Informal Teacher Networks Provide Some Support for Practicing Outdoor Education

Outdoor education (OE) is an important component of environmental education, but teachers in formal settings often find it challenging to develop and engage in outdoor lessons. Previous research suggests that informal peer networks facilitate leadership among teachers who engage in OE. Learning how teachers interact within informal networks helps us understand how best to promote outdoor education.

The study focused on a region of Greece where an informal network of primary school teachers was already collaborating to implement outdoor education programs. The authors reached out to school principals to identify teachers who were involved in OE. They also recruited participants through snowball sampling, which means they asked the teachers for recommendations of other teachers who practice outdoor education.

The authors began by modifying a previously published categorization of teachers based on their use of OE spaces. Building on this approach, the authors established three classifications of leadership—strugglers, domesticators, and succeeders—based on teachers' success with OE. The purpose of the study was to test whether this classification system effectively describes the experiences of teachers as leaders within informal networks of peers who practice OE. Additionally, the authors investigated whether informal networks empower teachers to improve their engagement with OE and enhance their leadership among peers.

The authors surveyed 87 primary school teachers with a questionnaire that asked teachers to rate their perspectives and experience with OE. The questionnaire also included open-ended questions to allow teachers to elaborate on their responses. In addition, the authors interviewed 12 teachers who completed the survey; the interviews complemented the questionnaire and provided further depth to the survey responses. The authors used statistical analyses to group teachers into three clusters based on the similarity of their survey responses; frequently mentioned topics and ideas in the open-ended survey questions and interviews provided additional depth to the clusters.

The results indicated that the new leadership classification system accurately describes groups of teachers with similar perspectives and experience with outdoor education. The clusters identified by the statistical analysis correlated with the characteristics that previous studies used in their typology of teacher leadership. The strugglers, about a third of the teachers in this study, showed the lowest level of preparedness to engage in OE and the lowest frequency of engaging their classes in OE lessons or activities. Just over one third of the teachers were domesticators, who showed low preparedness to engage in OE but reported higher frequency of engagement. Less than one third of the teachers were succeeders, who showed both the highest preparedness and frequency of engagement in OE.

The interviews and open-ended survey responses highlighted variations in how teachers from different leadership groups learned from their peers. Teachers across all three categories compared their own experiences with OE to those of their peers, indicating that they reflected on their own practice based on interactions within the informal network. Strugglers rarely discussed the teaching strategy behind OE; they mostly focused on logistical concerns, like finding an appropriate location. Domesticators were more likely to seek advice on instructional practices. Succeeders were most likely to offer support or advice to their peers, such as recommending specific lessons or ideal OE sites. While domesticators provided some support to strugglers, their leadership was limited by their own lack of experience. Interestingly, some teachers expressed characteristics that did not align with the common experiences of their leadership group. For instance, some strugglers sought advice on instructional practices and some succeeders experienced challenges with basic logistics. This indicates that leadership classifications are not static, and that teachers may move between groups depending on their experiences.

The authors acknowledge some aspects of this study that limit generalization of the results. For example, the study focused on a specific geographic region that has multiple outdoor education sites, and only included primary school teachers. The authors recommend that future research should test the application of the leadership classification system in different geographic locations and with teachers of different grade levels to provide a more robust set of results.

The authors concluded that their classification system effectively identified leaders within an informal network of teachers who practice OE. However, the results indicate that the leadership categories are fluid, meaning that there is potential for teachers to move from one group to another. The authors suggest that leadership through informal networks could be enhanced through digital sharing tools that would allow succeeders to reach more of their peers. They also recommend continued support for teachers at all levels of experience to promote outdoor education.