Teacher Survey
Question 1: Do you think outdoor education is important for students in division 1 (Grades 1-3)?
Unanimously answered yes.
Question 2: How many hours a week (outside of recess time) do you currently spend teaching outdoors?
All teachers answered less than 1 hour per week. (Almost never was also an option that was not selected).
Question 3: How many hours a week do you wish you could spend teaching outdoors?
All teachers answered with 1-2 hours per week.
Question 4: What are some concerns you have about integrating more outdoor learning into your teaching program?
Not having enough time, fitting in all the curriculum on top of outdoor learning, safety concerns, concerns about having enough supervision or additional parent volunteers needed, how to intentionally cover curriculum while also learning outdoors, not having enough ideas of what to teach outside other than exploring or playing activities.
Question 5: Do you know of any benefits for integrating outdoor education into your teaching program?
Mental health benefits, nature's ability to calm children down, personal desires to be outside more, engaging children in real-life ways, moving away from technology, developing holistic children, self-regulation, authentic learning experiences.
Question 6: How likely are you to integrate outdoor education in a division one classroom in the future?
Responses were split evenly between very likely and somewhat likely.
Unanimously answered yes.
Question 2: How many hours a week (outside of recess time) do you currently spend teaching outdoors?
All teachers answered less than 1 hour per week. (Almost never was also an option that was not selected).
Question 3: How many hours a week do you wish you could spend teaching outdoors?
All teachers answered with 1-2 hours per week.
Question 4: What are some concerns you have about integrating more outdoor learning into your teaching program?
Not having enough time, fitting in all the curriculum on top of outdoor learning, safety concerns, concerns about having enough supervision or additional parent volunteers needed, how to intentionally cover curriculum while also learning outdoors, not having enough ideas of what to teach outside other than exploring or playing activities.
Question 5: Do you know of any benefits for integrating outdoor education into your teaching program?
Mental health benefits, nature's ability to calm children down, personal desires to be outside more, engaging children in real-life ways, moving away from technology, developing holistic children, self-regulation, authentic learning experiences.
Question 6: How likely are you to integrate outdoor education in a division one classroom in the future?
Responses were split evenly between very likely and somewhat likely.
Conclusions
Teachers can clearly see the benefits of getting their students outside, and have the desire to try to integrate more outdoor learning into their classrooms. At this point, their is not a clear resource that has been made available for teachers in early elementary schools that can provide explicit examples, activities, and curricular connections that teachers can draw on to create more outdoor lessons. Outdoor education is more targeted to junior high or high school elective type classes and specific resources for teachers in early elementary have not been created. I believe that if teachers had more access and exposure to specific ideas of how to hit all of their curricular outcomes and also get their kids outside they would jump at the opportunity.