Utomhuspedagogik - det stora rummet, ett verktyg för lärande : En kvalitativ intervjustudie som berör förskollärares uppfattningar kring och syften för utomhuspedagogik och användningen av utomhusmiljön som pedagogiskt verktyg.

This study touches on the aspect of outdoor pedagogy regarding educators, particularly preschool teachers, views and thoughts about what outdoor pedagogy means and with what purpose they use the outdoors as an educational tool for teaching and creating educational activities. Thus the study describes and brings up preschool teachers and educators reasons and motivations for the choices they make in their profession in regards to outdoor pedagogy. In this study aspects such as why outdoor pedagogy is an important, relevant and current subject to investigate and discuss in regards to preschool education and preschool teachers profession are also brought up. Therefore the purpose and aim for this particular study is to investigate why, in other words with what purpose, preschool teachers choose to use the outdoors as an educational tool for teaching but also to make visible what outdoor pedagogy means to them. The scientific method used for this study was a qualitative method with semi-structured interviews. The majority of the interviews that were conducted with educated and experienced preschool teachers. One out of the seven interviewees was a primary teacher. The results from the interviews in this study shows that preschool teachers have many perceptions and ideas of what outdoor pedagogy means and what the purpose of using it is. Such as health benefits, better concentration in children, fewer conflicts, big open spaces that encourage creativity, play, exploration and more. Which tells us that outdoor pedagogy contributes to educational contexts in a fruitful and rewarding learning environment. Despite this there is a certain insecurity regarding and fear of using that specific concept word to describe what they do when they have educational activities outdoors among the preschool teachers. The uncertainty in using the word outdoor pedagogy appears to be linked to the teachers feeling insufficient and in need of further education regarding outdoor pedagogy. Regardless of this the preschool teachers appear to have an overall adequate knowledge of what outdoor pedagogy means in relation to the literature and research that were collected in conjunction of this study. Where the thoughts and ideas of outdoor pedagogy between the two seems to be quite similar. Our outtake from this study is therefore that using the outdoors as an educational tool is, in fact, both a relevant and significant part of preschool educatio