Research, reports and guidance on education outside the classroom and outdoor education, with a plain-English summary of each and a link to the original. New items are added every week.
The library began with Education Outside the Classroom: Applied Research Readings 2010–2017(McNatty & Boyes, University of Otago, 2017). Later items were found, summarised and checked with AI assistance using the same method: every reference is checked against the publisher's record, every summary against the published abstract, and only items rated high confidence by two independent relevance checks are published. Summaries are a guide: read the original before citing it.
211 items
Parents and a teacher of young children in a short nature-based programme in Turkey described the children's experiences in themes covering physical, social, emotional and cognitive development and their relationship with the environment.
Most of 148 young women who did a compulsory 28-day remote school outdoor programme at 14–15 reported learning that lasted into their 20s, though some found it uncomfortable.
Beginner early childhood teachers from migrant backgrounds moved from protective views of risk towards seeing children as competent, while managing tensions with regulation, culture and relationships.
Across 20 studies, most results showed outdoor education programmes improved students' wellbeing. Benefits appeared in short and extended programmes and sometimes lasted weeks, months or years.
Norwegian teachers made outdoor aquatic education meaningful by focusing on pupils' experiences, adapting activities and putting safety first, but large groups and limited time got in the way.
On an Austrian mountain field trip, students aged 14–16 were drawn to physical features, climate-related change and ecology, and responded with feelings ranging from curiosity and joy to a sense of risk.
Teachers across 25 countries were more likely to embed outdoor play when their needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness were supported.
In New Zealand rock climbing and kayaking, students developed emotional intelligence through peer and adult support. Teachers and instructors played a key role in building a supportive culture.
A Northern Norway school shows how regular, leadership-backed outdoor learning can become part of school identity, though teachers had few chances to share practice.
'Curriculuming' treats the outdoor programme itself as the assessment task, using criteria for formative assessment, feedback and transfer of learning during the programme.
Beaches and coastal 'blue spaces', such as those used in Australian beach kinder, offer rich contexts for young children to develop mathematical habits of mind.
A narrative review gathers evidence on physical and social-emotional preparation for outdoor education participants, with recommendations for practitioners.
A settler Australian educator reframes literacy as relationship with Country and proposes storied reflective practice as professional learning for non-Indigenous educators.
Children in Aotearoa, Norway and Tanzania explored and expressed meanings of local water, and the study reveals tensions in how early childhood curricula address water.
Primary science teachers showed significant increases in self-efficacy and outcome expectancy for outdoor education after completing a continuing professional development programme.
In a rural Maine K–12 school that stands out for outdoor learning, key facilitators were building it into the regular school day and curriculum, professional development, long-term planning and links to local culture.
Outdoor educators 'live in history' when teaching on Country. This lecture and its classroom application show non-Indigenous educators taking up responsibility for that teaching.
A 10-week nature play programme for Year One students in Sydney was linked to significant gains in mathematics, along with children expressing joy, autonomy and a growing awareness of their relationship with nature.
Students, teachers and therapists co-created MOVEOUT-SPECIAL, a practice guidance for EOTC in special needs schools that recommends contextual, student and educational strategies.
European teachers enacting EOtC during curriculum change identified few physical-setting barriers, and institutional supports appeared to dominate their considerations.
In a Canadian forest school, children's literacy took embodied, sensory, multimodal and relational forms shaped by the more-than-human world, going beyond written and spoken language.
Adding cultural factors to a systems-based risk assessment of a mock led outdoor programme significantly increased the number of risks identified. The authors link this to the Mangatepopo Canyon tragedy.
English primary teachers said strong leadership, suitable outdoor spaces, flexibility and ongoing collaborative PLD help them integrate outdoor learning, with support tailored to each school.
Primary children experienced regular outdoor maths as safe, inclusive and liberating. The authors call this 'low-stakes, high-interest' learning that reduces anxiety and builds confidence.