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.
45 items
After a single 4.5-hour forest programme, pupils aged 11–13 described forests and foresters' work in more specific, sensory and forestry-related language.
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.
Young women who did a compulsory 28-day school outdoor programme still recognised enduring learning years later, and some recalled significant difficulty.
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.
A four-week residential EOtC programme at an Australian secondary school was followed by significant gains in Year 9 students' sense of belonging and a modest rise in academic buoyancy.
Educators from an Australian whole-cohort camp and an English programme for excluded students both described outdoor education creating opportunities for belonging and for students to re-engage and rebuild identity.
A pilot analysis of data from the EVOLVE visit-planning system suggests that pupils at schools in the North of England are less likely to take part in residential visits than those in the South, and that provision has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
Preschool teachers saw field trips as valuable gateways to out-of-school learning, but limited time, resources and security concerns can hold back practice.
Young women looking back on a month of immersive school outdoor learning in remote New Zealand said it shaped their identity and wellbeing well beyond school.
Essays by eight students at a semi-rural New Zealand primary school show the emotions and impact of a three-day camp, and how outdoor experiences can feed into literacy and other learning.
Hanging out with peers was the most meaningful activity for youth, and immersion semester high schools produced more meaningful experiences than home, especially emotionally engaging ones.
A school board was ordered to pay more than $500,000 in reparations after a student drowned on a caving trip. WorkSafe found weather triggers, oversight and emergency planning were inadequate.
Using the death of Jeremiah Perry on a Toronto school trip as a case, the authors extend the '7 Rights' into '9 Rights' to guide legal literacy and risk management in outdoor education.
After a two-week GNS Science GeoCamp in the Wairarapa, 10- to 13-year-olds drew scientists in more varied, realistic ways and less as lab-coated eccentrics.
NZ high school teachers who led international study tours faced expectations and challenges that affected their lives, and found it hard to balance student safety with adolescents' desire for freedom.
Ethnographic research on an expedition group identified six relational strategies members used to gain or keep status, which led to either social inclusion or exclusion.
Instructors rated students' social-emotional skills as improving over an immersive outdoor programme, but they saw larger gains for white students than for students of colour.
Outdoor educators describe time spent travelling to and from trips as a time when students have conversations ranging from silly and fun to deep and introspective.
In German student-led 'challenges' projects, voluntary participation and the team aspect were the most central factors in students feeling they benefited.
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.
EOTC is part of the fabric of almost every school in Aotearoa and highly valued, with cost, staff capability, time and health and safety demands the main constraints.
A field studies course produced cognitive gains without the expected affective learning, which raises questions about how learning domains connect on residential courses.
A week-long trip built a sense of community for most participants, but one participant experienced it very differently. Leaders need to respect individual needs within group-focused goals.