Outdoor Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education

Thomas, A and Boulton, Pavla ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3559-0392 (2025) Outdoor Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education. In: Elevating Early Childhood Outdoor Pedagogy. Palgrave Macmillan Cham/Springer Nature Switzerland, Switzerland, pp. 25-38. ISBN 978-3-031-89783-2

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Abstract

This chapter considers the various terms and phrases that attempt to define outdoor learning and play and the importance of this provision in nurturing schematic development in Early Childhood Education. Benefits to children learning in the outdoor environment are provided as well as significant challenges, focusing on different curricula expectations of implementing an ‘outdoor pedagogy’. The consequences of pressures from the curriculum are discussed such as the ‘hurried’ (Clark, 2023) nature of learning that can lead to a deficit model of outdoor pedagogies being employed in practice, which can lead to ‘pedagogical blindspots’ (Cree and Robb, 2021) and missing key observations of schematic development in early childhood. Nature connectedness is briefly explored, considering the need for both learner and practitioner to connect to the natural environment if learning outdoors is to be authentic and long lasting, such that teacher educators must also be trained to understand the importance of ecological identity (White, 2023) in order for EC practitioners to be fully immersed in the power of an outdoor pedagogy which can be a transformative tool in a child’s holistic development.

Item Type:	Book Section
Subjects:	L Education > L Education (General) L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1139.2 Early Childhood Education L Education > LC Special aspects of education
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Education, Health and Sciences
Depositing User:	Charlotte Crutchlow
Date Deposited:	08 Jan 2026 13:30
Last Modified:	08 Jan 2026 13:45
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/15726

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