Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Affordances guiding Forest School practice: the application of the ecological dynamics approach

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Forest School focuses on child development underlining nature-connection and play pedagogy. Practitioners facilitate child-led learning through a deep observation approach. However, challenges and assumptions exist in such approaches. Additionally, a critical examination of the practice reveals that it may be lacking a solid theoretical underpinning that can respond to diverse contexts and participants while escaping a one-size-fits-all approach encouraged by commercialisation. Ecological Dynamics offers a theoretical framework that has the potential to guide Forest School practice and clarify its effectiveness. Specifically, notions of affordances combined with analysis at the level of person-environment relationships could guide future design and implementation of activities. Benefits could include realising and attuning to affordances which have sociocultural and individual connotations, thereby respecting local cultures and their community resources. The role of the Forest School practitioner becomes one of facilitating diverse populations in their perception of affordances in nature for individualised benefits, including well-being.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.

References

  • Aadland, H., Arnesen, T., & Nerland, J. (2009). Friluftsliv in the Norwegian lower secondary school. In H. Ibsen (Eds.), The birth of friluftsliv conference proceedings: a 150 year international dialogue (pp. 1–14). North Troendelag University College, Levanger, Norway, September 14–19. Available from: http://norwegianjournaloffriluftsliv.com/doc/132010.pdf.

  • Araújo, D., & Davids, K. (2011). What exactly is acquired during skill acquisition? Journal of Consciousness Studies, 18, 7–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bentsen, P., & Jensen, F. S. (2012). The nature of udeskole: outdoor learning theory and practice in Danish schools. Journal of Adventure Educaiton & Outdoor Learning, 12(3), 199–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentsen, P., Mygind, E. & Randrup, T. (2008). Towards an understanding of Udeskole: education outside the classroom in a Danish context. Paper presented at the 4th International Mountain and Outdoor Sports Conference, November 20th–23, Hrubá Skála (CZ) Czech Republic, www.imosc.org.

  • Bentsen, P., Ho, S., Gray, T., & Waite, S. (2017). A global view of learning outside the classroom. In S. Waite (Ed.), Children learning outside the classroom (2nd ed., pp. 53–66). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruineberg, J., & Rietveld, E. (2014). Self-organization, free energy minimization, and optimal grip on a field of affordances. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8(599), 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brymer, E., & Davids, K. (2013). Ecological dynamics as a theoretical framework for development of sustainable behaviours towards the environment. Environmental Education Research, 19(1), pp. 45–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brymer, E., & Davids, K. (2014). Experiential learning as a constraints-led process: an ecological dynamics perspective. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 14(2), 103–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brymer, E., & Davids, K. (2016). Designing environments to enhance physical activity and psychological wellbeing. Sports Medicine, 46(7), 925–926.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brymer, E., Davids, K., & Mallabon, L. (2014). Understanding the psychological health and well-being benefits of physical activity in nature: an ecological dynamics analysis. Ecopsychology, 6, 189–197.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow, J.-Y., Davids, K., Hristovski, R., Araújo, D., & Passos, P. (2011). Nonlinear pedagogy: learning design for self-organizing neurobiological systems. New Ideas in Psychology, 29, 189–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clough, P., Houge Mackenzie, S., Mallabon, E., & Brymer, E. (2016). Adventurous physical activity environments: a mainstream intervention for mental health. Sports Medicine, 46(7), 963–968.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cordovil, R., Araújo, D., Pepping, G.-J., et al. (2015). An ecological stance on risk and safe behaviors in children: the role of affordances and emergent behaviors. New Ideas in Psychology, 36, 50–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cree, J., & McCree, M. (2012). A brief history of FS in the UK-part 2. Horizons, No. 62, https://www.outdoor-learning.org/.

  • Davids, K., Button, C., & Bennett, S. J. (2008). Dynamics of skill acquisition: a constraints led approach. Champaign: Human Kinetics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davids, K., Araújo, D., & Brymer, E. (2016). Designing affordances for physical activity: an ecological dynamics perspective. Sports Medicine, 46(7), 933–938.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, G. (2013, January 2). History of Forest School. Retrieved from http://www.forestschoolassociation.org/history-of-forest-school/.

  • Dunwoody, P. T. (2006). The neglect of the environment by cognitive psychology. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 26, 139–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ewert, A. W., Sibthorp, J., & Sibthorp, R. J. (2014). Outdoor adventure education: foundations, theory, and research. Champaign: Human Kinetics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forest School Association. (n.d.) History of Forest School. http://www.forestschoolassociation.org/history-of-forest-school/. Accessed 12/9/2016.

  • Forest School Education. (n.d.) https://forestschools.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/FSE-Forest-Schools-Leader-Level-3-2016.pdf. Accessed 10/4/2017.

  • Gelter, H. (2000) Friluftsliv: the Scandinavian philosophy of outdoor life. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 5, 77–90, [Online]. Available from: http://jee.lakeheadu.ca/index.php/cjee/article/viewFile/302/222.

  • Gelter, H. (2009). Friluftsliv as slow and peak experiences in the transmodern society. Henrik Ibsen: The Birth of “Friluftsliv”, A 150 Year International Dialogue Conference Jubilee Celebration. North Troendelag University College, Levanger, Norway. September 14–19.

  • Gibson, J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gill, T. (2007). No fear: growing up in a risk averse society. London: CalousteGulbenkian Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. London: Bloomsburry Publishing Plc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guerin, S., & Kunkle, D. (2004). Emergence of constraint in self-organized systems. Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences, 8, 131–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurholt, K. (2014). Joy of nature, friluftsliv education and self: combining narrative and cultural–ecological approaches to environmental sustainability. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 14(3), 233–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, F. (2017). The nature of learning at FS: practitioners’ perspective. Education, 3–13, 45(2), 272–291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hart, V., Whatman, S., McLaughlin, J., & Sharma-Brymer, V. (2012). Pre-service teachers’ pedagogical relationships and experiences of embedding Indigenous Australian knowledge in teaching practicum. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 42(5), 703–723.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, B. (2002). A Playworker’s taxonomy of play type (2nd ed.). London: PlayLink.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jordet, A. (2009). What is outdoor learning? In OUTLiNES: outdoor learning in elementary schools, from grassroot to curriculum in teacher education. A didactic manual developed by Comenius Project, European Commission.

  • Knight, S. (2009). Forest Schools and outdoor learning in the early years. London: Sage Publications Inc..

    Google Scholar 

  • Knight, S. (2011). Forest School as a way of learning in the outdoors in the UK. International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education (IJCDSE), 1(1), 590–595.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laevers, F. (2015). Making care and education more effective through wellbeing and involvement. An introduction to Experiential Education. Available online: https://www.early-education.org.uk/conferenceplenaries-2016.

  • Leather, M. (2018). A critique of “Forest School” or something lost in translation. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, 21(1), 5–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maitney, P. T. (2002). Mind in the gap: summary of research exploring ‘inner’ influences on pro-sustainability learning and behaviour. Environmental Education Research, 8(3), 299–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massey, S. (2005). The benefits of a Forest School experience for children in their early years. Action Research, Topic, 33, 27–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maynard, T. (2007). Forest Schools in Great Britain: an initial exploration. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 8(4), 320–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muñoz, S.A. (2009). Children in the outdoors: a literature review. Sustainable Development Research Centre. http://www.countrysiderecreation.org.uk/Children%20Outdoors.pdf.

  • Newell, K. M. (1986). Constraints on the development of co-ordination. In M. G. Wade & H. T. A. Whiting (Eds.), Motor development in children: aspects of co-ordination and control. Dodrech: Martinus Nijhoff.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien, L., & Murray, R. (2006). A marvellous opportunity for children to learn: a participatory evaluation of Forest School in England and Wales (p. 52). Forest Research: Surrey.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien, L., & Murray, R. (2007). Forest School and its impacts on young children: case studies in Britain. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 6, 249–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien, L. (2009). Learning outdoors: the Forest School approach. Education, 3–13, 37(1), 45–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinder, R. A., Davids, K., Renshaw, I., & Araújo, D. (2011). Representative learning design and functionality of research and practice in sport. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 33, 146–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Playwork. (n.d.). http://www.playwales.org.uk/eng/playwork. Accessed 23 Nov 2016.

  • Rietveld, E., & Kiverstein, J. (2014). A rich landscape of affordances. Ecological Psychology, 26, 325–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roe, J., & Aspinall, P. (2011). The emotional affordances of forest settings: an investigation in boys with extreme behavioural problems. Landscape Research, 36(5), 535–552.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Said, I. (2012). Affordances of nearby forest and orchard on children’s performances. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 38, 195–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma-Brymer, V., & Bland, D. (2016). Bringing Nature to schools to promote children’s physical activity. Sports Medicine, 46(7), 955–962.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma-Brymer, V., Brymer, E., & Davids, K. (2015). The relationship between physical activity in green space and human health and wellbeing: an ecological dynamics perspective. Journal of Physical Education Research, 2(I), 7–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, A. (2008). Whose place, whose history? Outdoor environmental education pedagogy as ‘reading’ the landscape. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 8(2), 79–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoffregen, T. A. (2003). Affordances as properties of the animal-environment system. Ecological Psychology, 15(2), 115–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waite, S., Bølling, M., & Bentsen, P. (2016). Comparing apples and pears? A conceptual framework for understanding forms of outdoor learning through comparison of English Forest Schools and Danish udeskole. Environmental Education Research, 22(6), 868–892.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whap, G. (2001). A Torres Strait Islander perspective on the concept of Indigenous Knowledge. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 29(2), 22–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Withagen, R., De Poel, H. J., Araújo, D., & Pepping, G. (2012). Affordances can invite behaviour: reconsidering the relationship between affordances and agency. New Ideas in Psychology, 30(2), 250–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK

    Vinathe Sharma-Brymer & Eric Brymer

  2. Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia

    Tonia Gray

  3. Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK

    Keith Davids

Authors
  1. Vinathe Sharma-Brymer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Eric Brymer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tonia Gray
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Keith Davids
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vinathe Sharma-Brymer.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sharma-Brymer, V., Brymer, E., Gray, T. et al. Affordances guiding Forest School practice: the application of the ecological dynamics approach. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education 21, 103–115 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42322-017-0004-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42322-017-0004-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation