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.
35 items
Teachers of 10–15-year-olds used the outdoors mainly for biology, ecology, pollution and inquiry teaching, and seldom linked outdoor lessons to sustainable development.
Immersive outdoor residencies for teachers, with their unpredictable physical and social conditions, can help teachers see community as central to learning and build their confidence with challenge.
US pre-service elementary teachers' essays pointed to the importance of their youth outdoor experiences and showed positive intentions to take students outside. They also described major obstacles.
Surveys of English primary teachers in 1995 and 2017 showed the same barriers of time and cost, less teacher expertise, and clear ingredients for successful outdoor learning.
A Canadian public school district built a lasting nature kindergarten through community planning, co-created guiding principles, and careful hiring and ongoing support of its educators.
This paper adapts the idea of pedagogical content knowledge to outdoor education, proposing a framework for the knowledge outdoor teachers need.
The abstract gives background on Education for Sustainability in early childhood and points to teacher education as one way to address it. It does not state the study's aim, method or findings.
When New Zealand schools use contract instructors for outdoor education, many outcomes remain undeclared and implicit. The research offers recommendations to help schools and contractors work together.
A compulsory environmental education paper barely shifted preservice teachers' environmental literacy, but it significantly increased their confidence to teach environmental education.
Australian outdoor practitioners reported confusion and uncertainty about risk assessment, along with little policy guidance or formal training.
Secondary teachers adopting place-responsive and culturally responsive outdoor education faced challenges, including colleagues' views of the subject and the complexities of senior assessment. The approaches also created opportunities for curriculum alignment, holistic development and cultural diversity.