The Experience of Pedagogic Intensity in Outdoor Education

Abstract

This paper is a phenomenological examination of Nova Scotian teachers leading children outside the normal school environment for instructional purposes. Phenomenology can examine the everyday, taken-for-granted phenomena in human experiences. Absent in experiential research is the focus on teachers' experience in outside programs. In addressing this gap, anecdotes that capture unique elements of pedagogic intensity are shared as insight into the lifeworld of outdoor educators. Common to all the teachers in this study were feelings of intensity. These lived experiences are from various disciplines, at the senior high school level, and the teachers are engaged in outdoor practices connected to their respective subject areas. These teachers share past moments that show pedagogic intensity as a varied and unique instructional experience. All the teachers observed that the outdoors somehow magnifies the teaching experience. A key area is how this magnification applies to the pedagogic quality of outside teaching.

Keywords

Outdoor Education Teaching Pedagogy Lived Experiences Phenomenology

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