Primary School Educators' Perspectives and Experiences of Nature-Based Play and Learning and Its Benefits, Barriers, and Enablers: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.

Nicole C Miller,Saravana Kumar,Karma L Pearce,Katherine L Baldock

doi:10.3390/ijerph19063179

Nicole C Miller, Saravana Kumar + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063179

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Abstract

Nature-based play and learning is of increasing interest to primary schools and research suggests that it has many potential benefits for children’s health and development. However, little is known about educators’ perspectives and experiences of nature-based play and learning, particularly the barriers, benefits and enablers, despite their direct relevance to the uptake of nature-based play and learning in schools. A qualitative descriptive methodology was employed to uncover these. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 principals and educators from South Australian public primary schools, recruited via a participant contact list from a previous study. The participants were two principals, eight educators and two individuals with dual principal and educator positions. Metropolitan and rural schools were equally represented. Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Analysis identified four overarching themes: the practice, perceived benefits, barriers and enablers of nature-based play and learning. Children’s learning, enjoyment, creativity, and a relaxed and flexible environment were clear benefits. Meanwhile educator knowledge and confidence and the crowded curriculum were barriers. Enablers were nature-based play and learning champions and support from school leadership. The findings suggest that schools can help engage students with nature-based play and learning activities by mitigating these barriers and promoting these enablers.

Highlights

The interest in both nature-based play and nature-based learning appears to be growing in primary schools across the globe [1–4]
While there are no universally accepted definitions, nature-based play is unstructured play with nature [5], and nature-based learning is the use of nature and natural items to enhance learning across the curriculum, inside or outside of the classroom [4,6]
This research has made a novel contribution to the literature in the following ways: (1) this was the first study to investigate educators’ perspectives of nature-based play and learning in an Australian context; (2) this study contributed to the limited body of evidence that has investigated nature-based play and learning from the staff perspective rather than the student perspective; (3) this study provided insight into the enablers of nature-based play and learning that have previously been investigated by only two studies; and (4) this study collected educators’ perspectives and experiences of nature-based play and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

Introduction

The interest in both nature-based play and nature-based learning appears to be growing in primary schools across the globe [1–4]. The interest in nature-based play and learning in recent years is likely to be due to the increasing evidence and awareness of the potential benefits that nature-based play and learning can have for children These include benefits to learning, engagement, physical activity, social skills and mental health and wellbeing [7–10]. This suggests that nature-based play and learning has potential as a health promotion tool [8,11], within the school environment, which can be a powerful setting for influencing behaviour [12,13]. With this increasing evidence and interest in nature-based play and learning in schools, it is essential to understand the perspectives and experiences of school staff. School staff are the providers of children’s experiences at school and

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