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Barriers To Facilitating An Existing Certified Nature Explore Outdoor Classroom, Shelley L. Easler
Barriers To Facilitating An Existing Certified Nature Explore Outdoor Classroom, Shelley L. Easler
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
In response to social trends whereby children are spending less time outside, school administrators have developed certified Nature Explore Outdoor Classrooms (NEOCs) intentionally designed to support whole-child learning within a natural environment. Despite the documented benefits of nature-based education, the literature and NEOC sites report challenges in facilitating this type of space. The purpose of this study was to investigate what prevents teachers in a certified NEOC from facilitating student/teacher engagement with the natural outdoor environment. Kolb's, Piaget's, and Vygotsky's theories of constructivism served as the study's framework to explore the problem from the teachers' perspectives. A qualitative case study …