Outdoor education: perspective of Polish primary school teachers

Abstract

The article presents the results of the research showing Polish teachers’ knowledge and experiences concerning organising outdoor education of children. The research searched for answers to the following questions: How do teachers define outdoor education? Where do they derive knowledge about it from? Do they take into account spaces and places other than the school building in the education process? What methods and forms of work with a child do they prefer? What factors facilitate and which make it difficult for them to practise outdoor education? The relationship between the selected aspects of outdoor education practised by teachers and the location of the school (city and village) was also examined. The research used the diagnostic survey method and the questionnaire technique. A proprietary questionnaire for elementary education teachers was developed. 276 respondents, in response to the questions, revealed their knowledge, their own views, and described their own activities related to the practice of outdoor education. Empirical data have shown that in Polish schools, outdoor education is practised extremely rarely, and its frequency is mainly related to the location of the facility. Incidentally conducted, it is characterised by a predominantly didaskalocentric attitude. Respondents indicate that only occasional education outside the school building results mainly from the lack of acceptance of this type of classes by the headmaster of schools and parents, and also from deficit of teachers’ competence in this area. The undertaken studies are important due to their unique nature in Poland. Moreover, they show directions of changes desired in teacher education curricula and the process of shaping parents’ awareness.