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.
9 items
Two secondary teachers and a student argue that history learning about colonisation and local ecology should not stay in the classroom, and that teachers and students should, wherever possible, go into the field alongside mana whenua.
This conceptual paper argues that Forest School should combine Western affordance theory with Indigenous place-based relationality to support children's social and emotional wellbeing.
Māori senior student leaders valued culture and places of significance as integral to their leadership development through a place-responsive programme linked to a Year 9 festival of learning.
In a Year 7 science unit on plants, starting from mātauranga Māori, guided by tikanga and partnership, opened space for students in a superdiverse class to share their own narratives.
Māori oral traditions of fire challenge the split between human-centred and nature-centred worldviews, and show the teaching potential of campfires.
Five communities share what they learned while redesigning and using their educational spaces differently to build the wellbeing of students and the wider communities they serve.
A Kaipara hapū used an estuary monitoring toolkit with NIWA and local high schools to lead Indigenous environmental education, supporting self-determination and environmental guardianship.
Workshops with wharekura students trialled a Cultural Monitoring plan in ecosystem learning. They proved worthwhile, but understanding core ecological language in te reo Māori was a major challenge.
Māori students in one secondary school outdoor education programme valued shared experiences and relationships, and making connections with Te Ao Māori through experience, stories of places and history. Affordability, the influence of friends and whānau, and prioritising educational pathways made engaging Māori in outdoor education complex.