Developing a relationship with nature and place: the potential role of forest school
Forest school leaders see regular, repeated time in the same natural place as helping children connect with nature, feel ownership and want to protect 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 Walking Curriculum: Learning From Risk and Connection
A teacher educator describes using walking as a curriculum in an environmental education course, built around taking risks and making connections with nature and with each other.
Early Childhood Education teachers’ attitudes towards risky play as developed through teacher education and impeded by safety procedures. A report from Croatia
Croatian early childhood teachers' attitudes to risky play differed by education level. The authors suggest that teacher education shapes attitudes but not the ability to act against restrictive safety procedures.
‘What a bad idea to camp next to a train station’ – student-reported outcomes and evaluations of the outdoor adventure project ‘challenges’
In German student-led 'challenges' projects, voluntary participation and the team aspect were the most central factors in students feeling they benefited.
Early Years Learning in Australian Natural Environments
A practical text on immersive nature play programmes in the early years, covering the benefits of learning in natural spaces, pedagogy, First Nations perspectives, sustainability and risk management.
‘ON MONDAY AFTERNOONS WE GO TO DISCOVER THE WORLD!’: UNDERSTANDING A TRADITIONAL ITALIAN PRIMARY SCHOOL’S ADAPTATION TO A STUDENT-DRIVEN APPROACH TO LEARNING / IL LUNEDÌ POMERIGGIO ANDIAMO A SCOPRIRE IL MONDO: MODIFICAZIONI NELL’APPROCCIO SCOLASTICO TRADIZIONALE A FAVORE DI PERCORSI D’APPRENDIMENTO GUIDATI DAGLI ALUNNI IN UNA SCUOLA PRIMARIA ITALIANA
A six-year case study of a rural Italian primary school highlights the importance of alliances with families and community, pupil voice and mixed-age groups when bringing in learning outside the classroom.
School ground pedagogies for enriching children’s outdoor learning
In one Australian primary school, findings indicate that school-ground teaching framed by self-directed learning tasks increased student autonomy, efficacy and achievement.
Outdoor Learning Terhadap Literasi Numerasi Anak Usia Dini
In a kindergarten quasi-experiment, outdoor learning had a significant effect on young children's early numeracy literacy.
Environmental Immersion and Mobile Filmmaking for Science Education: a New Zealand Pilot Study
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.
Forest discovery: place relationships on an environmental science, arts and humanities (eSAH) field trip
Pilot data from two high school field trips that combined environmental science, arts and humanities produced a framework for active and passive place relationships.
Where Are We Going? International Views on Purposes, Practices and Barriers in School-Based Outdoor Learning
Across 19 countries/areas, experts most often reported field studies, early years outdoor activities and outdoor and adventure education, mainly to support environmental awareness and pupil wellbeing.
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.
Lookout for learning: Exploring the links between drama and environmental education pedagogies
Auckland primary children who created a one-on-one performance about their city for adults developed deeper understanding, connection and empowerment. Their parents' learning was less clear.
Flourishing EOTC in Aotearoa New Zealand: Challenges and solutions
A solutions-focused article for teachers and school leaders that draws on a recent large-scale New Zealand study to offer realistic, sustainable ways to manage common EOTC challenges.
Articulating outdoor risky play in early childhood education: voices of forest and nature school practitioners
Interviews with ten forest and nature school practitioners explore how they define and manage risky play, and how they handle tensions with regulatory policy.
Teachers’ Perspectives of Students’ Social and Emotional Changes During an Adventure-Based Program
Teachers saw modest gains in students' social and emotional learning during a three-year adventure-based programme, but a few students' behaviour could affect the whole class.
Education Outside the Classroom in Aotearoa New Zealand – A Comprehensive National Study: Final Report
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.
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.
The Five Cs of Positive Youth Development in an Aotearoa/New Zealand Program Context
In a New Zealand positive youth development outdoor programme run in schools, all 5 Cs and a sixth C, contribution, were seen. Young people and adults valued different outcomes.
Investigating the process of learning for school pupils on residential outdoor education courses
A field studies course produced cognitive gains without the expected affective learning, which raises questions about how learning domains connect on residential courses.
He tohu o te wā – Hangarau pūtaiao / Signs of our times – Fusing technology with environmental sciences
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.
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.
The Blue Car in the Forest: Exploring Children’s Experiences of Sustainability in a Canadian Forest
An abandoned 1958 car in a forest became a year-long prompt for preschoolers and their nature teachers to explore sustainability together.