Space and Place: Perspectives on Outdoor Teaching and Learning
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Space and Place Perspectives on outdoor teaching and learning Emilia Fägerstam Linköping Studies in Behavioural Science No. 167 Linköping University Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning Linköping 2012 Distributed by: Linköping University Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning Linköping University SE-581 83 Linköping Emilia Fägerstam Space and Place Perspectives of outdoor teaching and learning Upplaga 1:1 ISBN 978-91-7519-813-2 ISSN 1654-2029 Cover: Temperate rainforest, Tasmania and high school students, Sweden - Photos by Emilia Fägerstam ©Emilia Fägerstam Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, 2012 Printed by: Liu-tryck 2012 Trött på alla som kommer med ord, ord men inget språk for jag till den snötäckta ön. Det vilda har inga ord. De oskrivna sidorna breder ut sig åt alla håll! Jag stöter på spåren av rådjursklövar i snön. Språk men inga ord. Tomas Tranströmer Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................ V LIST OF PAPERS..................................................................................................VII 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... - 1 - AIMS FOR THE THESIS .......................................................................................... - 2 - STRUCTURE OF THIS THESIS ................................................................................ - 3 - 2. BACKGROUND .......................................................................................... - 5 - THE CONCEPT OF OUTDOOR EDUCATION ............................................................. - 5 - SCHOOL-BASED OUTDOOR TEACHING AND LEARNING ......................................... - 7 - Previous research on outdoor teaching and learning in secondary school ..... - 7 - Social and affective aspects ...................................................................... - 8 - Research in pre-school and primary school ................................................... - 8 - Teacher’s perceptions on the potential of and barriers to outdoor teaching .. - 9 - PLACE-BASED EDUCATION ................................................................................ - 10 - NATURE EXPERIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN .................................... - 12 - HUMAN-NATURE RELATIONSHIPS ...................................................................... - 14 - CONCLUDING COMMENTS AND REFLECTIONS .................................................... - 14 - 3. THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: LEARNING AND PLACE DIMENSIONS ..................................................................................................... - 17 - THREE DIMENSIONS OF LEARNING ..................................................................... - 17 - The content dimension of learning .............................................................. - 18 - A social dimension to learning .................................................................... - 20 - The emotional dimension of learning .......................................................... - 21 - EXPERIENCE AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING ...................................................... - 22 - THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THIS THESIS.................................................................. - 24 - SPACE AND PLACE ............................................................................................. - 24 - Specificity and scale .................................................................................... - 25 - Place as ‘insideness’ and belonging ............................................................ - 26 - Social space ................................................................................................. - 27 - SPACE, PLACE AND OUTDOOR LEARNING........................................................... - 27 - I 4. METHODOLOGY .................................................................................... - 29 - THE EXPLORATORY AND ABDUCTIVE RESEARCH PROCESS HEREIN .................... - 29 - AN ONTOLOGICAL AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE .................................. - 31 - MIXED METHODS RESEARCH ............................................................................ - 33 - Philosophical foundations in mixed methods research ................................ - 33 - RESEARCH DESIGN ............................................................................................ - 34 - Empirical context ......................................................................................... - 34 - Implementation of outdoor teaching ............................................................ - 36 - An exploratory sequential design ................................................................ - 37 - Data collection ............................................................................................. - 38 - METHODOLOGICAL DISCUSSION ........................................................................ - 39 - Interviews as a source of data ...................................................................... - 39 - Quantitative data and statistical analyses ..................................................... - 40 - Levels of measurements .......................................................................... - 40 - Statistical analysis ................................................................................... - 41 - Trustworthiness ........................................................................................... - 41 - Ethical issues ............................................................................................... - 42 - 5. RESULTS ................................................................................................... - 45 - ADDITIONAL RESULTS FROM THE ONE YEAR OUTDOOR TEACHING PROJECT. ..... - 45 - SHORT SUMMARY OF PAPERS ............................................................................ - 46 - SUMMARY OF PAPERS ........................................................................................ - 47 - Paper 1 ......................................................................................................... - 47 - Aims ........................................................................................................ - 48 - Method .................................................................................................... - 48 - Results..................................................................................................... - 48 - Discussion ............................................................................................... - 49 - Paper 2 ......................................................................................................... - 49 - Aims ........................................................................................................ - 50 - Method .................................................................................................... - 50 - Results..................................................................................................... - 51 - Discussion ............................................................................................... - 51 - Paper 3 ......................................................................................................... - 52 - Aims ........................................................................................................ - 52 - Method .................................................................................................... - 52 - Results..................................................................................................... - 53 - Discussion ............................................................................................... - 53 - Paper 4 ......................................................................................................... - 54 - Aims ........................................................................................................ - 54 - Method .................................................................................................... - 55 - Results..................................................................................................... - 55 - II Discussion ............................................................................................... - 57 - 6. DISCUSSION ............................................................................................. - 59 - GENERAL REFLECTIONS .................................................................................... - 59 - RESULTS REVISITED: AN ANALYTICAL SUMMARY ............................................. - 61 - Shared experiences: content, social and emotional dimensions as well as space and place dimensions ................................................................................... - 61 - Multisensory, experience-based and embodied learning: content dimension as well as space and place dimensions ............................................................. - 62 - On-task communication: content and social dimensions as well as the space dimension .................................................................................................... - 63 - Collaboration, cooperation and participation: social and space dimensions - 63 - Altered relationship: social and emotional dimension as well as the space dimension ...................................................................................................