Understanding the Forest School Concept

This exploratory study examines the extent to which forest school implementation is reflected in three selected schools in the coastal region, serving as case studies. To identify similarities and differences across the three cases, a case study approach using qualitative content analysis (QCA) was employed, generating two datasets—observations and interviews—from different stakeholders: students, administrators, and teachers. Findings reveal that the schools have different approaches, levels, and extents of adapting and integrating the forest school into their curriculum and instruction, with private schools exhibiting the most comprehensive integration. Despite these disparities, all schools share the same priorities in advancing the concept by promoting nature-based pedagogy that transforms content and spaces in an environmentally conscious, ethical manner, and by preserving the environment through education. Moreover, community participation emerged as a binding element that enables schools to elicit support and funding from different stakeholders. The findings of this study are intended to highlight common features and, possibly, indicators that can guide educators in designing schools that integrate the forest school as a response to the urgent need to raise students’ consciousness through schooling.