Naturfag utenfor klasserommet fra et Nordnorsk perspektiv

Outdoor science education from a Northern perspective

Sammendrag

This survey investigated how teachers in the northernmost parts of Norway use outdoor science teaching, and what they consider to be the most important challenges. Most teachers report that they do outdoor science activities a couple of times a year, more often in primary school than secondary school. The topics covered are largely related to biology during autumn and spring. Factors that inhibit use of outdoor teaching are related to the length of classes and time to prepare, together with lack of competence and weather challenges. Both expectation from parents and encouragement from management had little influence on the use of outdoor teaching, while the teacher own interest of outdoor life and the fact that students enjoyed such teaching were important elements. Moreover, experienced teachers considered the student group’s characteristics to be of importance for how much outdoor teaching was used compared to teachers who had worked for less than five years. Our study also confirmed that the teacher’s perception of species knowledge was closely linked to their own interest in nature.