Forest Schools in Canada: An Exploration of Elementary School Teacher Perspectives in Ontario

This qualitative research study focused on Forest Schools and related nature based learning programs in Ontario. Specifically, this study was concerned with exploring what elementary school educators are doing to integrate the aims of Forest Schools into their teaching, how they are incorporating curriculum expectations into their planning, and what supports they would find most helpful to start or continue doing this type of work. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with two Ontario educators; a Forest School Kindergarten teacher and an outdoor education centre teacher. Findings suggest that both educators have had success incorporating the overall expectations of most subject areas of the Ontario curriculum into their programs while supporting child-directed learning whenever possible, highly valued holistic and project based assessments, and emphasized lack of access and funding as barriers to their work