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
This paper argues that outdoor education's Romantic focus on trips and expeditions has limited inclusion, and that a renewed focus on place and everyday experience could widen its reach.
School camps in Victoria, Australia were linked to gains in some areas of adolescent wellbeing and connectedness, with no change in others.
This paper argues that Leave No Trace can encourage a sense of separation from nature and suggests encouraging people to 'leave more trace' or 'consider their trace' instead.
On a residential science week in a German national park, students felt more competent outdoors, and this appeared to have the biggest impact on their higher intrinsic motivation.
Instructors in a Toronto urban outdoor programme described building children's nature connection as creating space for it, engaging that space, and broadening it.
An 18-month pilot in Taupō led to a Collaborative Community Education Model that may serve as a starting point for creating or modifying school-community partnerships.
A partnership between a reef tourism operator, schools, a university and Indigenous rangers took learners to the outer Great Barrier Reef to connect with Sea Country.
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.
Forest school leaders see the outdoor site as a separate, more flexible learning space where children and adults work out new ways of teaching and learning together.
A literature review argues that combining mindfulness with place-based education may help teachers and students experience place more deeply and think critically about power structures.
Australian policy increasingly requires natural outdoor spaces in early childhood and schools, yet how these environments shape learning is still under-researched.
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.
In three New Zealand early childhood settings that prioritise regular natural outdoor experiences, children's creativity was supported through meaningful engagement with natural environments.
The first study of its kind in England found only one in five children experiences a residential each year, and young people in the poorest areas are least likely to go.
An Australian edited guide to designing and using early years outdoor spaces for exploration, discovery and risk-taking.
Outdoor educators on field trips often pointed out scientific concepts but rarely worked on values and attitudes; structured active learning stood out as contributing to a variety of outcomes.
Students in one-semester outdoor education programmes showed gains in self-authorship, which they linked to their instructor and to the outdoor experiences.
Children were more physically active on weekly learning-outside-the-classroom days, but the gain depended on the class that used a nature setting.