Book review: Children learning outside the classroom: from birth to eleven

The contributing authors to this book focus on the definition of ‘outside’ as the ‘outdoors’ and ‘environments beyond the classroom’. Although this might be considered to be narrower than the U.K.’s Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto (2006) definition, it is perhaps more useful for international readership. The book draws together theory and practice with an emphasis on engagement with outdoor spaces and the importance of learning beyond the classroom for all children from the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS: birth to five years) to the end of Primary education (eleven years). The terminology of the text does relate to the English National Curriculum and it could have been scoped further to include the Welsh and Northern Irish curricula and the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence, especially given the opportunities for outdoor learning therein. International readers will need to note the ages of the children to which the various sections apply to translate and transmute practice. However, although the market is awash with texts about play in early childhood, this text fulfils a useful niche about outdoor learning and thus, should be of considerable interest to readers of JAEOL who are practitioners or researchers in this phase