The perceived benefits of and barriers to nature-based play and learning in South Australian public primary schools: A cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

Nature-based play and learning is of increasing interest to primary schools. However, few studies have investigated primary school staffs’ views. Therefore, this study aimed to survey school staff about the barriers and benefits of nature-based play and learning. The online cross-sectional survey was completed by 50 respondents each representing a South Australian public primary school. Participants were mostly female (92%), educators (68%), in metropolitan schools (56%). The benefits of nature-based play and learning included ‘mental health’ (reported by 98% of participants), ‘spending time outdoors,’ ‘connection to nature,’ ‘cognitive development’ and ‘risk-taking’ (all reported by 96% of participants). The barriers included ‘teacher knowledge and/or confidence’ (68%) and ‘crowded curriculum’ (64%). No significant associations were identified between school characteristics and benefits and barriers of nature-based play and learning. The findings suggest that while nature-based play and learning within primary schools offers promise, barriers to uptake exist. Thus, enabling strategies should underpin implementation.

KEYWORDS:

• nature-based play and learning
• nature play
• outdoor learning
• primary school

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Sarah Sutter and Nature Play SA for their assistance in data collection for this research. Thank you to the participants for their contribution to this research.

Disclosure statement

All authors of this article declare they have no conflicts of interest.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/14729679.2022.2100431

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by the Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) fee offset scholarship.