An ethnography of the outdoor classroom – how teachers manage risk in the outdoors

Stan, Ina; Humberstone, Barbara

doi:10.1080/17457823.2011.587360

Cited by 41 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Fourth, we observed that, although a controlling mindset based on fear of losing control and managing children's behavior can be successful to a certain extent, it also entails a risk of a negative impact on the educational process. Stan and Humberstone (2011) observed in an ethnographic study teachers' behavior during outdoor education and found that a controlling approach in order to manage risks during outdoor education limited learning opportunities for children. A different approach, in which teachers become observant to what attracts children in the green schoolyard, actively participated with the children, and aimed to understand the value of their (risky) behavior and guide learning activities, seemed to open up learning situations for the children.…”

Section: Get An Outdoor Pedagogical Mindsetmentioning

confidence: 99%

Green Schoolyards as Outdoor Learning Environments: Barriers and Solutions as Experienced by Primary School Teachers

et al. 2020

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With a growing number of primary schools around the globe greening their schoolyards, opportunities arise to realize outdoor learning in natural areas on the school's premises. Despite their promising potential, green schoolyards as outdoor learning environments remain mostly unintegrated in teachers' educational practices. In the current study, teachers of five primary schools in Netherlands were followed for two consecutive years during a participatory action research project. Based on their experiences in this project, teachers identified barriers when integrating the green schoolyard as a learning environment and found practice-based solutions to overcome these barriers. Across schools, a total of 20 meetings were organized, with 75 teachers participating in the project. Results revealed four broad themes encompassing barriers and solutions. Teachers feel hindered by outdoor learning having no formal status in their current educational practice, experience barriers related to a lack of confidence in their own outdoor teaching expertise, find it difficult to get started, and experience barriers related to physical constraints. Teachers, professionals, and researchers together found solutions to overcome each specific barrier. These solutions can be translated to general recommendations: just do it, get educated and inspired, engage in real-life experiences, get an outdoor pedagogical mindset, and follow a tailored process. The findings can be used by primary schools and other institutions to develop interventions that support teachers to further integrate the green schoolyard as a learning environment.

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Section: Get An Outdoor Pedagogical Mindsetmentioning

confidence: 99%

Green Schoolyards as Outdoor Learning Environments: Barriers and Solutions as Experienced by Primary School Teachers

et al. 2020

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“…Through these experiences, children develop a wide range of motor and perceptual skills, cognitive abilities, including problem solving, social skills, dispositions such as persistence and resilience, and the development of skills to enable them to appraise risks for themselves. These skills and qualities are seen as essential for children's eventual independence (Stan and Humberson, 2011).…”

Section: Children's Experience Of Risky Playmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting risk-taking and physically challenging play in Australian early childhood settings in a changing regulatory environment

Little

2016

Journal of Early Childhood Research

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This article presents data from a survey of Early Childhood Education and Care services in Australia. The study investigated outdoor play provision in terms of space, resources and planning for risk-taking in play. Overall, the results indicate that the participating centres are well-resourced to promote physical play, but vary in terms of opportunities for risk-taking in play. Although the majority of respondents believed their centres' environments supported risk-taking in play, there were diverse perspectives among the teachers as to behaviours that constituted risky play. Regulatory restrictions relating to heights, arrangement of gross motor equipment and having insufficient space were also identified as factors limiting opportunities for challenging play. Furthermore, inconsistency in the way regulations were interpreted and applied arose as a key factor in the diversity of experiences reported by the respondents. The findings from this study have implications for pre-and in-service training for teachers in understanding how children's risk-taking in outdoor play might be supported and managed.

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“…According to Stan & Humberstone (2011), there are many perceptions of "risk" including those that are complex and controversial and some that are easy to understand. According to him, risk is multidimensional, as it depends on the financial, physical, ethical, physical, cultural and social factors that influence the role and structure of the organization.…”

Section: Risk and Perceptions Of Perimba Risk In Sk Aslimentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest-friendly pedagogy (PeRIMBA) at indigenous school : risk and risk perceptions

Haron

Kasim

Wahab

et al. 2020

JCET

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The Forest-friendly pedagogy (PeRIMBA) refers to the implementation of outdoor learning session by using forest elements as the learning aid and site. There are four basic principles of PeRIMBA which known as supportive environment, task divided into small portions, the usage of natural surroundings and the involvement of all the senses. The implementation of PeRIMBA introduces a risk-taking approach that will offer the opportunities for teachers and students to engage in risky activities during learning session. This risky activity may seem daunting but if the risks are well managed, the learning sessions will be meaningful. In promoting meaningful learning especially to the indigenous school, Malaysia Ministry of Education support and highlight two intervention action plan that promote flexible classroom and fun learning. Flexible curriculum delivery is not dependent on classroom learning only and fun learning promotes the integration and application of forest elements. However, this intervention action plan needs further research and study especially in the field of risk. The emergence of a social science perspective in the field of risk research has opened up new perspectives to define, measure, and explain the concept of risk. Some of the new risk components proposed in social science studies such as shock, threat, danger, lack of control, and uncertainty. Moreover, the fear and unknown factors are components that influence the perceptions of risk. The input on risk and risk perception will be an added value to teachers to implement PeRIMBA in their teaching and learning sessions. These concepts then lead to risk perception that, in turn, influenced risk assessment and risk management.

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An ethnography of the outdoor classroom – how teachers manage risk in the outdoors

Cited by 41 publications

References 22 publications

Green Schoolyards as Outdoor Learning Environments: Barriers and Solutions as Experienced by Primary School Teachers

Green Schoolyards as Outdoor Learning Environments: Barriers and Solutions as Experienced by Primary School Teachers

Promoting risk-taking and physically challenging play in Australian early childhood settings in a changing regulatory environment

Forest-friendly pedagogy (PeRIMBA) at indigenous school : risk and risk perceptions

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