What We Can Learn from Environmental and Outdoor Education during COVID-19: A Lesson in Participatory Risk Management

Beery, Thomas

doi:10.3390/su12219096

Cited by 16 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Risk has also been previously identified as a constraining factor in outdoor recreation participation specifically (Reis et al, 2012). In examining these concepts holistically, research on outdoor education programming during the COVID-19 pandemic supports that possibility of infection presents a novel layer of risk management for outdoor activities during this time (Beery, 2020). Understanding how heavily individuals weigh this perceived risk may be an important element in understanding how avid outdoor recreationists are behaving.…”

Section: Psychosocial Factors Of Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychosocial Factors Influencing Outdoor Recreation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Mateer

Rice

Taff

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Cities

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The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented disruption to daily life for large swaths of individuals and resulted in potentially widespread implications for individuals' health and wellbeing. This study utilized an online survey of avid outdoor recreationists to understand the psychosocial factors influencing recreationist behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic across rural, urban cluster, and urban communities in the United States. Confirmatory factor analyses indicate that the five studied psychosocial factors–perceived risk, social norms, recommendations from authority, health benefits, and lifestyle adjustments–exist as unique constructs influencing individuals' outdoor recreation behaviors. Repeated measures analyses suggest individuals rated seeking benefits to their general health as most important when making outdoor recreation decisions, followed by recommendations from authority, then perceptions of risk, with lifestyle adjustments and social norms rated as least important. Lastly, analysis across community types indicated individuals across the rural-urban gradient weighed perceptions of risk and recommendations from authority differently when making outdoor recreation decisions. Managerial implications and future directions for research are discussed.

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Section: Psychosocial Factors Of Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychosocial Factors Influencing Outdoor Recreation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Mateer

Rice

Taff

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Cities

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“…It is important to reflect on and draw specific conclusions based on personal experience and the experience of peers, especially in times of crisis. We suggest that teachers will make learning an iterative process, including ongoing awareness and discussions through a dynamic process, as opposed to a onetime activity (Beery, 2020). We also suggest further research on environmental educators' adaptation to the constant change in the educational agenda, which was characteristic of the COVID-19 pandemic, and on their ability to be open to the possibility of unplanned outcomes (Coleman & MacDonald, 2020).…”

Section: Recommendations and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…For example, risk management in outdoor teaching can help teachers cope with such situations and should be acquired during training in pre-service teacher training institutions (Beery, 2020;Quay et al, 2020). Another example relates to teaching in situations of uncertainty, which is a skill that outdoor education teaches as a tool.…”

Section: Recommendations and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental education using distance learning during the COVID-19 lockdown in Israel

Assaf,

Gan

2021

pie

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Education systems and environmental education professionals have been challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic and the sharp transition to distance learning that has necessitated a rapid response. Environmental education as part of a social-ecological system is dependent on the adaptability and the scope of the change with which the system responds to crisis. It is therefore important to explore the ways in which environmental educators choose to increase students' proximity to nature under conditions of lockdown. The aim of this study, therefore, was to examine environmental educators' perspective on and teaching methods for implementing environmental education under distance learning conditions. To this end, we conducted 16 interviews and analysed teaching methods (e.g. videos, lesson plans and written assignments) that were used by Israeli environmental educators in March-April 2020. The findings highlight the creativity of the educators who used a variety of teaching methods, involving active/ passive learning and the direct/indirect experience of nature, using nature for observation, investigation and in-depth personal, social and environmental learning. The study's contribution stems from its exploration of the crisis from the perspective of environmental education in the context of social-ecological systems. Key findings present challenges (e.g. lack of direct outdoor interaction and feedback) and opportunities (e.g. public access to online lectures and the nationwide sharing of teaching materials) that were faced by environmental educators in Israel and that led to the development of diverse teaching methods for contending with the crisis. The study recommends incorporating diverse activities in nature, implementing outdoor teacher training for all teachers and creating professional teacher networks.

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“…Another precaution, hand sanitizer, was made available throughout the excursion (for example, when students shared learning materials or before the snack break). Finally, COVID-19 was discussed with each group in the excursion introduction, and students were asked to participate in the COVID-19 risk management using principals of participatory risk management [43].…”

Section: Interventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-Service Early Childhood Educator Experience in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

Beery

Magntorn

2021

Sustainability

Self Cite

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There has been significant interest in the values and benefits of early childhood nature experiences on children’s well-being and development. One aspect of studying the exposure of children to nature that requires more focus is the role played by early childhood educators. In particular, there is a need for early childhood environmental education training for pre-service educators. This study will explore the use of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve as an outdoor classroom for early childhood environmental education pre-service professionals. Exploratory quantitative and qualitative descriptive data from a series of three short surveys (pre/post/delayed post) provide a basic overview of pre-service teacher perspectives, experiences, and outcomes of an environmental education intervention. The results indicate that the participating pre-service educators had little to no familiarity with the environmental concepts or the biosphere reserve site before participation in the intervention. The post-intervention and delayed post-intervention results show that pre-service educators perceived that their understanding of the concept had improved. The results also show a perception of the positive role that biosphere reserve sites can play in early childhood education. Three critical implications emerged from the overall quantitative and qualitative results: (1) specific support should be given for early childhood environmental education training; (2) biosphere reserve functions provide support for efforts to improve connections to nature; (3) early childhood education has the potential to support the broadening of the biosphere reserve audience.

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What We Can Learn from Environmental and Outdoor Education during COVID-19: A Lesson in Participatory Risk Management

Cited by 16 publications

References 17 publications

Psychosocial Factors Influencing Outdoor Recreation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Psychosocial Factors Influencing Outdoor Recreation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Environmental education using distance learning during the COVID-19 lockdown in Israel

Pre-Service Early Childhood Educator Experience in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

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