The importance of outdoor learning is also gaining prominence in Slovenia, given the current trends in the provision of quality education. Learning in such an environment often means facing risks. Play at risk is a natural part of children's play, defined as an exciting and thrilling activity that involves the risk of physical harm, and play that provides opportunities to challenge, test and explore one's limits and learn to take care of oneself. Sandseter argues that through risky play, children develop attitudes and behaviours in risky situations, preparing them for the risks and dangers they will encounter in life (Sandseter, 2009a). Proponents of risky play define it as essential for children's holistic development (motor, emotional, social and cognitive). Sandseter (2007) identified six types of risky play based on observations: play with great heights, play with high speed, play with dangerous tools, play near dangerous elements, rough and tumble play, play where the children can disappear/get lost. She explained that the objective risk in risky play is a combination of individual and environmental characteristics that can have a positive, encouraging effect on one person and also a negative, inhibiting, burdensome effect on another (Sandseter, 2010). The teacher's goal in implementing risky play should be to first get to know the individual's needs, preferences, ideas, and background through conversation, and then to plan and implement the activity accordingly (Sandseter, 2010). This is not done by removing risks, but by controlling them and teaching the child how to manage them. Through appropriate communication, the teacher supports rather than guides the child's play: 'as safe as necessary and not as safe as possible', thus co-creating optimal risky play with the child's considerable autonomy (Brussoni et al., 2012).
In the theoretical part, based on national and international sources, I have presented the characteristics and specificities of outdoor classroom activities with risk-taking elements in Slovenia and abroad.
In the empirical part of the master thesis, I investigated the challenges and opportunities of implementing outdoor classroom activities with risk-taking elements in the first three grades of primary school in Slovenia and Poland. I paid special attention to the study of how the selected teachers plan and implement this form of teaching, how and how much time they spend on preparing children before the implementation, on-going feedback during the play, and post-implementation discussion. In this research I used a descriptive method – interview. The sampling method was non-randomised, purposive. I conducted interviews with teachers from the countries mentioned. Based on the information gathered, I designed posters, examples of outdoor classroom activities with risk-taking elements with an overview of risk-benefit assessment and discussion cards that can help classroom teachers to have a structured conversation. I also used the evaluation form to obtain teachers' assessment of the usefulness of the didactic tools developed. The results of the research will help to further improve and promote the implementation of outdoor classroom activities with risk-taking elements in the first educational period of primary school in Slovenia.
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