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.
Safety alert2017–2026 updateVero Liability (Safe Side, Issue 62)2024
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.
Risk and safetyEOTC safety managementSchool camps and trips
Book2017–2026 updateRoutledge2024
Edited by AUT's Mike Brown, this book explores the educational side of people's engagement with the ocean and 'blue spaces'. It includes a chapter on surfing and wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Water and aquatic educationWellbeing and mental healthPlace-based learning and te taiao
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateSet: Research Information for Teachers20 December 2023
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.
LeadershipPlace-based learning and te taiaoTe ao Māori and te Tiriti
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateSet: Research Information for Teachers20 December 2023
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.
Te ao Māori and te TiritiCurriculum and assessmentPlace-based learning and te taiao
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateSet: Research Information for Teachers20 December 2023
This article describes the development of Hui Taurima, a TLIF-funded Year 9 cross-curricular 'Festival of Learning' that puts place and culture at the heart of teaching.
Place-based learning and te taiaoCurriculum and assessment
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateJournal of Outdoor and Environmental Education17 November 2023International
Welsh hill farmers' understanding of 'cynefin', a word tied to one's relationship with place and land, has the potential to provide a counter-pedagogy in keeping with place-based and Indigenous approaches.
Place-based learning and te taiaoInternational and cultural perspectives
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateJournal of Outdoor Recreation, Education, and Leadership15 November 2023International
Girls at a school that builds outdoor adventure into its curriculum linked their experiences to relationships, perseverance, enjoyment of nature, leadership, confidence and personal growth.
Wellbeing and mental healthLeadership
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateAustralian Journal of Environmental Education31 October 2023International
Ethnographic work in four Australian bush kinders shows how educators can observe children's play and use it to build their understanding of, and affinity with, nature.
Early childhood and nature playSustainability and environmental educationTeaching and facilitation outdoors
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateInternational Journal of Education Policy and Leadership5 September 2023International
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.
Risk and safetyEOTC safety managementSchool camps and trips
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateJournal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning4 September 2023International
Irish outdoor education often looks like a standardised, 'McDonaldized' product, and the authors argue for a more place-based practice.
Place-based learning and te taiaoInternational and cultural perspectives
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateJournal of Geoscience Education9 August 2023
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.
School camps and tripsLearning and achievement outcomes
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateJournal of Experiential Education18 July 2023International
Outward Bound Trust instructors in the UK saw phone-free experiences as more powerful for young people and valued in-person, in-place interaction over social media.
Teaching and facilitation outdoors
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateJournal of Outdoor and Environmental Education8 June 2023
Māori oral traditions of fire challenge the split between human-centred and nature-centred worldviews, and show the teaching potential of campfires.
Te ao Māori and te TiritiSustainability and environmental education
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateEarly Years27 May 2023International
Owner/managers of English early childhood settings can lead outdoor practice for infants and toddlers by creating cultural, physical and reflective spaces for their staff.
Early childhood and nature playLeadership
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateCanadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy26 May 2023International
Three Canadian outdoor education deaths shared administrative failings: undefined risk tolerance, risk creep, weak oversight and problems with parental consent.
Risk and safetyEOTC safety managementInternational and cultural perspectives
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateSet: Research Information for Teachers25 May 2023
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.
Place-based learning and te taiaoWellbeing and mental healthTe ao Māori and te Tiriti
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateNew Zealand Journal of Educational Studies19 May 2023
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.
School camps and tripsRisk and safetyLeadership
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateAustralian Journal of Environmental Education8 May 2023International
Used together, sit spots, solo wanders, journalling, gathering, story-sharing and nature names enabled relationships with place and the more-than-human world to emerge for children in a Brisbane outdoor programme.
Place-based learning and te taiaoTeaching and facilitation outdoors
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateJournal of Outdoor Recreation, Education, and Leadership13 March 2023International
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.
Inclusion and equitySchool camps and trips
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateJournal of Outdoor Recreation, Education, and Leadership16 January 2023International
Leave No Trace and its critiques can be used as a context for dialectical learning, helping students see that informed action matters and no action is innocent.
Sustainability and environmental educationTeaching and facilitation outdoors
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateThe Journal of Environmental Education2 January 2023
A study of a bring-your-own-device mixed reality (XR) intervention at a New Zealand marine education centre indicates XR can enhance understanding of complex marine conservation science.
Sustainability and environmental educationTeaching and facilitation outdoorsWater and aquatic education
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateJournal of Outdoor Recreation, Education, and Leadership21 October 2022International
Combining Cherokee traditional ecological knowledge stories with place-based education helped middle school students reflect on cultural literacy, wellbeing and respect for nature.
Place-based learning and te taiaoInternational and cultural perspectives
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateFrontiers in Psychology20 October 2022International
Quebec preschool and primary teachers used outdoor learning across many subjects and settings, relying on flexible planning and routines, and named factors that helped or hindered them.
Teaching and facilitation outdoorsCurriculum and assessment
Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 updateAustralian Journal of Environmental Education11 October 2022International
Findings from a case study of two early childhood teachers suggest that inquiry-based and place-based teaching in the bush, with First Nations perspectives on plants, can build teachers' botanical knowledge and literacies.
Educator capability and PLDEarly childhood and nature playPlace-based learning and te taiao