Teaching in nature? Naturally!

Abstract

Elementary school children spend less and less time outdoors in nature. In this way they will neither become familiar with plants and animals in their environment, nor will their environmental awareness develop. The solution for them would be to spend more quality time outdoors. In this work 170 teachers from Hungary and 170 teachers from Serbia shared their experiences and opinions about outdoor education. The aim was to determine whether they thought that outdoor classes were an effective method to bring pupils closer to nature. The research showed that teachers from both countries found teaching in a real environment vital but could not always implement it. They need help in the form of ideas, teaching programs and professional development courses to be confident and motivated to hold more outdoor classes.