Abstract

As the benefits of outdoor learning have become of increasing interest to the education sector, so the importance of understanding and overcoming challenges associated with this pedagogy has gained greater significance. The Natural Connections Demonstration Project recruited primary, secondary, and special schools across south-west England with a view to stimulating and supporting ‘learning in the natural environment’ across the region. This research paper examines qualitative data obtained from case study visits to 12 of these schools. The results from teaching staff interviews and focus groups show that schools face many and varied challenges to embedding outdoor learning, and a raft of strategies are presented for tackling these challenges and integrating learning in the natural environment into much of the current curriculum.

DOI

10.1080/03004279.2016.1176066

Publication Date

2018

Publication Title

Education 3-13

Volume

46

Issue

1

First Page

49

Last Page

63

Publisher

Taylor & Francis (Routledge)

ISSN

1475-7575

Deposit Date

2016-06-11

Organisational Unit

Institute of Education

Keywords

Outdoor learning, learning in the natural environment, learning outside the classroom, barriers, natural connections, curriculum learning, school grounds

Included in

Education Commons

Share

COinS