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Bridges and barriers to offering outdoor education to grade 4-7 students in schools

This study investigated the bridges (enabling factors) and the barriers (hindering factors)
of offering school-based Outdoor Education programmes. A questionnaire was used to
survey 120 grade 4-7 classroom teachers. Teachers were required to record their
perceptions pertaining to the bridges and barriers of Outdoor Education programmes on
an 11-point scale. Open-ended responses also provided insights about the barriers and
bridges, as well as how Outdoor Education programmes could be supported in school
settings. Data suggested Outdoor Education is indeed offered in many schools but often
only to a limited degree. Interestingly, the identified barriers tended to be of an
organisational nature, whereas the bridges tended to be more closely aligned to
pedagogical interests. Time, costs and legal liability were perceived by teachers as the
strongest barriers to offering Outdoor Education. The strongest bridges were related to
student learning, other educational stakeholders and the availability of outdoor areas.
These research findings provide guidance for policy, professional development and other
means of supporting elementary teachers' efforts to offer Outdoor Education.
Methodological guidance is also offered for further research along similar lines. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/16222
Date05 1900
CreatorsSanderson, Arthur Owen
Source SetsUniversity of British Columbia
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText, Thesis/Dissertation
Format16527124 bytes, application/pdf
RightsFor non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.

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