Pathways for outdoor play and learning: pedagogical decisions and curricular intent in elementary school outdoor classrooms

This study took up a critical participatory action research approach with 18 professionally employed and experienced kindergarten to grade 8 teachers across the province of British Columbia. This study contributes to OPAL literature by examining curricular implications and pedagogical intent of OPAL in the elementary (K-8) school years and illustrates how teachers pedagogically leverage the affordances of loose parts in relationship to curricular goals. Data analysis demonstrated that teachers were flexible in how they selected instructional routines to match pedagogical intent, curricular goals, and student needs. Instructional routines included provisions of loose parts. Teachers described how affordances of loose parts were important and effective in supporting, guiding, and extending children’s learning along a continuum of play outdoors. The study also addresses a tension in play research by explaining how both structured and unstructured play can be strategically scaffolded into guided academic learning outdoors.