Exploring whether gender affects pupils’ perspectives on outdoor learning
Jeff Beh
(PGCE Early Primary, 2019-2020)
Abstract
Currently, research examining gender and pupils’ voices within a naturebased setting is limited (Harris, 2018; Trapasso et al., 2018). As a result, the present study sought to investigate whether gender has an influence on children’s learning during Forest School (FS) sessions. Subsequently, a mixed-methods approach, using a modified version of the Mosaic approach (Clark & Statham, 2005), was implemented to obtain data from four pupils in a reception class. The findings from this paper suggests that: (1) naturebased learning is valuable for young learners, (2) outdoor learning can help with social skills, and (3) an awareness of gender can develop in the early years. Consequently, the results support previous research (Bento & Dias, 2017; Coates & Pimlott-Wilson, 2019; Maynard & Waters, 2007) which indicate that learning in an outdoor setting, including FS, can lead to a plethora of benefits for young children.
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The full paper is available for download as a pdf file:699-730behj
Citation: Beh, J. (2021) 'Exploring whether gender affects pupils’ perspectives on outdoor learning. Journal of Trainee Teacher Educational Research, Volume 12 pp.699-730 (Downloaded from http://jotter.educ.cam.ac.uk/, [date of access])