of experience both practically and academically from a variety of different roles and settings. He has delivered, faciltated and developed in and alongside schools, local authorities, independant schools, third sector organisations, charities and many more….
He has various high level leadership, guiding, coaching and instructional qualifications in:
- Hillwalking
- Sailing/Powerboating
- Canoeing/Kayaking
- Snowboarding
- Mountain Biking
- Climbing
- Orienteering
In addition to the practical knowledge of many adventurous activities, Stewart has a Masters Degree in Outdoor Education from The Moray House School of Education and Sport – The University of Edinburgh.
As part of his MSc he studied a range of topics incuding experiential education, environmental education, personal and social development, ecology and field studies, social theory and interpretting the landscape.
His final dissertation took the form of an applied research project whereby he embedded himself in a City of Edinburgh primary school and helped them to develop a whole-school cultural shift towards curricular outdoor learning. This individualised approach to cultural change and recognition of the importance of “place” was the spark that grew into OutdoorClassrooms.scot !
Murphy
Murphy is almost as passionate about being outside as Stewart! He is currently part of our background staff and his main tasks include: tennis ball acquisition, meet and greet expert and full-time crumb patrol. When he grows up he wants to be a qualified therapy dog and visit schools with Stewart to help in whatever way he can! He brings to OutdoorClassroom.scot the enthusiasm that only a Black Lab can and also supports Stewart by giving him a reason to go outside every day!