Outdoor education is an educational approach in which planned teaching and learning occur in outdoor environments and use direct experience as a core method for achieving curricular, developmental, and social learning goals [1][2][3][4]. It includes structured activities in natural or built outdoor settings (e.g., school grounds, parks, field sites, residential programs) where learners engage in inquiry, practical tasks, reflection, and application [1][2]. Outdoor education is characterized by experiential learning, place-based context, managed challenge, and guided reflection that links experience to knowledge, skills, values, and behavior [2][3][4]. In educational theory and practice, the term denotes intentional pedagogy in outdoor contexts, rather than unstructured recreation or occasional trips without explicit learning design and assessment [1][2][3][4].
- outdoor education
- experiential learning
- place-based learning
- learning outside the classroom
References
- Simon Priest; Redefining Outdoor Education: A Matter of Many Relationships. J. Environ. Educ. 1986, 17, 13-15, 10.1080/00958964.1986.9941413.
- Rickinson, M.; Dillon, J.; Teamey, K.; Morris, M.; Choi, M. Y.; Sanders, D.; Benefield, P. A Review of Research on Outdoor Learning; National Foundation for Educational Research: Slough, 2004. Available online: https://www.field-studies-council.org/resources/16-18-geography/a-review-of-research-on-outdoor-learning/.
- Christoph Becker; Gabriele Lauterbach; Sarah Spengler; Ulrich Dettweiler; Filip Mess; Effects of Regular Classes in Outdoor Education Settings: A Systematic Review on Students’ Learning, Social and Health Dimensions. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 485, 10.3390/ijerph14050485.
- Emilia Fägerstam; Jonas Blom; Learning biology and mathematics outdoors: effects and attitudes in a Swedish high school context. J. Adventure Educ. Outdoor Learn. 2013, 13, 56-75, 10.1080/14729679.2011.647432.