An exploratory study of Forest School practitioners’ views on the benefits of and barriers to children’s participation in Forest School

A unique feature of Forest School is the role of the Forest School leader. In the UK, Forest School practitioners are highly trained in both theory and practice via routes accredited by the UK Forest School Association, according to their six good practice principles and pedagogy (Forest School Association, 2011; Knight, 2011). Forest School practitioners facilitate child-centred and child-initiated learning (Cree, 2009) and provide an important learning space that is different to the traditional indoor classroom (Harris, 2018; Waite & Goodenough, 2018). In the UK, primary school aged children who attend Forest School, rarely do so full time, but instead attend sessions as part of their mainstream schooling and Forest School leaders may be independent of the school, or may be a trained teacher or teaching assistant (Waite & Goodenough, 2018).

Regular participation in Forest School benefits children in many different ways, as outlined by two recent systematic reviews (Dabaja, 2022; Garden & Downes, 2021). Dabaja (2022) focused on educational and other impacts and reported seven areas in which children were positively impacted by participation in Forest School. These include social and cooperative skills, physical skills, self-confidence and self- esteem, learning performance and cognitive skills, emotional and mental wellbeing, environmental awareness and sense of belonging, and risk management skills. Garden and Downes (2021) focused solely on Forest School and education and grouped the benefits of Forest School by age group and whether children had special educational needs and Disability (SEND). For children with SEND, areas improved by Forest School participation included risk and relationships. For those in the Early Years (under 5 years), benefits were found in natural and risky play and development. For those in Formal education (5 years to 18 years), physical activity, mental health and environment awareness all benefitted from Forest School participation. The benefits identified in these reviews overlap and we chose a subset to examine in the present study.

Research has also identified a number of barriers to children’s participation in Forest School. These include an already busy curriculum, inflexible timetabling, and pressures related to pedagogical ideology (Bentsen, Jensen, Mygind, & Randrup, 2010; Waite, Bølling, & Bentsen, 2016). Some schools may have an appropriate green space on their site for Forest School, but many will need to travel, and the costs and time associated with this may be prohibitive, or may limit the number of children and/or sessions that are possible (Bentsen et al., 2010). Costs associated with appropriate outdoor equipment, including clothing for inclement weather, may also be problematic (Bentsen et al., 2010). Some schools may experience, or perceive, negativity from parents, who may not recognise the benefit of Forest School for their children (Waite et al., 2016).

Much of the evidence on the benefits of participating in Forest School, and the barriers to participation, comes from studies that interview practitioners and use qualitative methods of analysis (Dabaja, 2022; Garden & Downes, 2021). As quantitative researchers, we trialled the use of rating scales, which if successful, could subsequently be used on a larger sample. Alongside this, we asked participants for additional written comments. In the present, exploratory, study, Forest School practitioners were asked to rate on Likert scales the extent to which they felt that participating in Forest School benefited children’s learning through play, self-esteem, nature connection, concentration, language, and cooperative skills and the extent to which they felt the following barriers were an issue for participation: poor weather, curriculum demands, lack of outdoor space and parents’ expectations.