Forest School: Potential for Scientific Learning and Relationships with Nature La pédagogie par la nature : potentialités pour un apprentissage scientifique et rapport à la nature En Fr

Résumé En

Our research work aims to identify knowledges at stake and the way children may acquire them through attending a forest school session. Previous studies about learning in Forest School show that children may develop increased knowledge about nature, biodiversity and environment, a better understanding of the outdoors, and an improved relationship with nature (Smith et al., 2018). We now wonder about the “relationship with the living world” (Dell’Angelo-Sauvage, 2008) that children may develop, in particular the scientific knowledge they may mobilize. Our research is dealing with didactics and we use the concept of “praxeology” which comes from the “anthropological theory of didactics” (Chevallard, 1999). That framework helps us to define Forest School as what Chevallard called institution and the ten forest schools we studied as micro-institutions. We rely on different types of resources. Firstly, books that could be references for the institution (Wauquiez, 2009 ; Knight, 2016 ; Cree & Robb, 2021 ; d’Erm & RPPN, 2022). Then, we carried out eight semi-structured interviews with forest school practitioners. Finally, observation notes and workshop videos were analyzed. We model several types of praxeological organisations from the different sources: proposed (from institution), described (from the forest school practitioners) and carried out (by children). The praxis accounts for what children do and how they do it (types of tasks and techniques used to perform the tasks). After comparing some of these techniques with the inquiry learning approach (Dewey 1938/2014), we observe few similarities. The logos justifies and explains the techniques. Forest School institution advocates a “connection to the living world” (FSA, 2013 ; RPPN, 2018), thus we use the concept of “relationship with the living world” to model the logos. This relationship contains affective, cognitive and sensory elements that differ depending on the micro-institution.