Volume 45, Issue 1 p. 21-40
Original Paper

Learning while playing: Children's Forest School experiences in the UK

Janine K. Coates

Corresponding Author

Janine K. Coates

Loughborough University, UK

Corresponding author. School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK. E-mail: [email protected]; Twitter: @DrJanineCoatesSearch for more papers by this author
Helena Pimlott-Wilson

Helena Pimlott-Wilson

Loughborough University, UK

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 24 October 2018
Citations: 77

Abstract

Children's outdoor play is declining, despite clear links between play, learning and development. Alternative learning initiatives which provide children with a diversity of play opportunities, including the chance to play outdoors, are therefore needed. One such programme, Forest School, is increasing in popularity in the UK and internationally, yet little is understood about its impact on children's learning, or how alternative approaches are informing learning in mainstream settings. This novel study examined primary school children's experiences of engaging in a Forest School programme in relation to this intersection between formal and informal approaches to learning. It explored how children interpret their experiences when faced with a fusion of learning environments and critically evaluates the benefits children realise, when asked to reflect on their learning engagement in both classroom and outdoor settings.

Interviews were conducted with 33 children from two mainstream primary schools in England who had recently completed a 6-week Forest School programme. A rigorous phenomenological thematic analysis revealed three inter-related themes: a break from routine; learning through play; collaboration and teamwork. The findings suggest that the blending of Forest School with mainstream settings contributes to children's social, cognitive, emotional and physical skill development through experiential learning using play. These findings are significant because they not only emphasise the values of social constructivist play-pedagogy which underpin Forest School practice, but also highlight the need for primary schools to consider learning outside of the classroom as an effective pedagogy.