Children's Environmental Learning and the Use, Design and Management of Schoolgrounds¹

Karen Malone
School of Education, RMIT University
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Paul Tranter
School of Geography and Oceanography, University of New South Wales
Australian Defense Force Academy, Canberra, Australia

Citation: Malone, Karen and Paul Tranter. “Children's Environmental Learning and the Use, Design and Management of Schoolgrounds” Children, Youth and Environments 13(2), 2003. Retrieved [date] from http://colorado.edu/journals/cye

Abstract

This article examines school grounds as sites for play and environmental learning. It is based on a three-year project that involved 50 eight- to ten-year-old children at five Australian primary schools. Data collection occurred through multiple methods, including behavior mapping of children's play, interviews with children and teachers, and analysis of children's drawings of their schoolgrounds. The findings show large variations between the schools, particularly in the types of play and environmental learning in which children engage. These variations are related to variations in the physical qualities of the schoolground. However, we also found that school philosophies concerning the use and management of the outdoor school environment are equally or more important.

Keywords: environmental learning, play, schoolgrounds, childhood, education