Choice Matters: Pupils' Stress Regulation, Brain Development and Brain Function in an Outdoor Education Project

Autor/inn/en	Dettweiler, Ulrich; Gerchen, Martin; Mall, Christoph; Simon, Perikles; Kirsch, Peter
Titel	Choice Matters: Pupils' Stress Regulation, Brain Development and Brain Function in an Outdoor Education Project
Quelle	In: British Journal of Educational Psychology, 93 (2023), S.152-173 (22 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Dettweiler, Ulrich) ORCID (Gerchen, Martin) ORCID (Mall, Christoph) ORCID (Simon, Perikles) ORCID (Kirsch, Peter)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0007-0998
DOI	10.1111/bjep.12528
Schlagwörter	Outdoor Education; Child Health; Child Development; Grade 5; Grade 6; Brain Hemisphere Functions; Physiology; Exercise Physiology; Physical Activity Level; Stress Variables; Teaching Methods; Personal Autonomy; Stress Management + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Freiluftunterricht; Kindesentwicklung; School year 05; 5. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 05; School year 06; 6. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 06; Physiologie; Sportphysiologie; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Individuelle Autonomie; Stressmanagement; Stressbewältigung
Abstract	Background: Education outside the classroom (EOtC) is considered beneficial to children's physical and mental health. Especially, stress resilience has been linked to nature experience. Aims: This study experimentally explored the effects of pupils' autonomy support (AUT) and physical activity (PA) on their biological stress responses and brain development in EOtC. Sample: The study comprised 48 fifth and sixth graders. Methods: The intervention consisted of one day/week taught in a forest over one school year. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was conducted at the beginning and the end of the school year, functional MRI under a stress condition at the end. Regions of interest were amygdala, hippocampus and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). All other measures were obtained at the beginning, at mid-term and at the end of the school year. PA was measured using accelerometry. Cortisol levels were obtained three times during the examined school days. AUT was measured with a paper-based survey. Data were analysed using Bayesian multivariate models. Results: EOtC students exhibit more efficient regulation of biological stress-reactivity and show a reduction of cortisol over the day associated with light PA in the forest. Cortisol is further associated with amygdala activation in the stress condition. Cerebral structural change is best explained by age; however, AUT has a positive direct effect on the maturation of the ACC, which is stronger in EOtC. Conclusions: Our results support the idea that autonomy supportive teaching fosters cerebral maturation and that EOtC can have a positive effect on biological stress regulation. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01