There is a growing interest across Canada in outdoor education that is formally integrated into school. This trend has increased since COVID-19, particularly because open-air environments significantly reduced the risks of disease transmission.
The benefits of outdoor education While the idea that outdoor education can be beneficial to children’s learning and development has been shared by practitioners in formal education systems for generations, in recent decades research has documented multiple benefits from cognitive, physical, psychological and social perspectives.
In terms of social outcomes, outdoor education develops social relationships between students and provides additional opportunities for collaboration among them. The three main intentions teachers shared for leading outdoor education were to connect children to nature, to use real-life contexts for learning and to benefit from being in a larger space. When discussing the benefits of being in a larger space, teachers did not specifically talk about reduced risks for viral transmission outdoors but rather simply having more room for learning activities.
Other teachers see outdoor environments as an opportunity for students to learn to manage risk and develop motor skills, rather than a harmful or hazardous place. Key messages for policies For outdoor education to flourish in educational settings, policymakers can play an important role:
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