Flourishing in the forest: looking at Forest School through a self-determination theory lens

Abstract

Forest School offers opportunities for children and young adults to come into regular contact with nature. Although, in relevant literature, Forest School is seen as highly conducive to participants' motivation to learn, there is no theoretical framework that examines how this motivation can be optimized in relation to Forest School pedagogy. Self-Determination Theory offers a broad perspective for motivational processes and will be used as a guide in this article to advance such a framework. Self-Determination Theory proposes that well-being, which has been identified as an aim of Forest School, is promoted through the support of three basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. In this conceptual article, we make links between Forest School pedagogical practices and Self-Determination Theory, mainly focusing on the support of children's basic psychological needs. Furthermore, we make suggestions for ways in which to enhance practice through explicit links with need-supportive teaching practices, as these are identified in the Self-Determination Theory literature.

Shaping space and practice to support autonomy: lessons from natural settings in Scotland

“…The reader is asked to reflect upon the ways in which these implicate all three aspects of the LE, namely, the practitioner, child and natural environment. Of these, two have already been identified by LE research, namely, affordance (Nedovic and Morrissey 2013) and structure (Reeve and Halusic 2009), while the other two tie closely with ideas of autonomy and self-direction as explored by Barrable and Arvanitis (2019). All are underlined by the practitioner's willingness to support the autonomy of the child and endorse self-directed activities.…”

“…Moreover, all settings had the rule that children were not to be helped to get on any trees: they would do so when they were developmentally ready. This explicit match of competence on the part of the child and level of skill on the part of the activity is linked to what is discussed in Barrable and Arvanitis (2019) as optimal challenge. By finding that balance, children are kept safe from 'misadventure', which is the term used to describe a mismatch between skill and competence (Gill 2010).…”

“…It closely relates to the how the competencies of the individual match up with the provision in the natural environment (Gibson 1979). The affordance of nature has been seen as a key positive characteristic of nature schools (Fjørtoft 2001), as well as a particular avenue to autonomy in forest schools (Barrable and Arvanitis 2019).…”

“…Outdoor learning environments and the pedagogical practices associated with them have been recognised in the past as conducive to AS (Barrable and Arvanitis 2019;Maynard 2007;Wurdinger and Paxton 2003). The affordances of the natural environment, including a great variety of flexible and open-ended play items, such as naturally occurring loose parts, offer an ideal space for child-led exploration and play (Barrable and Arvanitis 2019), as well as enhanced opportunities for deep adult-child interactions that are child-initiated and responsive to the child's own interests (Waters and Maynard 2010).…”

Nature Connection in Early Childhood: A Quantitative Cross-Sectional Study

“…Childhood, including early childhood (0-8 years of age) is often considered to play a pivotal role in the creation of an ecological identity and the development of a positive relationship with nature [8] and that association has been supported by several recent studies [9][10][11]. This has led to nature connection being a key desirable outcome of environmental education programmes [12], outdoor education programmes [13], and even early childhood education as a whole [14].…”