Theoretical and practical, but rarely integrated: Norwegian primary school teachers’ intentions and practices of teaching outside the classroom

• Published in: Journal of outdoor and environmental education Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 133 - 150
• Main Authors: Winje, Øystein, Løndal, Knut
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Singapore 01-07-2021; Springer
• Subjects: Curriculum Studies; Education; Educational Practices; Elementary School Teachers; Environmental and Sustainability Education; Epistemology; Experiential Learning; Foreign Countries; Intention; Learning Activities; Original Paper; Outdoor Education; Sociology of Education; Norway; Primary school; Teachers’ intentions and practices; Epistemology; Uteskole; Friluftsliv
• ISSN: 2206-3110; 2522-879X
• DOI: 10.1007/s42322-021-00082-x

This study investigates teachers’ intentions and practices related to teaching outside the classroom. We report on three months of fieldwork consisting of participatory observations and qualitative interviews of teachers in two Norwegian primary schools practising weekly
uteskole
[outdoor school]. We find that the teachers’ intentions for
uteskole
are to facilitate
first-hand experiences
for their pupils. The teachers organise and teach
uteskole
in two distinct ways: 1)
friluftsliv activities
[outdoor living activities] and 2)
theoretical learning activities
. The connections between
friluftsliv activities
and
theoretical learning activities
are seldom emphasised. Furthermore, the teachers rarely organise theoretical learning activities that entail pupils’ transacting with their surroundings. We discuss how the teachers’ work can be understood through the
Romantic
and the
Pragmatist
perspectives of experiential education and through the
representational epistemology
of traditional schooling. We outline how a
transactional epistemology
, operationalised as the “multi-modal model of knowing”, can support teachers in facilitating
transaction
between the pupils and the environment outdoors and aid in establishing
continuity
between learning activities outdoors and indoors. We argue that these are important factors that can enhance
uteskole
as a teaching method for facilitating deep learning in Norwegian primary education.