Pedagogical frameworks in outdoor and environmental education

Abstract

There are clear expectations in the twenty-first Century that professional teachers and school leaders can articulate how and why their students learn through participation in the structured learning activities they design and facilitate. Individual teachers can express this through a personal teaching philosophy statement and schools can communicate their ideas and practices through a pedagogical framework. In this paper, I explore the use of pedagogical frameworks by outdoor and environmental education centres in Queensland, Australia. By accessing and analysing the publicly-available executive summaries of the formal School Improvement Reviews conducted with 21 outdoor and environmental education centres, I discerned that there is considerable variation in how pedagogical frameworks are being used and developed across these centres, particularly in the degree to which they: were research-validated; described the school’s values and beliefs about teaching and learning; outlined processes for professional learning and instructional leadership; informed pedagogical strategies; and responded to the local context by allowing for communication within and beyond the centre about pedagogical practices. An example of an effective pedagogical framework is presented, to demonstrate how these can guide teaching and learning practice in an outdoor and environmental education context.