The present paper presents the results of a survey on outdoor lessons conducted
by teachers of the subject Science and Technology in the 4th and 5th
grades of primary school in the school’s vicinity. It examines differences
between teachers themselves and between teachers and students, as well
as the ideas and limitations of outdoor lessons. The study included 70 inservice
primary school teachers of the 4th and 5th grades and 154 students
of the 4th grade and 151 students of the 5th grade of primary school. The
data were obtained with two questionnaires: an e-questionnaire for teachers
and a paper-pencil questionnaire for students. The results show that 13
per cent of teaching time in the subject Science and Technology consists
of outdoor lessons. Statistically significant differences were found between
teachers with different amounts of teaching experience, while differences
in the quantity of outdoor lessons did not arise among teachers of different
school strata and among teachers who had an early experience with
outdoor lessons in the vicinity of school themselves as students compared
to teachers who had no such experience. The teachers had several specific
and general ideas for outdoor activities for the thematic sets of the Science
and Technology curriculum and reported similar difficulties in planning
outdoor lessons to those reported in other countries. The results of the
research show that the teachers report the use of outdoor lessons in the
vicinity of school more often than recalled by the students. The students
reported that such activities typically take place about twice a year, mostly
in playgrounds, meadows, and forests. The results provide an insight into
the state of the teachers’ initiatives for outdoor lessons in the subject Science
and Technology and indirectly offer opportunities to reflect and act
on outdoor lessons from different perspectives.
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