Rooted in nature: pre-service teachers’ development of nature-based pedagogical insights through a forest school field experience

Outdoor education programs, such as Forest School, have physical, social-emotional, and academic benefits for children, and teachers trained in nature-based pedagogy are more likely to provide outdoor education opportunities for their students. Incorporating outdoor field experiences in teacher preparation may teach new teachers how to implement nature-based programming. However, little is known about how outdoor field experiences affect pre-service teacher development. Grounded in self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1977), this mixed-methods study examined in a pretest-posttest design how participating in a 12-week outdoor field experience contributed to pre-service teachers’ (N = 9) knowledge of nature-based pedagogy and their self-efficacy. Participants also completed weekly journals reflecting on their observations, experiences, challenges, and growth in students and themselves. Qualitative analysis of participants’ weekly journal entries provided unique insight into the pre-service teachers’ experiences. It demonstrated perceived growth in their ability to support children’s social-emotional and academic development, use effective behavior support strategies, and effectively collaborate with families and professionals. Quantitative results showed mean increases in participants’ knowledge of nature-based pedagogy and teacher self-efficacy, with the largest percent increase on the instructional strategies subscale.