University of Macau / Faculty of Education

The purpose of this essay is to closely study different studies and texts within the subjects ofanimals and nature in order to, from different themes, analyze and determine whether or not animalsis a useful tool to apply in school as well as preschool. Above all else, this study serves to answerwhat animals and nature can bring children, and when you as an educationalist can benefit from it inyour classes within school and preschool. This study also serves to point out what you should keepin mind when using animals as a tool in your classes, since there are a few obstacles to consider.The method used to analyze the different themes is discourse analysis, which is a sort of textanalysis.About one hundred years ago when our society was industrialized, different theories and theimportance of preserving and to sojourn into nature began to grow among some theorists, biologistsand educators. The value of spending time outdoors was realized, which we today have a greatunderstanding of. Our interest for the impact of animals on us is also starting to grow, and there is alot of research that is of the opinion that animals are good for children in many different ways, andfor many different reasons. When obstacles, such as allergy, is not in the way of using animals inthe education, they could be viewed as excellent educational tools. The discourse presented here isfor many different reasons positive to the effect of animals on children.

Tidigare forskning kring utomhuspedagogik studerar i stor utsträckning fördelar och nackdelar. I denna studie lyfts frågor om hur förskollärare nyttjar tiden och miljön i utomhusvistelsen. Studien jämför hur mycket tid det läggs på planerade pedagogiska aktiviteter utomhus jämfört med hur mycket total utomhusvistelse förskolorna har. Vår upplevelse är att nästan all tid man vistas utomhus är förlagd till fri lek och orsakerna till detta är något vi undersöker i denna studie. Fyra förskolor medverkar i studien och enskilda intervjuer har gjorts med åtta utbildade förskollärare. Studien visar att miljön har betydelse för hur mycket lärandetid det är som läggs utomhus. Brist på tid och resurser (personal, pengar och utbildning) ses som en begränsning till hur mycket förskolorna arbetar med utomhuspedagogik. Kunskaper om utomhuspedagogik och förskollärares inställning och förhållningssätt till denna pedagogik tycks enligt de intervjuade påverka dem i hur mycket pedagogiskt planerade aktiviteter de förlägger utomhus. Studiens resultat visar att vistelsen utomhus mestadels är förlagd till fri lek. Det förvånade oss att en förskola med stor gård och närhet till både skog och hav/sjö sällan tar tillvara på miljön för att skapa ett lärande. Anledningen är att det är många barn per förskollärare. Samtidigt visar den procentuella jämförelsen på att denna förskola har ungefär lika mycket pedagogiskt planerade aktiviteter kontra total utomhusvistelse som några av de andra förskolorna i studien.  Förskollärarna i vår studie påpekar att de vill ha ett samspel mellan planerade aktiviteter och fri lek (där spontant lärande ingår) för att skapa en variation som ska hjälpa barnen att komma vidare i sin utveckling. Här ser vi att de har mycket att arbeta med för att skapa detta samspel då den största delen av tiden utomhus spenderas till fri lek. / Earlier studies show in big expansion of the positive and negative outcomes of outdoor education. The focus in this study is on how preschool teachers use the environment to create a learning situation and how they use the time spent outdoors. This study compares the time spent on planned educational activities outdoors versus total time spent outdoors. Our experience is that almost all time spent outdoors are located in free play and the reasons for this is something we examine in this study. Four preschools participate in this study where interviews were conducted with eight preschool teachers. The study showed that the environment had an impact on how much learning time is spent outdoors. Lack of time and resources (staff, money and education) is seen as a limitation on how much time the preschools are working with outdoor education. Knowledge about outdoor education and the attitude and approach of the preschool teachers to this type of pedagogy seem to have an impact on how much time they are using on planned educational activities placed outdoors. The results of the study show that almost all time spent outdoor was used for free play. We were surprised about that one of the preschools didn’t take advantages of outdoor environment even though they have a big yard and are placed near a forest, a lake and an ocean. The reason is that there are many children per preschool teachers. This preschool has about as much planned educational activities versus total time spent on free play outdoor as some of the other preschools in the study, in percentage terms. To create a variation that will help children to make progress in their development, the preschool teachers in our study point out that they want to have an interaction between planned activities and free play (where spontaneous learning are included). The teachers have much to work with to create this interaction since the study showed that they spent most of the time on free play outdoors.

In 1960 the Toronto Board of Education opened its first residential outdoor education centre, the Toronto Island Natural Science School, which signaled the beginning of an outdoor education movement in the city. By the mid-1980s the school boards and conservation authorities of Metropolitan Toronto had opened 12 residential outdoor education centres to serve Toronto public school students. This thesis seeks to explain why these programs were developed at this time and in this place. It finds that these programs fit into a broader ‘modernizing antimodernism’ paradigm which shaped many similar formal and informal educational programs in the twentieth century, and argues that democratic citizenship education was the major factor that was used to justify and shape them. This democratic citizenship education had three main components: education for democratic living, education for productive use of leisure time, and education for the environment, each of which is explored in depth.

In 1960 the Toronto Board of Education opened its first residential outdoor education centre, the Toronto Island Natural Science School, which signaled the beginning of an outdoor education movement in the city. By the mid-1980s the school boards and conservation authorities of Metropolitan Toronto had opened 12 residential outdoor education centres to serve Toronto public school students. This thesis seeks to explain why these programs were developed at this time and in this place. It finds that these programs fit into a broader ‘modernizing antimodernism’ paradigm which shaped many similar formal and informal educational programs in the twentieth century, and argues that democratic citizenship education was the major factor that was used to justify and shape them. This democratic citizenship education had three main components: education for democratic living, education for productive use of leisure time, and education for the environment, each of which is explored in depth.

Thesis (MEd) -- Macquarie University, Australian Centre for Educational Studies, School of Education, 2008. / Bibliography: leaves 86-89. / Introduction -- Literature review -- The challenge program -- Methodology -- Analysis of questionnaire data -- Analysis of interviews -- Discussion of results. / This study investigates the effects of a week long challenge program on adolescents' social skills and in particular social competence. Current research has shown that there can be positive outcomes for participants attending outdoor education programs, however little is known about the nature and causes of such effects for short term programs. -- Thirty six students attending schools in the Sutherland Shire, south of Sydney were nominated by teachers to attend the week long program and subsequent follow-up sessions. The Life Effectiveness Questionnaire H-1 (Neill, Marsh & Richards, 2003) was completed pre and post program and again six months later. This was used to quantify any change that occurred in the eight constructs measured by the questionnaire deemed to constitute "life effectiveness' in the post program period. -- A cohort of students (n=100) was interviewed immediately after the program and six months later. The questioning sought to determine if participants observed changes in their own social skills and those of others. Interviwees were also asked to identify specific activities that they felt were of general benefit and assisted in the development of personal social skills. The instructor and supervising teacher who attended the same program were asked to identify changes in participants and significant events that may have contributed to participants' reported changes. -- Results from the questionnaire showed significant gains in the constructs of Social Competence and Time Management. These however declined over the sixth month period after the program. It appears that the effect of short term outdoor education programs on Life Effectiveness is short lived. In contrast, the qualitative data collected from interviews showed that participants had observed changes in their social skills and attributed these to the challenge and group activities within the program. Participants reported that these benefits were long lasting. -- The findings of this study demonstrate the positive benefits of short term outdoor education programs and the need to further investigate the post program experience. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / viii, 94 leaves ill

The work deals with the development, goals and content of the open-air schools at the area of today{\crq}s Czech Republic. The theoretical part defines a term ``outdoor education{\crqq} and describes the development of the open-air schools in the Czechoslovak Republic from the 1920{\crq}s to the end of 20th century and following up until today. The practical part of this work follows up successful theoretical knowledge of open-air schools in the Czech Republic and abroad. Positive experience places the open-air schools firmly in the future.

This project investigates federal, state and local agencies and organizations that are key sources of information about Peninsular bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis cremnobates) to determine the extent of the agencies' environmental education and awareness programs related to the sheep. The agencies and organizations investigated include: Bureau of Land Management, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Living Desert Wildlife and Botanical Park, Bighorn Institute, Natural Science Collaborative of the Desert Region and California Desert Managers Group. Recommendations about future educational and interpretive programs are included.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a blueprint for the creation of the Free Spirit Children's Nature Center. The center has in mind the preservation of a habitat and will offer naturalist programs that enhance children's understanding and love of nature. The interactive nature of the experiences provided through the programs and activities will offer children a hands-on approach to learning that is developmentally appropriate. The primary role of the nature center is proposed to re-create a sense of connectedness to nature and generate healthy communities.

The purpose of this project was to develop a handbook of inquiry activities that can be used in high school Earth sciences.