Forest School: reclaiming it from Scandinavia
FORUM - ISSN 0963-8253
Volume 52 Number 1 (2010)
Forest School: reclaiming it from Scandinavia
POLLY SHIELDS pages 53-60
DOI: 10.2304/forum.2010.52.1.53
Abstract
'Forest schools' are an increasingly well-known feature of the educational landscape, having been adopted by many local authorities across the United Kingdom in an effort to build children's confidence and self-esteem through learning outdoors in a woodland setting. Their origins are usually described as deriving from a Scandinavian (particularly Danish) tradition which was introduced to the UK in the early 1990s. This article explores, and suggests links with, the history of a similar movement called 'woodcraft' which flourished almost a century ago, and which informed the pedagogy of a small progressive school (itself called Forest School) which existed in Hampshire in the 1930s.
To cite this article
POLLY SHIELDS (2010) Forest School: reclaiming it from Scandinavia, FORUM, 52(1), 53-60. https://doi.org/10.2304/forum.2010.52.1.53