Te Waiora - Ngā Tau 0-10
The final Te Waiora curriculum presents wellbeing as including taha taiao, with outdoor experiences and kaitiakitanga as part of Māori-medium learning.
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
12 items
Ka ara ake te akoranga i te whenua: Perspectives from the classroom and the field
Two secondary teachers and a student argue that history learning about colonisation and local ecology should not stay in the classroom, and that teachers and students should, wherever possible, go into the field alongside mana whenua.
Synergies of affordances and place-based relationality in Forest School practice: implications for socio-emotional well-being
This conceptual paper argues that Forest School should combine Western affordance theory with Indigenous place-based relationality to support children's social and emotional wellbeing.
Student leader perspectives of a place-responsive initiative
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.
Desettling science through partnership
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.
Deconstructing the anthropocentrism versus ecocentrism binary through Māori oral fire traditions
Māori oral traditions of fire challenge the split between human-centred and nature-centred worldviews, and show the teaching potential of campfires.
Te Puna Taiao: How can our outdoor spaces provide meaningful interactions for tamariki and communities?
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.
Ngā Waihotanga Iho: Self-determination through Indigenous environmental education in New Zealand
A Kaipara hapū used an estuary monitoring toolkit with NIWA and local high schools to lead Indigenous environmental education, supporting self-determination and environmental guardianship.
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.
Ngā whakaaro o ngā ākonga: perspectives and experiences of Māori students in outdoor education in Aotearoa New Zealand
Māori students in one secondary school outdoor education programme valued shared experiences and relationships, and making connections with Te Ao Māori through experience, stories of places and history. Affordability, the influence of friends and whānau, and prioritising educational pathways made engaging Māori in outdoor education complex.
Outdoor learning in Aotearoa New Zealand: voices past, present, and future
The paper shows how outdoor education in Aotearoa is being re-thought and practised, shaped by the country's bicultural foundation.
Indigenous ways: fruits of our ancestors
The paper explores common characteristics of indigenous thought and practice and concludes they could inspire fundamental change in outdoor education.