The ‘outdoor school’ as a school improvement process: empirical results from the perspective of teachers in Germany

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on school improvement processes in the context of weekly curricular-based teaching and learning activities outside the classroom – known as Draußenschule or ‘outdoor school’ – in three German primary schools. Qualitative interviews were conducted with three teachers two years after implementing the ‘outdoor school’. The teachers’ experiences show that the implementation and (ongoing) development of an outdoor school affects (1) teaching as such; (2) the school staff, and (3) the entire school as an organisation. The three areas are interlinked in different ways and the school improvement process cannot be approached from the perspective of any one area alone.

KEYWORDS:

• Outdoor school
• Draußenschule
• school improvement
• teachers’ perspective
• qualitative research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. In Germany, children enter primary school [Grundschule] at the age of six or seven and attend these schools for four up to six years (depending on the state they live and the regional policies).

2. Ideas for the practice of outdoor school are available online in German language: https://www.undekade-biologischevielfalt.de/undekade/media/121114021605_983824.pdf

3. References denote the primary school the interviewed teacher works at (School A; B; C). All statements were translated from German into English.

4. In many regions of Germany, parents can choose the public primary school their child should attend.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with funding from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Germany.