University of Gloucestershire

Graduate Student, Business, Education and Professional Studies

PhD Studentship in Education

Francis Close Hall

Thesis Title: Growing Wonder: Adult approaches to facilitating natural play in Forest Schools.

About

An effective outdoor practitioner can help a child or participant to grow, amongst other things, a sense of wonder for the natural world. As a practitioner, to be effective, it can help to maintain a sense of wonder as an adult, to remain engaged with the process of growing and learning with an open-mind, playfulness, a strong relationship to the natural world and the ability to be a 'co-learner' in a shared outdoor experience. Yet how does a practitioner learn to do this, or inhabit this state? What are the inherent challenges to Forest Schools practitioners at this time in the UK?

'Growing Wonder' explores the delicate balancing act of the Forest Schools practitioner, performed through continually creative and improvised relationship, interaction and collaboration between the self, participants and environment. For the PhD I'm researching this process of ecological collaboration and continual learning, through case studies of Forest School leaders in early years pedagogical practice, supported by reviews of relevant literature and contextual influences.

Case study methodology

I followed Forest School leaders over a year or more, from their initial training to establishing practice in their settings. I used qualitative data collection techniques of observation and interviewing to build nine in-depth case studies. In-depth case studies give rise to 'thick description' (Geertz, 1973) where many layers of interwoven influence and action can be considered. Methodologically, case studies are criticised because of their small sample size. Grand claims cannot be made; the results are not generalisable beyond what Stake (2000) calls 'naturalistic generalisations'. However, the narratives are powerful, coherent and as full a picture as possible with the 'devil in the detail'. Positioned alongside literature and context reviews, new relationships can be drawn between the emergent data and previous research.

The case studies build a critique of the influence and impact of Forest School training and life experiences upon the practitioners, for example, socialisation, own childhood, social norms and values. Their approaches to practice and how they practice are analysed within this context. I used grounded theory to code and analyse the data, which allowed emergent areas that deserved greater attention to be considered as the fieldwork progressed. During the fieldwork I found significance in the improvised experiences which make up the main body of Forest School interactions, as a child-centred response to the child engaged with natural, outdoor stimuli. On the basis of the initial analysis, concepts of shared space / child-centred theories / pedagogical relationships / improvisation and interactions became important to clarify and critique.

Analysis

I am using standard interpretive methods of analysis for the case studies, arising first from the outcomes of applying grounded theory. I interpret the data from a post-structuralist and ecofeminist standpoint. Further, I am examining the results within several frames of analysis:

Transformative learning
Goffman's frames analysis
Interaction analysis
Comparisons with improvisation principles
Ecopyschology and ecological systems theory

Implications

It is hoped the research will contribute towards:

    Insight into Forest School Leader's perceptions of their role and a greater understanding of UK practice.
    An impact upon training and CPD in adult and higher education, both Forest Schools and statutory, such as early years practitioners and initial teacher training in the Foundation Stage.
    New knowledge within improvisation studies exploring the value of improvisation in pedagogy, play theory and ecology.
    A professional and policy impact on curricula and pedagogical approaches towards interaction between adult, child and environment.
    A critical cultural impact vis-a-vis adult values and attitudes towards children outdoors, adult relationships to the natural world and inherent socialisation factors.

Keywords

outdoor play, outdoor learning, adult role, Forest Schools, early years, transformative learning, improvisation, child-centred, ecopsychology, ecopedagogy, frames, attitudes, socialisation.

Researcher background

I'm fascinated by the processes of improvisation and interdependence and the links between creativity, ecology, politics and pedagogy. I have always worked creatively with children, young people, schools and community groups on environmental and social justice topics, training originally in applied theatre and music. I ran the UK's first environmental education theatre company Trolley Theatre (1997 – 2004). Prior to my doctoral studies, over twenty years I have worked as an actor-musician, improvisation teacher, writer, music therapist and creative outdoor practitioner. I have been consistently involved in environmental activism, environmental education and sustainable land projects.

I hold a Masters in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University (2006-7), studying nature writing, narrative non-fiction and majoring in scriptwriting. I also hold a postgraduate diploma in Music Therapy from the University of Bristol, with a dissertation on ecological applications of arts therapies (2002-3). Alongside writing, I now conduct creative residencies and training in outdoor play, learning and improvisation and direct an improvising feral choir.


My research interests include Forest Schools, ecopedagogy, ecopsychology, transformative learning, arts-in-education, outdoor play, imaginative play, progressive / radical / transnational / emancipatory / experiential education, risk, emotional intelligence, the creative process, imagination and consciousness, improvisation, self-reflexivity, creative writing, ethnography, arts-for-development, ecocriticism, poststructural feminism & critical theory.

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