LEARNING TO LEARN
This is in stark contrast to several countries , including Sweden , Finland , Denmark , Singapore , and New Zealand , which have fully embedded outdoor learning opportunities across age ranges and curriculums , and hence research on outdoor education in these countries is plentiful . Interestingly , Scandinavian research often focuses on the impact of the ‘ microsystem ’ ( the web of relations between children and their environment ) on a variety of factors ( see e . g . Gustafsson et al ., 2011 ).
Background benefits :
Background benefits arise from spending time in the natural environment and include factors such as improved physical and mental health ( Puhakka et al ., 2016 ; Rantala & Puhakka , 2020 ; McCormick , 2017 ). One study by Gustafsson et al . ( 2011 ) assessed the mental health benefits of an outdoor learning intervention on 230 primary aged students across two schools in Sweden ( one experimental and one a control ) and found that male students experienced greater mental health benefits than females . Berman et al . ( 2008 ) note that students who experienced the natural environment demonstrated better moods and cognitive function than their peers who had not . Dillon ( no date ) and Rickinson et al . ( 2004 ) suggests better cognition may be due to the greater sensory experience and memorable environment when taking part in outdoor education experiences . The Natural Connections Demonstration Project ( Waite et al ., 2016 ) which involved learning in the natural environment experiences for 40,434 students across 125 schools in the south-west of England between 2012-2016 , had similar findings to Berman . It suggested that 90 % of students involved were happier and healthier because of the outdoor education experiences they were exposed to .
Alongside physical and mental health benefits , students who experience teaching in an outdoor classroom are noted to have better behaviour ( Largo-Wight et al ., 2016 ). Additionally , these experiences appeared to reset students ’ attention , with more students appearing ‘ on-task ’ in the outdoor environment . Kuo & Taylor ( 2004 ) and Faber & Kuo ( 2009 ) report dampened down ADHD symptoms when students are exposed to outdoor environments , with students showing improved concentration , being more on-task for learning whilst outdoors and immediately afterwards ( likely due to nature experiences activating the parasympathetic nervous system , which instigates feeling calm ( Pyrah , 2023 ). However , it must be noted that many of the impacts cited in Kuo & Taylor ’ s ( 2004 ) study contain anecdotal evidence , without the occurrence of randomised control trials , so we must question the validity of their study . That said , the authors ’ findings were consistent across age , gender , income groups , community types , geographic regions , and diagnoses so their findings must still be considered .
Evidence also suggests that young children attending Forest School naturally acquire additional background skills , such as improved communication , from being exposed to play and learning in an outdoor environment . Several studies , such as those by Rickinson et al . ( 2004 ) and Becker et al . ( 2017 ), indicate that regular outside learning experiences cause the positive establishment and maintenance of peer relationships . Bølling et al . ( 2019 ) suggest education outside the classroom produces higher quality peer relationships , but does not increase the number of peer relations . Ellinger et al . ( 2023 ) corroborates this research , suggesting children taught outside have high quality , but smaller , network interactions . This highlights that when conducting outside learning the role of the teacher in facilitating group discussion and decision making , ensuring all students are involved , is key .
These kinds of background benefits have also been noted in studies by Ray & Sonya ( 2018 ) who found improved physical health and development , cognitive functioning , psychological wellness , and higher academic achievement because of outdoor education experiences . Additionally , better academic performance and selfesteem has also been found in a study by Mygind et al . ( 2019 ). Wu et al . ( 2014 ) also found that ‘ greener ’ school surroundings positively impacted academic performance ( presumably because students had a higher exposure to nature ). It is thought that higher academic achievement when exposed to greater levels of nature is because cognitive processing maybe easier when learning in the natural environment ( that humans originally evolved in ) compared to the urban environment , which provides additional distractions ( Grassini et al ., 2019 ; White & Shah , 2019 ). The emerging field of environmental neuroscience is starting to further explore how our brains are affected by being in nature ( Pyrah , 2023 ) and further exciting research will no doubt arise .
There is evidence that pre-school and primary aged students who learn outside have benefitted from improvements to their gut microbiome and immunity ( Twohig-Bennett & Jones , 2018 ) due to their exposure to nature . They have thus seen an improvement to health and wellness , alongside decreased levels of stress and depression ( Sobko et al ., 2020 ), which could mean wider educational benefits linked to better school attendance , as less time is taken off for illness .
Interestingly , some research ( see e . g . van den Berg et al ., 2017 ) suggests that the background benefits of outdoor education experiences can still be seen in an indoor environment where nature has been brought inside , using plants or green walls , for example . The van den Berg study suggested that the presence of green walls in a classroom improved student attention during a test . Whilst some studies on the impact of nature on
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