Early Childhood Educators' Use of Natural Outdoor Settings as Learning Environments: An Exploratory Study of Beliefs, Practices, and Barriers

Autor/in	Ernst, Julie
Titel	Early Childhood Educators' Use of Natural Outdoor Settings as Learning Environments: An Exploratory Study of Beliefs, Practices, and Barriers
Quelle	In: Environmental Education Research, 20 (2014) 6, S.735-752 (18 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1350-4622
DOI	10.1080/13504622.2013.833596
Schlagwörter	Early Childhood Education; Outdoor Education; Barriers; Preschool Teachers; Teacher Attitudes; Predictor Variables; Weather; Time; Safety; Questionnaires; Physical Development; Beliefs; Multiple Regression Analysis; Minnesota + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Early childhood; Education; Frühkindliche Bildung; Frühpädagogik; Freiluftunterricht; Pre-school education; Preschool education; Erzieher; Erzieherin; Kindergärtnerin; Vorschulerziehung; Vorschule; Lehrerverhalten; Prädiktor; Wetter; Zeit; Sicherheit; Fragebogen; Körperliche Entwicklung; Belief; Glaube
Abstract	In efforts to encourage use of natural outdoor settings as learning environments within early childhood education, survey research was conducted with 46 early childhood educators from northern Minnesota (United States) to explore their beliefs and practices regarding natural outdoor settings, as well investigate predictors of and barriers to the educational use of these settings. Of the beliefs measured, only two were significantly related to frequency of use of natural outdoor settings: belief regarding difficulty in using natural outdoor settings and belief regarding their relationship to nature. The strongest predictor of use was belief regarding difficulty in using natural outdoor settings, accounting for 67.7% of the variance in the regression model. Results indicate primary barriers to be lack of walking access to natural outdoor settings, lack of time, winter weather, and safety concerns. These findings suggest efforts to increase early childhood educators' use of natural outdoor settings should not focus on influencing their beliefs about the value of using natural outdoor settings in early childhood education, but instead on reducing barriers, thereby making the use of these settings seem more feasible. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10