‘Watching what they can do on their own is beautiful’: A navigation of shared agency in school-based outdoor environmental education

Reorientating education away from test scores can empower students as agents of their own learning experiences. Outdoor environmental education (OEE) is one way that teachers and students can co-author learning. This study's purpose was to examine the lived experiences of outdoor environmental educators who navigate sharing agency with students and place. From a phenomenological interpretive framework, we interviewed 12 participants who implement OEE on a regular basis within a K-12 setting. We analyzed participant narratives using a whole-part-whole approach, discovering five key themes that highlight how teachers build and curate outdoor learning experiences that create conditions for student agentic participation. Navigating a shared agency amongst teachers, students, and place is a complex and ongoing process that disrupts the traditional classroom hierarchy. OEE can be an effective pathway through which to empower students as agents of their own learning, supporting their development as engaged learners and democratizing education.