Exploring student teachers’ motivations and sources of confidence: the case of outdoor learning
Student teachers in Scotland preferred hands-on (mastery) experiences of teaching outdoors, and also found watching others teach outdoors useful.
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
45 items
Green Schoolyards as Outdoor Learning Environments: Barriers and Solutions as Experienced by Primary School Teachers
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.
Wilderness-Based Professional Development for Educators: Exploring Outcomes and Influential Programmatic Elements
Educators who did wilderness-based professional development reported personal and professional outcomes and identified which programme elements made the most difference.
5th–10th-grade in-service teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for sustainable development in outdoor environment
Teachers of 10–15-year-olds used the outdoors mainly for biology, ecology, pollution and inquiry teaching, and seldom linked outdoor lessons to sustainable development.
Disruptive Experiences as Tools for Teacher Education: Unearthing the Potential of Experiential Education
Immersive outdoor residencies for teachers, with their unpredictable physical and social conditions, can help teachers see community as central to learning and build their confidence with challenge.
A sociocultural investigation of pre-service teachers’ outdoor experiences and perceived obstacles to outdoor learning
US pre-service elementary teachers' essays pointed to the importance of their youth outdoor experiences and showed positive intentions to take students outside. They also described major obstacles.
Changes in outdoor learning in primary schools in England, 1995 and 2017: lessons for good practice
Surveys of English primary teachers in 1995 and 2017 showed the same barriers of time and cost, less teacher expertise, and clear ingredients for successful outdoor learning.
Growing a Nature Kindergarten That Can Flourish
A Canadian public school district built a lasting nature kindergarten through community planning, co-created guiding principles, and careful hiring and ongoing support of its educators.
Pedagogical content knowledge and the teaching of outdoor education
This paper adapts the idea of pedagogical content knowledge to outdoor education, proposing a framework for the knowledge outdoor teachers need.
Pre-Service Early Childhood Teachers’ Preparedness to Teach Education for Sustainability
The abstract gives background on Education for Sustainability in early childhood and points to teacher education as one way to address it. It does not state the study's aim, method or findings.
Contract Instructing within Aotearoa New Zealand’s Secondary Schools
When New Zealand schools use contract instructors for outdoor education, many outcomes remain undeclared and implicit. The research offers recommendations to help schools and contractors work together.
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.
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.
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.
A surprising discovery: five pedagogical skills outdoor and experiential educators might offer more mainstream educators in this time of change
The research suggests outdoor educators have pedagogical skills that mainstream educators could use to teach outdoors or be more environmentally focused.
Measuring student teachers' understandings and self-awareness of sustainability
The article argues teachers need a better understanding of sustainability so they can plan and teach effective sustainability education.
Teaching evaluations and reflective practice: Strategies for improving teaching skills in adventure education
The article offers strategies, including reflective practice methods, for improving instructors' teaching skills.
Investigating the impact of field trips on teachers' mathematical problem posing
The article shows how field trips and professional development activities shaped teachers' ability to create meaningful maths problems.
Place-responsive pedagogy: learning from teachers' experiences of excursions in nature
Teachers became more sensitive to place through collaboration, planning visits and practice, and the authors propose a theory of place-responsive pedagogy.
Undergraduate perceptions regarding the debrief process in adventure-based learning: Exploring the credibility of the Sunday afternoon drive debrief model
The paper explains the Sunday Afternoon Drive debrief model, with examples and critiques of meaningful, complete debrief sessions.