Teaching in the Field: What Teacher Professional Life Histories Tell About How They Learn to Teach in the Outdoor Learning Environment

Advancing preservice teacher’s science pedagogy beyond the classroom

“…Findings in this exploratory multicase study indicate that preservice teachers who experienced out-of-classroom learning in their science methods course were likely to include similar types of learning in their written instructional sequences. However, limited and one-time exposure may not be enough to provide the intense pedagogical experiences (Feille, 2017;Foran, 2005) needed by teachers to shift their perspective to one that frequently includes nontraditional environments for teaching science. Students who experienced a variety of out-of-classroom learning in their science methods course were more likely to include similar experiences in their self-constructed instructional sequences.…”

“…Additionally, simply talking about such experiences (the guest lecture) proved not to be sufficient to encourage students to include out-ofclassroom learning in their own plans. Without experiencing the out-of-classroom environments themselves with multiple opportunities to do so, PSETs were less likely to experience intense pedagogical experiences needed to support this development (Feille, 2013(Feille, , 2017(Feille, , 2019Foran, 2005). The PSETs' experiences in the out-of-classroom contexts permitted a broadening of how they considered teaching and learning of science (Kisiel, 2013) and repeated or varied opportunities to see such environments facilitated further development of a schoolyard pedagogy.…”

“…Learners, including PSETs, bring with them a unique set of beliefs, understandings, experiences, and realities to the learning experience. The PSET's childhood or adult experiences in nature may lead them to be more likely to include such experiences in their teaching practice (Feille, 2013(Feille, , 2017(Feille, , 2019. However, it is unlikely that the PSET experienced such learning as a science student.…”

“…To encourage the use of learning environments beyond the four walls of a classroom, teacher preparation programs should integrate learning experiences for preservice teachers that engage them in learning science and methods for science teaching beyond the classroom (Tal & Morag, 2009). Elementary teachers who successfully integrate out-of-classroom learning into their teaching reflect on intense pedagogical moments where their view of teaching and learning shifts based on their experiences beyond the classroom (Feille, 2013(Feille, , 2017(Feille, , 2019. Teacher preparation courses that expose preservice teachers to out-of-classroom teaching and learning experiences have the potential to provide intense pedagogical moments as a foundation for teachers to build their self-efficacy and practice in teaching beyond the traditional classroom environment (Feille, 2017;Carrier, 2009a).…”

“…Relying on existing literature that investigates the ways in which teachers may extend learning opportunities beyond the classroom (Feille, 2017;Ayotte-Beaudet et al, 2017;Dyment, 2005;Klemmer et al, 2005;Tal et al, 2014) I identified key descriptions of locations likely to be associated with instructional activities that occur outside of the classroom. The resulting key out-of-classroom descriptors were field trip, garden, museum, nature, outside, playground, and schoolyard.…”