Abstract
International Perspectives on Forest School, the latest in a series edited by Sara Knight, follows the format established in her earlier Forest School for All, where practitioners from across the UK pooled their Forest School initiatives. In this newest title a variety of academics, teachers and early years practitioners from across the world have been invited to share their experiences of children’s interactions with the outdoors using Forest School as a pedagogy from which to explore. Themes of sustainable development underpin discussion in diverse settings as we are taken from Wales to Brazil, to Australia, to Canada and onto India.
Reading our way across the world, the style, approach and perspectives range from the academic to the explanatory; from the novel to the established; from explorations of local initiatives to accounts of national statistics and from recognizable Forest School programmes to outdoor experiences that have their roots elsewhere. Each chapter is unique; and to go from one to the next is perhaps most useful as an introduction to a topic, project or programme that will invite further reading. Ideas for further reading are given at the end of each chapter which makes the book a convenient springboard into a range of projects or studies.
The opportunities for further exploration that the book presents are its greatest strength: here detailed perspectives on child development can be explored – such as Waters’ study of language interactions in the outdoors (p. 12) – or Grandisoli’s experimental lessons on sustainability at an elite private school in Brazil (p. 79). The reader can join in a first look at perspectives on outdoor play in the early years in Portugal (p. 65); or see how the Forest School ethos is being used to support learning in Canada (p. 174). The range of topics included is impressive and invites ‘dipping in’.
However this breadth of theme has a tendency to invite comparison and to catapult the reader between only loosely connected essays. At times this feels inappropriate, the subjects being so disconnected and diverse. It also shows up the loose connection that some of the essays have to Knight’s title: whilst papers such as Ärlemalm-Hagsér and Sandberg (p. 41) and Elliott (p. 113) have close links to Forest School; others such as Papatheodorou (p. 99) and Krajnc and Korže (p. 53) are so loosely linked either to children’s learning or to Forest School that their inclusion feels almost confusing.
Any discussion of Education for Sustainable Development (the initial chapter by Knight (p. 1) and a recurring theme through the book) could use more acknowledgement of the myriad cultures outside of the Western mainstream paradigm than is incorporated. The inclusion of a scheme using Aboriginal culture to support Bush Kinder (Lee-Hammond and Jackson-Barrett p. 131) shows how such a collaborative approach might look for some of the other researchers’ explorations. It also highlights the absence of such collaborations. For example, there are missed opportunities for understanding of and collaborations with indigenous cultures in Brazil and South Africa, and the description of the new, environmentally-friendly campus where Druissi is based, built on ‘land that was entirely wild’ (p. 175) and begs inclusion of the indigenous cultures in Canada.
International Perspectives on Forest School, then, opens up a vista of new and diverse views which support the growing body of literature on children’s outdoor play and learning. Although inclusion of successful sustainability in indigenous cultures is notably absent from this collection of essays, Knight very efficiently demonstrates how the Forest School ethos of Northern Europe can be applied to children’s learning across the globe.