JOEE August 2023 Issue

The August 2023 issue of JOEE features seven  papers from international academics and researchers from Australia, Ireland, Canada and Iceland. A variety of topics are covered including Outdoor Environmental Education needing to do more in address climate change in curriculum and plan for it in OE and some valuable learnings from fatalities in Canadian Outdoor Education programs. Enjoy a  great selection of  diverse range of topics from across Australia and the world.

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A paradigm shift that never was. (A critique of Neo-Hahnian outdoor education theory part three)

Andrew Brookes (pic)

This article follows on from some of Andrew’s earlier research exploring the validity of improving character traits as a justification for outdoor education. His critical stance draws upon developments in psychological science, exploring barriers that may have held outdoor education back from embracing situationist approaches (in other words, subjective, individual, circumstantial approaches).

Is climate change the ‘elephant in the room’ for outdoor environmental education?

Robyn Fox (pic) and Glyn Thomas

After the extreme heatwaves of the Northern Summer and the Southern Hemisphere and Australia having unseasonably high temperatures in winter, this is a highly relevant paper. It highlights that climate change discussions have largely been missing in the previous pages of JOEE. Our academics from the University of the Sunshine Coast, QLD,  emphasise the significance of climate change for outdoor education and point towards some recommendations for addressing this issue.

Mainstream or margins? The changing role of environmental education in Irish primary school curricula, 1872 to 2021

Sarah O’Malley (pic) and John Pierce

Our authors who hail from Limerick, Ireland, explore the history of environmental education in Irish primary schools. Their research demonstrates a dramatic change in socio-environmental relations in contemporary Irish society during the 19th and 20th centuries, as reflected through primary school curricula.

An environmental scan of fatalities involving Canadian minors engaged in outdoor learning activities

Stephen Ritchie, Simon Priest and Jeff Jackson (pic)

In this study the authors investigated 37 fatal incidents relating to outdoor learning activities in Canada, uncovering several patterns that we may learn from.

How ‘outdoors time’ transforms the social relationships of children in Iceland

Jakob Frimann Thorsteinsson (pic), Ársaell Arnarsson & Jón Torfi Jónasson 

In this paper, the authors who are from the University of Iceland, explore the relationship between the time children spend outdoors with critical social and health factors. Their findings reveal a complex picture of children’s outdoor lives, showing children’s outdoor lives emerge as a social activity that strongly relates to physical and mental health.

Pre-service teachers’ experiences of affective nature connection through intentional pedagogieson an extended expedition

David Hayward, Heidi A. Smith and David Moltow (pic)

For this paper the authors researched pre-service outdoor education teachers and explored how they affectively experienced connections with nature on an extended expedition.

The nature and scope of Outdoor Education in Western Australia

Duncan Picknoll, Michael Down and Beth Hands (pic)

In this article, the authors xplore historical elements of outdoor education in Western Australia , signposting significant events and highlighting the strong historical presence of outdoor education in Australia’s largest state (geography-wise).