What's new

Writing as teacher educators, the authors respond to an earlier call to develop an ethic of care in outdoor and adventure education. Building on earlier work that used Noddings' ethic of care to frame Outward Bound curricula, they extend her theory using place-responsive and more-than-human perspectives. They illustrate this framing, and how curricula might be organised as centres of care, using findings from a recent ethnography of Forest School in one Irish primary school.

Why it matters in Aotearoa

Caring relationships with people and with place resonate with values held in Aotearoa. The paper gives schools running regular local outdoor learning a theoretical basis for putting care at the centre.

Putting it into practice

In regular local outdoor sessions, plan activities that build care for each other and for the place, such as returning to the same site and looking after it over time.

How strong is the evidence

This is mainly a theoretical paper, illustrated with findings from an ethnography in one school. It develops ideas and does not measure outcomes.

What to read

The section on extending Noddings' ethic of care and the Forest School illustrations.

Who it's for