Utomhusvistelsen är en del av den dagliga rutinen i förskolan och är ett naturligt inslag. Hur gårdarna ser ut samt hur de används skiljer sig mellan förskolor, syftet med denna studie är att undersöka några förskollärares syn på utomhusmiljöns betydelse för barns lärande och utveckling. Där de centrala frågorna riktar in sig på användningen av utomhusmiljön och om den ses som en resurs för verksamheten. Studien bygger på en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer, där åtta legitimerade förskollärare deltog. Resultatet analyserade med hjälp av det sociokulturella perspektivet och det utvecklingsekologiska perspektivet. Resultatet av studien visar förskollärarnas gemensamma uppfattningar och syn på utomhusmiljön, det framkommer hur förskollärarna anser att utemiljön kan användas i lärande syfte samt att utemiljön och förskolans närmiljö ses som en pedagogisk resurs. Slutsatsen synliggjorde att det finns potentiella möjligheter för att utveckla lärandet i förskolans utomhusmiljö och att förskollärarna anser att verksamhetens olika material kan förflyttas mellan miljöerna i förskolans verksamhet.

Syfte Syftet med studien är att undersöka vad som ligger till grund för hur lärare i idrott och hälsa (åk 7-9) väljer ut sitt innehåll, organiserar sin undervisning samt vad de värderar som kunskap i friluftsliv i skolan. Studien avser besvara följande frågeställningar: · Hur väljer lärare ut sitt innehåll i friluftsliv i skolan? · Hur organiserar lärare undervisningen i friluftsliv i skolan? · Vad värderar lärare som viktig kunskap i friluftsliv i skolan?   Metod Sex högstadielärare i idrott och hälsa (tre kvinnor och tre män) intervjuades mellan 25-35 minuter genom semistrukturerade intervjuer via ett digitalt mötesrum. Intervjuerna kodades via en innehållsanalys och därigenom samlades svaren i olika teman. Läroplansteorin utgör det teoretiska ramverket och användes i diskussionen för att tolka resultatet. Resultat Vad gäller lärarnas val av innehåll, präglade det centrala innehållet undervisningen i stor utsträckning, samt faktorer som egna erfarenheter av friluftsliv, bedömningsstöd etc. Idrottslärarna i denna studie organiserar sin undervisning med en stark koppling mot idrottslogiken där orientering genomförs ofta samt andra idrottsaktiviteter utomhus. Resultaten påvisade även en aktivitetsdiskurs vilket karaktäriseras av att sin undervisning ska förbereda eleverna för turfriluftsliv. Vad lärarna värderar som viktig kunskap stämmer överens med hur de väljer ut sitt innehåll samt organiserar sin undervisning. Slutsats Undervisningen verkar präglas av en tradition och kultur där strävan efter turfriluftsliv framträder starkt i lärarutbildningar, i bedömningsstödet samt lärares syn på friluftsliv. Att skilja på friluftsliv som skolämne och samhällsfenomen har aktualiserats nu då internationella influenser skapat intresse för hur lärandesituationer kan skapas genom exempelvis platsresponsiv pedagogik. Dessa lärandesituationer ställer lägre krav på material och tid vilket denna studies lärare nämnde som begränsande faktorer. / Aim The aim of the study is to investigate what is the basis for how teachers in sports and health (years 7-9) choose their content, organize their teaching and what they value as knowledge in outdoor education in school. The study intends to answer these questions: • How teachers choose their content in outdoor education in school? • How do teachers organize the teaching of outdoor education in the school? • What do teachers’ value as important knowledge in outdoor education in school? Methods 6 high school teachers in sports and health (3 woman and 3 men) were interviewed between 25-35 minutes through semi-structured interviews via a digital meeting room. The interviews were coded via a content analysis and thereby the answers were collected in different themes. Results Regarding the teachers' choice of content, the central content characterized the teaching to a large extent, as well as factors such as own experiences of outdoor life, assessment support, etc. The PE teachers in this study organize their teaching with a strong connection to the sports logic where orienteering is often implemented and other outdoor sports activities. The results also showed an activity discourse which characterizes by the teacher preparing students for tur-free-air-life. What teachers value as important knowledge is consistent with how they select their content and organize their teaching. Conclusion The teaching is characterized by a tradition and culture where the pursuit of outdoor adventure is strong in PE-teacher education, assessment support and also what the teachers consider to be free-air-life. Distinguishing between free-air-life as a school subject and societal phenomena has been updated now since international influences have created interest in how learning situations can be created through for example place-responsive pedagogy. This type of learning situation creates low demands on material and time, which the teachers of this study mentioned as limiting factors.

The study investigates preschool teachers’ individual perceptions towards outdoor learning in Swedish preschools. The aim is to understand how preschool teachers describe outdoor learning and which effects on children´s behavior are recognized. Furthermore, the study aims to highlight children particularly benefiting from learning outdoors. Therefore, semi-structured interviews following a qualitative research approach are hold in order to outline and evaluate the perceptions of seven preschool teachers working in southern Sweden. A literature review should allow a contextual location focusing on outdoor education and outdoor learning, the Swedish preschool curriculum, nature´s influence on human’s health and well-being and children with special needs. The interviews show that preschool teachers mainly recognize positive effects of learning outdoors regarding children´s social, emotional, cognitive and physical development. Outdoor learning offers children possibilities to play in bigger groups and seems to cause less conflicts. Little attention is put on negative effects only regarding outdoor surroundings. Preschool teachers identify two main character traits of children certainly benefiting from learning outdoors, referring to children needing increased movement and children indoors appearing shy and introverted. As possible explanations for positive effects of outdoor learning on children the preschool teachers mainly relate to larger space and increased feelings of freedom. Nature seems to provide possibilities for a lower distraction of the senses, allowing a clearer perception. Children´s ability to concentrate seems to increase through nature. Additionally, outdoors the opportunity of taking a timeout increases in order to allow children spending time alone.

The aim of our study is to investigate what possibilities and challenges Ghanaian teacher students express regarding outdoor pedagogy, in order to find out their view on using it as a method when teaching natural science in primary school. The teacher education in Ghana has not yet a course in outdoor pedagogy to offer their students. The view of outdoor pedagogy that is presented in this paper shows a learning situation where the learning context is moved to the natural landscape, which opens up for practical learning and the interaction between the senses of the pupils and the environment. Furthermore, reflection and concrete experiences in authentic situations are highlighted. The research took place at the University of Education, Winneba and the method consisted of qualitative interviews and a workshop with 20 teacher students of the department of basic education. We gathered our data before, during and after the workshop, therefore our result is divided as such. The results of the analysis show three main themes of the teacher students’ view on outdoor pedagogy; the learning context, teacher’s and student’s role. In the results section, each of these themes are categorized in possibilities and challenges expressed by the teacher students.Possibilities that can be found in the results is the fact that the learning will become practical and hands-on, it will involve the senses and therefore lead to deeper memories. Furthermore, the teacher students express a possibility for the pupils as they get an opportunity to take control of their own learning when sharing their knowledge with their peers. This affects the teacher's role which becomes more guiding than authoritarian.Difficulties the students expressed includes issues on behalf of the teacher in keeping control of the class due to the great number of pupils in the classes and the safety aspect with dangerous animals. Another category that recurred was the challenge with placebound prerequisites; to find a safe place suitable for the topic to teach. A difficulty on behalf of the students might be a fear of contributing to the teaching due to the lack of experience in sharing and talking in the classroom environment.

A dissertation of limited scope submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Post-Graduate Diploma in Recreation and Tourism, in the Department of Recreation and Tourism at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2008. / The study on Levels of Participation in Outdoor Recreation at Malolotja Game Reserve was conducted against the background that, the Game Reserve has lot of outdoor recreation facilities. Everyone must use these facilities, so that the participation level in outdoor recreation is increased. The study was aimed at finding out the levels of participation in outdoor recreation at Malolotja Game Reserve. This aim was narrowed down to the following objectives: • To establish the levels of understanding the respondents have about the meaning of outdoor recreation activities. • To ascertain the level of participation of various stakeholders in activities provided by Malolotja Game Reserve. • To ascertain if the management of the Game Reserve is regarded as efficient by the respondents. • To find out the nature and types of recreation facilities offered at Malolotja Game Reserve. • To reveal who the respondents think is responsible for financing the Malolotja Game Reserve. • To find out how local community perceive safety and security in Malolotja Game Reserve. Data was collected through the use of sets of questionnaires, which had both * opened-ended and closed ended questions. Data was collected, it was analysed through the use of computer programme, statistical Package for Social Sciences. This programme was used to formulate frequency tables. There were various findings that the researcher obtained from respondents which were tourists, local community, authority and Swaziland National Trust Commission. It was discovered that all the tourists' respondents had a good understanding of outdoor recreation whereas local community had poor understanding of the meaning of outdoor recreation. The participation level was low in local community and moderate for tourists. Participation level was elevated in international tourists and in local community it was declining. Nature and types of facilities the study area had were satisfactory to all the respondents. Management of the facilities were regarded as inefficient and the Game Reserve gets most income from its profit and Government of Swaziland. To address the concerns of the decreasing level of participation, various recommendations were suggested. These include creation of projects to facilitate the participation level in outdoor recreation, provision of outdoor recreation facilities and activities, marketing and promotion of Malolotja Game Reserve, involving the government in development of outdoor recreation, provision of access to finance, development of information centres and lastly improve safety and security. If all this is considered the participation level in outdoor recreation could increase.

The aim of this study is to investigate Greek pre-school teachers’ perceptions about outdoor mindfulness practices. Mindfulness and place-based education are the main theories this study is based on. In this qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight Greek pre-school teachers and afterwards, the research data were analyzed by using Thematic Analysis. The results show that Greek pre-school teachers perceive the concept of outdoor mindfulness as a process of observation, awareness and connection. According to the pre-school teachers, by participating in outdoor mindfulness practices children can connect to their inner selves, to the other individuals and to the natural environment. Moreover, the participants show a positive attitude towards future systematic introduction of outdoor mindfulness in their lessons. Finally, this study gives space to Greek pre-school teachers so that they can express their own thoughts, understandings and suggestions on outdoor mindfulness practices. Starting from their perceptions on the topic an important step can be made for the further practice of outdoor mindfulness in pre-school education.

A distinct lack of data related to the impact of natural environments on children birth to age 3 was identified by a thematic review of the existing literature. With this in mind, the researcher designed a limited scope quantitative study to explore the potential for extending the existing body of research to include this younger age. The study used a time sampling method to code behaviors that occurred in videos collected of children from 12 to 35 month who were playing on the playground at their childcare facility. The playscapes were classified as naturalistic or manufactured. The data was then analyzed using independent t-tests to look for statistically significant variations to the frequent that children engaged in various social and play based behaviors. The results of the study were minimal but were significant enough to support the value of further research involving children birth to three.

Based on the interest in the fields of leadership and outdoor education, this paper aims tovinvestigate how leadership is trained in an outdoor leadership programme in Sweden and to what extent the observed competences are consistent with the concept of transformational leadership. The transformational leadership style is considered to be the most popular leadership style and is therefore of particular interest for this study. The research is motivated by the belief that outdoors is a highly suitable place for the acquisition of (transformational) leadership skills, which has already been proven by several authors before. After a detailed literature review on transformational leadership as well as on outdoor leadership, a participant observation was conducted over the period of four days at Sjövik’s folkhögskola in the course ‘Friluftsliv-Hantverk-Ledarskap’, which can be translated as outdoor activities, crafts and leadership. The observation protocols were analysed using deductive thematic analysis, applying the transformational leadership competences ‘idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration’ developed by Bass & Avolio as clusters for the analysis. In specific terms, the transcripts were searched for situations that could be assigned to these competences. The results reveal that leadership is particularly trained on the basis of a good relationship between leader and participants as well as the space for development for the participants and can thus be classified in previous research results regarding transformational and outdoor leadership. It was shown that the observed competences can be assigned to the transformational leadership style, but at the same time there is still a need for further research.

The purpose of this degree project is to address upper secondary outdoor language education. It explores upper secondary EFL students’ attitudes and responses towards the teaching of English outdoors. The research has been based on data from qualitative research methods with an action research approach: peer observation, a reflective diary and focus group interviews. Peer observation and the reflective diary was used to recover information on four upper secondary EFL classes’ responses towards being taught outdoors. Focus group interviews were conducted on two groups of students from two of the classes on their attitudes towards being taught in outdoor English. The results from the data gathering are discussed using secondary sources which can be connected to outdoor education, and the research establishes that the students responded negatively to the instructions during the classes, many of them were active while some did not do what they were supposed to, and hardly no English was spoken. Even though mostly negative results were found the interviewees were generally positive to be taught outdoors and enjoyed it more than receiving education indoors, but some of them were aware that they did not learn much English since they hardly used it. This research provides ideas for how the lessons can be improved and acts as inspiration for future outdoor ESL classes.

Outward Bound and the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) are two of the United State’s largest providers of outdoor education and adventure recreation programs. While many studies have examined the outcomes of the different organizations individually, there is very little comparative research. This study compared the attributes, consequences, and values obtained by 510 participants of courses 14 days or longer in the Rocky Mountain region during the summer of 2006. Means-end theory was used to analyze data obtained from participants through personal interviews. Means-end theory links the physical objects or services, the means, with the outcomes and the personal values of the individual, the ends (Klenosky, Frauman, Norman, & Gengler 1998). The theory focuses on the interrelationship among attributes, consequences, and values, as three levels of abstraction (Goldenberg, Klenosky, O’Leary, & Templin, 2000). Data were collected using a convenience sampling method from OB schools in Leadville, Marble, and Silverton, Colorado and the NOLS headquarters in Lander, Wyoming, for a total of 162 OB participants and 348 NOLS participants. Interview questions were entered into LadderMap software, a program used to analyze means-end data. Content codes were developed and then tested by an additional researcher to measure intercoder reliability. An implication matrix was then created to tabulate the frequency of concepts being associated with one another. Hierarchical value maps (HVMs) were then created to graphically depict the themes and relationships that surfaced in the implication matrix. Seven HVMs were developed to visually present the data for all participants, all NOLS participants, all OB participants, OB males, OB females, NOLS males, and NOLS females. Though all HVMs were varied, some themes emerged by organization. For example, all NOLS participants had slightly more significant links to hard skills development than did their OB counterparts. NOLS and OB females stated being challenged and interactions as their most significant consequences yet corresponding males had slightly less emphasis on being challenged and more emphasis on new experience. This study produced more similarities than differences among the various subsets of the population. For example all HVMs showed a clear link from multiple attributes to independence, and ultimately to transference and additional values. The HVMs showed that new experiences, being challenged, and group interactions were significant components for all participants. The most common values obtained also demonstrate great similarity among participant demographics. These values include transference, sense of accomplishment, self respect/esteem/confidence, and self-awareness.