A practice focussed study of outdoor learning in five Scottish secondary schools 2011-2019

This thesis employs a social constructionist approach to explore the practices of outdoor learning [OL] enacted in five Scottish secondary schools and to consider local and temporal conditions that enabled and constrained practices across two time periods, 2011 and 2019. Continuities and discontinuities in practices are revealed. The decision to consider OL in Scottish secondary schools is in response to an identified gap in the research literature. Scotland’s OL curriculum policy is recognised as world-leading and teacher dispositions to OL positive. However, despite calls for a more embedded curricular role, the sparse literature available suggests minimal practice changes. The literature positions OL as an evolving and contested term, which encapsulates a range of purposes and approaches linked to physical, affective, and environmental learning outcomes. OL’s relationship to the Scottish curriculum has been marked by peaks and troughs of interest and support, reflecting temporal policy, social and cultural forces. A widening poverty-related attainment gap and rising mental health and wellbeing concerns in schools are manifestations of rising precarity and austerity during the years of 2011-2019. The timescale of this study presents an opportunity to consider current factors shaping OL practices. A qualitative inductive, deductive and abductive analysis framework is applied to teachers’ semi-structured interview data. Practice Architecture [PA] Theory was applied to reveal sayings, doings and relatings across a typology of OL that featured five distinctive types. Distinctive sayings, doings and relatings for three different types of OL; OL-as-Physical-Activity, OL-as-Pupil-Support and OL-asCurriculum, update our understanding of practices within secondary schools. A number of residual, dominant and emergent features are identified. Four overarching themes conclude that OL is: malleable, shaped by contexts and individuals, peripheral, potentially powerful as a pedagogy of affect and integral for some young people. An OL lens illuminates curriculum-making challenges within Scottish secondary schools. Implications for practice at Scottish education and school level are outlined.This thesis employs a social constructionist approach to explore the practices of outdoor learning [OL] enacted in five Scottish secondary schools and to consider local and temporal conditions that enabled and constrained practices across two time periods, 2011 and 2019. Continuities and discontinuities in practices are revealed. The decision to consider OL in Scottish secondary schools is in response to an identified gap in the research literature. Scotland’s OL curriculum policy is recognised as world-leading and teacher dispositions to OL positive. However, despite calls for a more embedded curricular role, the sparse literature available suggests minimal practice changes. The literature positions OL as an evolving and contested term, which encapsulates a range of purposes and approaches linked to physical, affective, and environmental learning outcomes. OL’s relationship to the Scottish curriculum has been marked by peaks and troughs of interest and support, reflecting temporal policy, social and cultural forces. A widening poverty-related attainment gap and rising mental health and wellbeing concerns in schools are manifestations of rising precarity and austerity during the years of 2011-2019. The timescale of this study presents an opportunity to consider current factors shaping OL practices. A qualitative inductive, deductive and abductive analysis framework is applied to teachers’ semi-structured interview data. Practice Architecture [PA] Theory was applied to reveal sayings, doings and relatings across a typology of OL that featured five distinctive types. Distinctive sayings, doings and relatings for three different types of OL; OL-as-Physical-Activity, OL-as-Pupil-Support and OL-asCurriculum, update our understanding of practices within secondary schools. A number of residual, dominant and emergent features are identified. Four overarching themes conclude that OL is: malleable, shaped by contexts and individuals, peripheral, potentially powerful as a pedagogy of affect and integral for some young people. An OL lens illuminates curriculum-making challenges within Scottish secondary schools. Implications for practice at Scottish education and school level are outlined

Swimming against the tide: A case study of an integrated social studies department

A recent trend in developed countries’ school curricula has been the transition from disciplinary to generic forms of knowledge, resulting in an emphasis on interdisciplinary organisation and more active forms of learning. Subject specialists are increasingly expected to demonstrate how their subject interconnects and equips pupils with key life skills. Such a change requires a major cultural shift and has been controversial, particularly in Scotland where Curriculum for Excellence, the latest curriculum reform, has seen this debate re-emerge. A detailed empirical case study of one secondary school Social Studies department that has already negotiated these shifts is presented. The case study provides insights into how school and department structures and cultures conducive to a more integrated approach have been developed. Leadership, increased opportunities for teachers to exercise greater autonomy in their work, sources of impetus and support for innovation, and the co-construction of meaning through dialogue are important themes in this process. This case study connects with current policy and provides an insight into strategies that other schools might employ when seeking to embed integrative practices. The department is identified as a significant locus for innovation and one which appears to challenge the norm