This study investigated Early Years and Childhood Studies students’ developing understanding of outdoor learning spaces as they embarked on their unique learning journeys as professional early years educators
Project summary
Key findings from Murphy (2018) evidenced a direct link between the level of the adults’ understanding of the importance of outdoor provision on children’s learning and the quality of the outdoor space provided in the settings.
There is a dearth of research on outdoor learning spaces in Higher Education Early Years Degree Programmes, which signifies the originality of this study. The study, delivered in two phases, investigated Early Years and Childhood Studies students’ developing understanding of outdoor learning spaces as they embarked on their unique learning journeys as professional early years educators.
The overarching research question was:
How do students develop an understanding of outdoor learning spaces through a Froebelian lens?
The research by Alison Moore is significant and original because it fostered a re-imagination of learning spaces to include the outdoors as a natural extension of an early years indoor environment. Such free movement between the indoor and outdoor spaces is an aspect of the Froebelian approach (Tovey, 2017). Discussion, experiential pedagogy and reflection were central to the research study as they nurtured students' awareness of their explorations, activities and interactions in the outdoors. In phase one, through their own first-hand experiences, students were engaged in the discovery of Froebelian principles and practices. In phase two of the research, students were supported as they implemented these ideas during their first professional practice placement.
Project updates
Dr Alison Moore and Marcella Towler from University College Cork created a sway document providing an overview of the project and outlining some of the phase one findings relating to Knowledgeable, Nurturing, Reflective Educators.
Access the Sway document here .
