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
Outward Bound instructors were stressed by unsafe conditions and student behaviour. Taking responsibility for safety, learning and control on themselves made that stress worse, and seeing themselves as failing to meet these demands led to role strain.
US preschool playgrounds scored lowest on challenge, and teachers' average risk tolerance score was 29 out of 100, which points to a need for teacher education about risky play.
Drawing on examples from New Hampshire, Brooklyn, Detroit and Singapore, Hatch argues that sustaining learning outside school depends on understanding what makes unconventional approaches hard to keep going within conventional schools.
This paper sets out a six-week outdoor programme for primary school children that combines trauma-informed practice with outdoor learning to support emotional regulation and wellbeing.
Observing a veteran outdoor educator on camp showed how they drew on a range of teaching strategies, and highlighted place-responsive teaching and pedagogic agility.
Forest school leaders see regular, repeated time in the same natural place as helping children connect with nature, feel ownership and want to protect it.
A teacher educator describes using walking as a curriculum in an environmental education course, built around taking risks and making connections with nature and with each other.
Croatian early childhood teachers' attitudes to risky play differed by education level. The authors suggest that teacher education shapes attitudes but not the ability to act against restrictive safety procedures.
In German student-led 'challenges' projects, voluntary participation and the team aspect were the most central factors in students feeling they benefited.
A practical text on immersive nature play programmes in the early years, covering the benefits of learning in natural spaces, pedagogy, First Nations perspectives, sustainability and risk management.
A six-year case study of a rural Italian primary school highlights the importance of alliances with families and community, pupil voice and mixed-age groups when bringing in learning outside the classroom.
In one Australian primary school, findings indicate that school-ground teaching framed by self-directed learning tasks increased student autonomy, efficacy and achievement.
In a kindergarten quasi-experiment, outdoor learning had a significant effect on young children's early numeracy literacy.
Year 10 students who made climate change films with iPads in Westland National Park showed significantly more positive attitudes to science than a comparison group that stayed in Dunedin.
Pilot data from two high school field trips that combined environmental science, arts and humanities produced a framework for active and passive place relationships.
Across 19 countries/areas, experts most often reported field studies, early years outdoor activities and outdoor and adventure education, mainly to support environmental awareness and pupil wellbeing.
Student teachers in Scotland preferred hands-on (mastery) experiences of teaching outdoors, and also found watching others teach outdoors useful.
Auckland primary children who created a one-on-one performance about their city for adults developed deeper understanding, connection and empowerment. Their parents' learning was less clear.
A solutions-focused article for teachers and school leaders that draws on a recent large-scale New Zealand study to offer realistic, sustainable ways to manage common EOTC challenges.
Interviews with ten forest and nature school practitioners explore how they define and manage risky play, and how they handle tensions with regulatory policy.
Teachers saw modest gains in students' social and emotional learning during a three-year adventure-based programme, but a few students' behaviour could affect the whole class.
Dutch primary teachers found barriers to teaching in green schoolyards and worked out practical solutions: just start, get training, use real-life experiences and build an outdoor mindset.
Educators who did wilderness-based professional development reported personal and professional outcomes and identified which programme elements made the most difference.
In a New Zealand positive youth development outdoor programme run in schools, all 5 Cs and a sixth C, contribution, were seen. Young people and adults valued different outcomes.