Cultivating Nature Connection: Instructor Narratives of Urban Outdoor Education
Instructors in a Toronto urban outdoor programme described building children's nature connection as creating space for it, engaging that space, and broadening it.
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.
Research library
356 items
A Collaborative Community Education Model: Developing Effective School-Community Partnerships
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 Sea Country Learning Partnership in Times of Anthropocenic Risk: Offshore Coral Reef Education and Our Story of Practice
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.
Impact of Environmental Education on Beginning Preservice Teachers’ Environmental Literacy
A compulsory environmental education paper barely shifted preservice teachers' environmental literacy, but it significantly increased their confidence to teach environmental education.
‘She’ll be right’. Or will she? Practitioner perspectives on risk assessment for led outdoor activities in Australia
Australian outdoor practitioners reported confusion and uncertainty about risk assessment, along with little policy guidance or formal training.
Outdoor learning spaces: The case of forest school
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.
Mindful Place-Based Education: Mapping the Literature
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.
Grounds for Learning: Schoolyard Activities as Provocations, Scaffolds and Mediators for Childhood Learning
Australian policy increasingly requires natural outdoor spaces in early childhood and schools, yet how these environments shape learning is still under-researched.
Place responsive and culturally responsive outdoor education in secondary schools: Examining teachers' perspectives and experiences
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.
Young children’s creativity in natural outdoor settings
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 state of school residentials in England: 2017
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.
Outdoor Learning Environments: Spaces for Exploration, Discovery and Risk-Taking in the Early Years
An Australian edited guide to designing and using early years outdoor spaces for exploration, discovery and risk-taking.
What did schools experience from participating in a randomised controlled study (PLAY) that prioritised risk and challenge in active play for children while at school?
Where children were given opportunities for risky play at school, schools recorded very positive outcomes.
'I'll take care of the flowers!' Researching agency through initiatives across different learning environments
A case study found one primary pupil's agency varied between classroom, garden and farm, so varied contexts matter.
Experientially learning and teaching in a student-directed classroom
A study explores the successes, challenges, surprises and pedagogical risks for students and a professor in a student-directed experiential education course.
School-based experiential outdoor education: A neglected necessity
The study supports school-based experiential outdoor education as a way to engage students in meaningful, memorable and motivating learning.
Field trips to natural environments: how outdoor educators use the physical environment
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.
Impact of One-Semester Outdoor Education Programs on Adolescent Perceptions of Self-Authorship
Students in one-semester outdoor education programmes showed gains in self-authorship, which they linked to their instructor and to the outdoor experiences.
Physical Activity during Learning Inside and Outside the Classroom
Children were more physically active on weekly learning-outside-the-classroom days, but the gain depended on the class that used a nature setting.
Beyond decision making for outdoor leaders: Expanding the safety behaviour research agenda
The paper looks at safety behaviour beyond outdoor leaders' decision making, to better understand its complexity.
Accidents in Norwegian secondary school friluftsliv: implications for teacher and student competence
A nationwide survey reports accidents and near-accidents in Norwegian upper secondary outdoor activities from 2010 to 2013.
Adventure education: Redux
The authors argue that a focus on risk and danger limits the teaching potential of adventure, and propose an approach based on the learner's everyday life.
Sea kayaking incidents in Norway 2000-2014: an issue of bad weather or poor judgement?
The study analyses sea kayaking incidents in Norway, focusing on wind conditions, to draw implications for preventing future incidents.
'The woods is a more free space for children to be creative; their imagination kind of sparks out there': exploring young children's cognitive play opportunities in natural, manufactured and mixed outdoor preschool zones
A study of four-to-five-year-olds suggests including natural features in outdoor preschools supports a wider range of cognitive play.