Teachers` Perception of Outdoor Learning : Benefits and Challenges of Outdoor Learning

Sammanfattning: Outdoor learning has become very visible in recent times ,it is seen in different public medias such as magazines, on television, on various websites on internet, in the press and on public notice boards in different countries, accompanying different advertisements displaying a healthy lifestyle especially in early years of studies ( preschool ).The author seeks to address the perception of  Erasmus project “Dehors ” teachers`  experience outdoor, focusing majorly on the benefits and difficulties that these preschool teachers face while teaching outdoors. Furthermore, teachers are known to be role-models for their students and their opinion about their jobs matters a lot in displaying their duties as educators. Preschool children aged 0-6 years spend more time in school more than home, at least a minimum of five days in a week so ultimately attitudes of teachers largely have a positive or negative effect on  school children.  The aim of the present dissertation project is to explore how the teachers perceive outdoor learning based on their experiences outdoors. This study explored the components that characterize teachers` perception of outdoor learning. This research includes two set of interviews which were used to investigate both teachers` outdoor activities performed in Latvia and Swedish preschools. Outdoor learning has made a distinctive difference between the traditional learning approach of “stand and deliver” model which has systematically been changed to “guide on the side” model which educationalist view as a good method of impacting knowledge to learners, instead of giving knowledge as it was practiced before but in recent times, outdoor leaning processes helps to create an atmosphere for co-learning and not an isolated endeavours which is gradually  been replaced by outdoor learning approach of  “tell me and I will forget with “show me and I will remember”. These results provided a great insight on teachers` experiences of outdoor learning in the nature and on asphalt. It can be concluded that outdoor learning approach can be adaptable in the Latvian and Swedish contexts in promoting the development of preschool teachers therefore, there is a need for further research to promote effectiveness of outdoor teaching in Latvia and  Swedish preschools.