Search the digital library catalog

Abstract: This research was set as a qualitative (descriptive) case study that portrayed the implementation and analysis of outdoor education teaching in the first grade of one primary school in Slovenia. As part of the qualitative and descriptive research I conducted interviews that researched the essence and importance of feeling/experiencing joy and satisfaction during experiencing outdoor education, as well as its connection to holistic learning dimensions. During the research period I spent five special outdoor learning days, and afterwards conducted all together 95 interviews with students. Almost every day students answered up to eight open-ended and close-ended semi-structured questions that focused on their emotions and emotional reasons while learning outside. The results showed that, while learning outdoors, students developed their cognitive, physical, social, and emotional holistic sides by forming expectations and having experiences, developed aesthetic and emotional attributes through listening tasks, developed emotional, spiritual, and cognitive traits by observing and interacting with animals. The results pointed out that all holistic learning aspects appeared during free outdoor play and outdoor learning in general, where emotions with an emphasis on joy and satisfaction played the essential roles. This study showed a good example of outdoor education implementation in a school curriculum, and also offered a new perspective on how to include the potential of joy and satisfaction into learning.
Keywords: Joy, Satisfaction, Outdoor Learning, Holistic Learning, Emotions, Interview
Published in DKUM: 25.08.2017; Views: 1446; Downloads: 303
Full text (2,61 MB)